1898 in Australia

See also: 1897 in Australia, other events of 1898, 1899 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Premier of New South Wales - George Reid
• Premier of South Australia - Charles Kingston
• Premier of Queensland - Hugh Nelson (until 13 April), Thomas Joseph Byrnes (died in office 27 September) then James Dickson
• Premier of Tasmania - Edward Braddon
• Premier of Western Australia - John Forrest
• Premier of Victoria - George Turner

Events

• 6 May - The paddle steamer Maitland sinks near Broken Bay, drowning 24 people.
• 3–4 June - A referendum is held in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria to approve the draft Constitution of Australia. The constitution was accepted by the required majority in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, but not in New South Wales.
• 17 October - The Perth Zoo opens with two lions and a tiger.
• 26 December - Gatton murders - Three members of the same family are sexually molested and murdered near the town of Gatton, Queensland (unsolved).

• The Queen Victoria Building in Sydney is completed

Science and technology

Arts and literature

• W. Lister Lister wins the Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture for his landscape The Last Gleam

Sport

• The Grafter wins the Melbourne Cup
• Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield

Births

• 12 February - Sali Herman (d. 1993), war artist
• 24 September - Howard Walter Florey (d. 1968), pharmacologist and Nobel Prize winner

Deaths

• 20 March - Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer (b. 1819), Premier of Queensland
• 19 September - George Edward Grey (b. 1812), Governor of South Australia
• 27 September - Thomas Joseph Byrnes (b. 1860), Premier of Queensland
• 2 November - George Goyder (b. 1826), Surveyor-General of South Australia