# 1913 in Australia

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
The following lists events that happened during 1913 in Australia.

## Incumbents

* Monarch – George V
* Governor-General – Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman
* Prime Minister – Andrew Fisher (until 24 June), then Joseph Cook
* Chief Justice – Samuel Griffith

### State premiers

* Premier of New South Wales – James McGowen (until 29 June), then William Holman
* Premier of Queensland – Digby Denham
* Premier of South Australia – Archibald Peake
* Premier of Tasmania – Albert Solomon
* Premier of Victoria – William Watt (until 9 December), then George Elmslie
* Premier of Western Australia – John Scaddan

### State governors

* Governor of New South Wales – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford (until 11 March), then Gerald Strickland (from 14 March)
* Governor of Queensland – William MacGregor
* Governor of South Australia – Day Bosanquet
* Governor of Tasmania – Harry Barron (until 10 March), then William Ellison-Macartney (from 4 June)
* Governor of Victoria – John Fuller
* Governor of Western Australia – Gerald Strickland (until 4 March), then Harry Barron (from 17 March)

## Events

* 2 January — Australian philately proper begins in early 1913 with the Kangaroo and Map series of stamps, featuring a kangaroo standing on a map of Australia, and inscribed "AUSTRALIA POSTAGE".
* 12 March — Canberra is named by Gertrude Denman
* 1 May — The first national banknotes were introduced in denominations of 10 shillings, and 1, 5, and 10 pounds.
* 31 May — 1913 Australian referendum contained six questions: Trade and Commerce, Corporations, Industrial Matters, Trusts, Monopolies, Railway Disputes. None of these were carried.
* 21 June — HMAS Australia, commissioned at Portsmouth and sailed to Australia to become the Australian flagship.
* 1 to 31 August — With an average rainfall of 0.24 millimetres or 0.0094 inches, this is the driest area-averaged month over Queensland since at least 1900.
* Royal Commission appointed to inquire into certain charges against Henry Chinn; Chinn was supervising engineer for the transcontinental railway in Western Australia.
* Royal Commission on Northern Territory railways and ports
* Royal Commission on powellised timber
* Golden Fleece Company established by HC Sleigh; acquired by Caltex in 1981
* The Workers' Educational Association founded; it is Australia's largest non-government adult community education organisation.
* From 1859 until 1913, a squadron of the Royal Navy was maintained in Australian waters.
* Norfolk Island Act 1913 meant that Norfolk Island became an Australia Territory under the authority of the Australian Commonwealth.

## Science and technology

* Amalgamation took place between Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd and the Australian Wireless Company forming Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited.
* The first totalisator, an entirely mechanical system invented by the Australian George Julius of Julius Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd, was installed at Ellerslie Racecourse in New Zealand.

## Film

* Moondyne
* Australia Calls, Raymond Longford's last film for Cozens Spencer was released.
* Frank Hurley's actuality film, The Home of the Blizzard, about the Douglas Mawson expedition to Antarctica, was released.

## Sport

* The 1913 VFL (now AFL) Premiership was won by Fitzroy
* The 1913 NSWRFL Premiership is won by Eastern Suburbs for the third year in a row.
* Posinatus wins the Melbourne Cup
* South Australia wins the 1912–13 Sheffield Shield
* The Australian cricket team toured USA and Canada in June to August, playing five matches, four in Philadelphia and one in Toronto.

## Births

* 24 January – Ray Stehr, rugby league footballer (d. 1983)
* 11 February – Clyde Cameron, Whitlam government minister (d. 2008)
* 20 February – Dame Mary Durack, author and historian (d. 1994)
* 5 March – Darby Munro, jockey (d. 1966)
* 19 March – Smoky Dawson, country music performer (d. 2008)
* 3 April – William Refshauge, soldier and public health administrator (d. 2009)
* 4 April – Dave Brown, rugby league footballer (d. 1974)
* 20 June – David McNicol, public servant and diplomat (d. 2001)
* 2 August – Nancy Phelan, writer (d. 2008)
* 14 August – Hector Crawford, Australian television producer (d. 1991)
* 6 September – Ken Kennedy, speed skater and ice hockey player (d. 1985)
* 2 October – Dame Roma Mitchell, 31st Governor of South Australia (d. 2000)
* 30 October – Edgar Britt, jockey (d. 2017)
* 30 December – Elyne Mitchell, author (d. 2002)

## Deaths

* 3 January – Garnet Walch, writer, journalist and publisher (b. 1843)
* 4 February – James Styles, Victorian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1841)
* 18 February – George Lewis Becke, trader and writer (b. 1855)
* 4 June – Ambrose Dyson, illustrator and political cartoonist (b. 1876)
* 6 July – J. C. Williamson, actor (born in the United States and died in France) (b. 1844)
* 20 July – Joseph Vardon, South Australian politician and printer (b. 1843)
* 3 August – Sir William Lyne, 13th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1844)
* 25 August – William Knox, Victorian politician and businessman (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1850)
* 12 November – Sir John George Davies, Tasmanian politician, newspaper proprietor and cricketer (b. 1846)
* 25 November – Charlie Frazer – Western Australian politician (b. 1880)