1878 in Australia

[edit] Incumbents

8 January - 300 senior public servants were sacked in Victoria by the Government of Graham Berry on the grounds that as the Appropriation bill had not been passed in the Victorian Legislative Council, they could not be paid.
May 20 - 1000 unemployed men marched up Collins Street, Melbourne demanding relief work. The premier, Berry, agreed to construct sanitation works and thus employ 200 men.
June 1 - The clipper ship Loch Ard was wrecked at Mutton Bird Island just off the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria; 45 people died, there were 2 lives saved.
9 December - Ned Kelly and his gang locked 22 people in a storehouse on a sheep station near Euroa, Victoria. The next day they robbed Euroa's bank.

18 January - construction of The Ghan railway line starts in Port Augusta, South Australia
3 September - the Main Southern railway line, New South Wales reached Wagga Wagga, New South Wales in an attempt to lure Riverina trade away from Victoria.
European discovery of the Great Artesian Basin when a shallow bore near Bourke, New South Wales produced flowing water.
Walcha, New South Wales proclaimed a town.
The Brisbane suburb of Alderley, Queensland gained a post office.
District of Kingaroy, Queensland settled.
The railway system reached Morgan, South Australia which was proclaimed a town in the same year.
Quorn, South Australia surveyed and declared a town.
Charter of Snowtown, South Australia proclaimed.

January 8 - The telephone is used for the first time in Australia in Melbourne.
The Sydney Mechanics Institute, founded in 1843 became the Sydney Technical College
At Burnie, Tasmania, the Van Diemen's Land Company constructed a wooden horse-drawn tramway to serve Mount Bischoff, which was then the richest tin mine in the world. The tramway was a remarkable timber construction that stretched over 75 kilometres and used horses to pull the tin laden carriages.