The following is a list of events including expected and scheduled events for the year 2026 in Australia.
Incumbents
Monarch
Governor-General
Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
Opposition Leader
Angus Taylor
Chief Justice
State and territory leaders
Governors and administrators
Events
January
- 4 January â Over 60 prominent sportspeople including tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, canoeist Jessica Fox, swimmer Ian Thorpe and former cricket team captain Michael Clarke pen an open letter calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to establish a federal royal commission into antisemitism, radicalisation and the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting.
- 8 January:
- Prime Minister Albanese announces a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, to be chaired by Virginia Bell. In response, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns announces that his state would not proceed with a state-level royal commission.
- Six emergency warnings are issued in Victoria in response to bushfires.
- Blak Caucus, the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against the Occupation'48 file a challenge against new laws restricting protests in New South Wales at the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
- 9 January â A total fire ban comes into force in Victoria in response to an ongoing heatwave.
- 10 January â Wildfires destroy 130 structures in Victoria, prompting premier Jacinta Allan declares a statewide emergency. The Australian Capital Territory declares a total fire ban.
- 12 January â the National Socialist Network (NSN) announce it would disband in response to proposed new hate speech laws by the federal government which would make it easier to designate organisations as prohibited hate groups.
- 13 January â The 2026 edition of Adelaide Writers' Week is called off after more than 180 writers and speakers boycott the event in protest against the organisers' decision to exclude Australian-Palestinian writer and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah.
- 15 January â The board of the Adelaide Festival retracts the Adelaide Writers' Week's decision to exclude Randa Abdel-Fattah from the event and issues an apology to her.
- 18 January:
- Heavy rain leads to flooding and landslides in coastal New South Wales particularly Sydney, which records of rain. The State Emergency Service responds to about 2,500 calls for help and performed 25 flood rescues.
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation overtakes the LiberalâÂÂNational Coalition in a first for Newspoll. The Coalition also polls at its record low.
- A 12-year-old boy is severely injured in a shark attack off Shark Beach in Vaucluse, New South Wales, resulting in his death in hospital on 24 January.
- 19 January:
- A man is severely injured in a shark attack off Manly Beach in New South Wales.
- The New Sydney Fish Market at Glebe, New South Wales opens to the public after 6 years of construction.
- 20 January â A surfer is injured in a shark attack off Point Plomer in New South Wales.
- 21 January â National Party of Australia senators Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald quit the Ley shadow ministry after opposing the official LiberalâÂÂNational Coalition position on the hate speech law. Following this, the eight remaining National frontbenchers also resign from the shadow cabinet.
- 22 January:
- National leader David Littleproud confirms the party had again quit the Coalition, saying "our partyroom has made it clear that we cannot be part of a shadow ministry under Sussan Ley" and that "we sit by ourselves" in the parliament. This is the second time the National party left the Coalition since 2025.
- 2026 Lake Cargelligo shootings: Three people are killed and another injured in a shooting in Lake Cargelligo, New South Wales.
- :
- March for Australia holds a series of nationwide protests in many Australian cities.
- A 31 year old man is arrested for throwing a homemade "fragment bomb" at a crowd gathering for an Invasion Day rally in Perth's Forrest Place, which fails to detonate. The man is charged with one count of committing an unlawful act with intent to harm and one count of making explosives under suspicious circumstances.
- 28 January â Colin Boyce announces he will challenge David Littleproud for the leadership of the National Party of Australia.
- 30 January â A 13-year-old boy swims four hours to shore in Quindalup to get help for his mother and two younger siblings, who had been swept out to sea while kayaking.
February
March
- 3 March â An Iranian drone strike damages Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, the headquarters of the Australian Defence Force's Joint Task Force 633. Defence minister Richard Marles confirms that there were no casualties in the strike.
- 4 March â The Australian Parliament launches a federal inquiry into racism, hate and violence against Indigenous Australians in response to the 2026 Invasion Day protest bombing attempt.
- 5 March âÂÂ
- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney makes his address to the Australian Parliament in Canberra.
- Australia deploys military assets and crisis response teams to the Middle East to assist and evacuate its nationals.
- The Queensland Parliament passes legislation banning the use of the phrase "Globalise the Intifada" and "from the river to the sea" by protesters, subjected to a two year prison term. Becoming the first state in Australia to outlaw the slogans. The LNP and the KAP voted for it, while Labor and the Greens voted against it.
- 7 March â 2026 Nightcliff by-election is held.
- 9 March â A court in Bali, Indonesia, sentences three Australian nationals to up to 16 years' imprisonment for the contract killing of another Australian national, Zivan Radmanovic, in 2025.
- 10 March âÂÂ
- National Party of Australia leader David Littleproud announces his resignation from his position as the leader of the Nationals, citing himself as "buggered", he intends to remain in parliament as member for Maranoa though.
- The government grants humanitarian visas to five members of the Iran women's national football team competing in the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup amid fears for their safety during the 2026 Iran war and their refusal to sing the Iranian national anthem during a match against South Korea. Two more footballers subsequently sought asylum in Australia, bringing the total number to seven.
- Prime Minister Albanese confirms that Australia would deploy a long-range reconnaissance aircraft and air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates to help the Gulf States defend themselves against Iranian missiles.
- 11 March â Matt Canavan becomes National Party of Australia leader after winning the leadership ballot.
- 13 March âÂÂ
- The Australian Government releases six days' worth of petroleum and five days' worth of diesel fuel following a global International Energy Agency directive in response to supply disruptions caused by the 2026 Iran war.
- A court in Sydney convicts businessman Alexander Csergo of reckless foreign interference over his compilation of reports for two suspected Chinese spies.
- 14âÂÂ19 March â King Frederik X of Denmark and Queen Mary of Denmark undertake a six-day tour of Australia.
- 15 March â Four members of the Iranian women's football team who had earlier been granted asylum by the Australian government change their minds and decide to return to Iran due to concerns that their families would be targeted for retribution by the Iranian authorities.
- 16 March â Australia rules out sending warships to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
- 20 March â Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke were heckled at a Eid morning prayers event at Lakemba Mosque. Several mosque attendees accused the Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister of being "genocide supporters" Other members in the crowd booed.
- 21 March â 2026 South Australian state election:
- In South Australia, the Labor Party wins a landslide victory.
- The Liberal Party, led by Ashton Hurn, suffered a large swing against it and received less primary votes than right-wing populist party One Nation. This marks the first time the Liberal Party have finished outside the top two highest parties by vote share at a South Australian election.
- One Nation saw its best performance in any state or federal election since the 1998 Queensland state election, when the party won 22.68%.
- 2026 South Australian First Nations Voice election
- 23 March â Australia and the European Union sign a free trade agreement after eight years of negotiations.
- 25 March â Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announces a six-month ban on most Iranian visitor visa holders in response to the ongoing 2026 Iran war.
- 26 March â Thousands of Australian Broadcasting Corporation employees stage a 24-hour strike in response to a pay dispute, marking the first major strike at the public broadcaster in 20 years.
- 30 March â Victoria Police fatally shoot Dezi Freeman, a sovereign citizen and fugitive who was on the run for seven months after he killed two police officers and seriously injured another in a shooting in Porepunkah.
- 31 March â Communications Minister Anika Wells announces that the Australian government will investigate social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for potential violations of the under-16 social media ban.
Future and scheduled events
Sport
Holidays
Deaths
January
February
March
References
External links