1938 in Australia

Infobox Australian year
monarch = George VI
governor-general = Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
pm =Joseph Lyons
population = 6,898,541
australian =
elections =SA, NSW, QLD

"See also:"
1937 in Australia,
other events of 1938,
1939 in Australia and the
Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

*Monarch – King George VI
*Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
*Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons

tate Premiers

*Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens
*Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
*Premier of South Australia – Richard L. Butler (until November 5), then Thomas Playford IV
*Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie
*Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
*Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

tate Governors

*Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
*Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
*Governor of South Australia – Sir Winston Dugan
*Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
*Governor of Victoria – William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield
*Governor of Western Australia – "none appointed"

Events

* January 26 – Australia officially celebrates its sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of European settlement. Unofficially, it is a Day of Mourning for Indigenous Australians.
* February 6 – Three hundred beachgoers are dragged out to sea when three freak waves strike Bondi Beach in Sydney in an event known as "Black Sunday". A team of eighty surf lifesavers manage to rescue all but five people.
* February 13 – Nineteen people die when Sydney ferry the "Rodney", carrying 150 passengers, capsizes in Sydney Harbour while farewelling US Navy cruiser USS "Louisville".
* April 1 – New monthly newspaper "Abo Call" begins publication in Sydney, focusing on issues of Aboriginal rights and edited by activist Jack Patten.
* May 11 – Two jockeys are killed and two are injured in a horse racing accident at Morphetville Racecourse in Adelaide, South Australia.
* October 25 – Eighteen people die in Australia's worst air disaster, when an Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 crashes in the Dandenong Ranges in heavy fog.
* November 15 – Waterside workers at Port Kembla, New South Wales refuse to load a consignment of scrap iron destined for Japan, arguing that it would be used for munitions. Attorney-General Robert Menzies attempts to force the loading of the cargo, earning himself the nickname "Pig Iron Bob".
* December 21 – A direct radio-telephone link is established between Canberra and Washington D.C.
* December 28 – The "Sydney Mail" ceases publication.

Arts and literature

* March 31 – Xavier Herbert wins the Commonwealth 150th anniversary literary award for his novel "Capricornia".
* December 30 – "The Passing of the Aborigines" by Daisy Bates is published.

port

* February 5 to February 12 – The 1938 British Empire Games are held in Sydney. Australia leads the medal tally at the games, winning 25 gold medals, 19 silver and 22 bronze.
* September 24 – Carlton defeat Collingwood 15.10 (100) to 13.7 (85) in the grand final, becoming premiers of the 1938 VFL season.
* November 1 – "Catalogue" wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

*January 12 – Lewis Fiander, actor
*January 12 – Noel McNamara, crime victims supporter
*January 13 – Daevid Allen, musician (Soft Machine)
*January 17 – David Theile, backstroke swimmer
*February 25 – Herb Elliott, athlete
*February 28 – Dennis Olsen, pianist, actor and director
*March 1 – Henry Reynolds, historian
*March 5 – Mike Walsh, television presenter
*March 25 – Anthony Carwardine, naval officer
*April 13 – Col Joye, entertainer
*April 20 – Betty Cuthbert, athlete
*June 5 – Roy Higgins, jockey
*June 18 – Kevin Murray, Australian rules footballer (Fitzroy)
*June 20 – Joan Kirner, Premier of Victoria (1990–1992)
*July 13 – Ian Macphee, politician, Minister for Immigration
*July 23 – Bert Newton, television performer
*July 28 – Robert Hughes, art critic
*August 9 – Rodney Laver, tennis player
*August 22 – Roger Gyles, lawyer and judge
*August 30 – Murray Gleeson, High Court judge
*September 6 – Ernie Sigley, entertainer
*October 8 – Fred Stolle, tennis player
*October 17 – Les Murray, poet
*October 30 – Morris Lurie, writer
*November 8 – Bob Skilton, Australian rules footballer (South Melbourne)
*November 26 – Rodney Jory, physicist
*December 11 – Reg Livermore, actor, singer and television presenter
*December 21 – Frank Moorhouse, writer

Deaths

*January 6 – John Gavin (b. 1875), film director
*January 15 – Paul Raphael Montford (b. 1868), sculptor
*January 21 – Will Dyson (b. 1880), cartoonist
*January 31 – John Barnes (b. 1868), politician
*February 16 – Thomas Molloy (b. 1852), WA politician
*April 21 – Sir Talbot Hobbs (b. 1864), architect
*May 11 – Lawrence Wells (b. 1860), explorer
*May 17 – Nora Clench (b. 1867), Canadian violinist
*June 17 – Ranji Hordern (b. 1883), cricketer
*June 19 – Jack Hides (b. 1906), explorer
*June 22 – C. J. Dennis (b. 1876), poet
*June 29 – Sir Colin Mackenzie (b. 1877), anatomist and museum administrator
*August 30 – Evelyn Marsden (b. 1883), survivor of the "Titanic"
*September 11 – Sir Philip Whistler Street (b. 1863), NSW Supreme Court judge
*October 12 – Hugh Massie (b. 1854), cricketer
*October 25 – Charles Hawker (b. 1884), politician
*November 29 – John Sandes (b. 1863), journalist and author