The following lists events that happened during 1951 in Australia.
Incumbents
State Premiers
State Governors
Events
- 1 January â The 50th anniversary of Australian federation is celebrated.
- 19 February â Jean Lee becomes the last woman to be hanged in Australia, when she, Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews are executed in Melbourne for the murder of a 73-year-old man.
- 1 March â The Bank of Australasia merges with the Union Bank of Australia to form the ANZ Bank.
- 9 March â The High Court of Australia rules in the case Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth that the Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950, passed by the parliament to ban the Communist Party of Australia, was unconstitutional.
- 19 March â The Governor-General, William McKell, issues a double dissolution of parliament for the second time in its history, citing the Senate's referral of the Commonwealth Bank Bill as a "failure to pass" the bill.
- 12 April â Conscription begins as the first call-up notice is issued under the National Service Act (1951), requiring Australian 18-year-old males to undergo compulsory military training.
- 28 April â A federal election is held. The Liberal government of Robert Menzies retains power.
- 8 June â The first lessons of the School of the Air are broadcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Adelaide.
- 13 June â Labor leader and former Prime Minister Ben Chifley suddenly dies of a heart attack.
- 20 June â Herbert Vere Evatt succeeds Ben Chifley as leader of the Labor Party.
- 16 August â The Australian Financial Review is first published.
- 1 September â The Anzus Treaty, between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, is signed.
- 9 September â Australia signs the Treaty of San Francisco, formalising peace with Japan.
- 22 September â A federal referendum is held, proposing to alter the Australian Constitution to allow the banning of the Communist Party. The referendum was not carried.
- 4 October â Francis McEncroe sells the first Chiko Rolls at the Wagga Wagga agricultural show.
- 15 October â A De Havilland Dove aircraft crashes near Kalgoorlie killing all 7 on board.
- 13 November â William McKell is gazetted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, becoming the only Governor-General of Australia to be knighted during their term.
Arts and literature
Sport
Births
- 19 January â Charles Blunt, politician
- 20 January â Clyde Sefton, road cyclist
- 22 January â Steve J. Spears, actor, singer, and playwright (died 2007)
- 26 February â Wayne Goss, Premier of Queensland (died 2014)
- 29 April â Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister of the ACT
- 29 May â Don Baird, pole vaulter
- 4 July â John Alexander, tennis player and politician
- 6 July â Geoffrey Rush, actor
- 31 July â Evonne Goolagong Cawley, tennis player
- 6 August â Daryl Somers, television personality
- 20 August â Mark Kennedy, drummer (died 2026)
- 30 August
- Danny Clark, track cyclist and road bicycle racer
- Brad Hazzard, politician
- 9 September â Alexander Downer, politician
- 27 September â Geoff Gallop, Premier of Western Australia
- 9 October â Rod Galt, Australian rules footballer (died 2019)
- 14 November â Shelley Hancock, politician
- 1 December â Doug Mulray, radio personality (died 2023)
- 18 December â Andy Thomas, astronaut
- 22 December â Jan Stephenson, professional golfer
Deaths
- 29 January â Frank Tarrant, cricketer (b. 1880)
- 18 April â Daisy Bates, journalist and anthropologist (born in Ireland) (b. 1859)
- 27 May â Sir Thomas Blamey, field marshal (b. 1884)
- 11 June â William Higgs, Queensland politician (b. 1862)
- 13 June â Ben Chifley, 16th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1885)
- 17 June - Vin Coutie, footballer (b. 1881)
- 3 July â Sydney Jephcott, poet (b. 1864)
- 4 October â Bartlett Adamson, journalist, poet, author and political activist (b. 1884)
- 10 December â Ernest Edwin Mitchell, composer (b. 1865)
See also
References