14 March – Stephen Matthews, aged 20, swept from the Natural Bridge off Albany, Western Australia, by a King Wave. Rescued by whale ship, the Cheynes II. First recorded survival of someone swept into the sea at The Gap and Natural Bridge.
30 March - Commonwealth Police (Federal Police) begin arresting 180 Greek-Australians said to be involved in a conspiracy to defraud the Department Of Social Security.
4 April – Cyclone Alby kills 5 people in Western Australia
24 June – The inaugural Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, a gay rights march is held in Oxford Street, Sydney to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York.
7 October – The ALP government of Neville Wran is re-elected with a massively increased majority, leading to his win being dubbed as a "Wranslide".
21 November – Last day of commercial whaling in Australia. No sperm whales caught that day by the chaser ships (Cheynes II, III and IV) operated by the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Albany, Western Australia. The last whale caught by an Australian whaling company was the day before, 20 November.
1 July - Footscray kick a record VFL score of 33.15 (213) beating the previous record by three points. Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan combine for 22 of the 33 goals.
6 August – James Langford wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:19:29 in Caboolture.
19 September - After a controversial NSWRL finals series with two draws, Manly thrash Cronulla 16-0 to win their fourth premiership with Graham Eadie dominating.
30 September - Hawthorn 18.13 (121) defeats North Melbourne 15.13 (103) for its fourth VFL premiership.