1986 in Australia

See also:

Years in Australia:	1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Centuries:	19th Century · 20th century · 21st century
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s [[{{{dpn}}} (decade)\|2010s]]
Years:	1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Incumbents

2 February – Nurse Anita Cobby is abducted, robbed, raped and murdered by John Travers, Michael Murdoch, and Lesile, Gary and Micheal Murphy at Prospect in Sydney (all 5 men are sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, June 1987).
8 February – Elections in Western Australia & Tasmania see the re-election of the ALP in WA & the Liberal Party in Tasmania.
27 March – Russell Street Bombing takes place at the headquarters of the Victorian Police in Melbourne. A police constable is killed.
4 July – After 10 years in power, Neville Wran resigns as Premier of New South Wales & is replaced by Barrie Unsworth.
7 July – Barlow & Chambers are executed at Malaysia's Pudu Prison for drug trafficking. Prime Minister Hawke condemns the move as 'barbaric'.
16 July – An explosion at Moura No. 4 mine in Moura, Queensland kills 12 people.
6 August – A low pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney. Resulting floods kill 6 people.
9 August – Sydney schoolgirl Samantha Knight disappears in Bondi, Sydney.
1 November – Joh Bjelke-Petersen wins his final election as Premier of Queensland with his party, the National Party gaining 38.6% of the vote.

30 April – Crocodile Dundee is released in Australia. The film will go on to become a worldwide smash hit, becoming the highest grossing Australian film ever.
Malcolm

5 January – SBS ceases VHF transmissions on Channel 0 in Sydney & Melbourne.
20 January – Neighbours makes its debut on Network Ten & comes to dominate the 7 pm weeknight timeslot
February – Red Symons signs to Hey Hey It's Saturday as the show launches Red Faces
April – The Movie Show begins on SBS
December – The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, owners of HSV-7 & ADS-7 are sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited for $1.8 billion. As News Limited owned ATV-10 at this time, HSV-7 is sold to Fairfax (already owners of ATN-7 & BTQ-7) in February 1987 for $320 million.
Christopher Skase's Qintex company sells TVQ-0 to Darling Downs Television, owners of DDQ-10 in Toowoomba.
AUSSAT satellites are launched, bringing television to remote areas for the first time.

16 March – Parramatta Stadium is opened. The Parramatta Eels defeat the St. George Dragons 36-6.
23 March – Robert de Castella is once again Australia's best finisher at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, this time staged in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He finishes in 14th place (36:10.9) in the long-distance race over 12,000 metres.
8 June – Stephen Austin wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:15:59 in Sydney, while Margaret Reddan claims the women's title in 2:48:28.
29 June – Last game of rugby league is played at the Sydney Sports Ground. Eastern Suburbs Roosters defeat the North Sydney Bears 21-14.
27 September – The Hawthorn Hawks (16.14.110) defeat the Carlton Blues (9.14.68) to win the 90th VFL premiership.
28 September – The Parramatta Eels defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs 4-2 in the lowest scoring grand final in history to win the 79th NSWRL premiership.
Brownlow Medal awarded to Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
Farrier Command 10 "Aussie" was constructed and launched.
At Talaq wins Melbourne Cup ridden by Michael Clarke.