1937 in Australia

See also: 1936 in Australia, other events of 1937, 1938 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George VI
• Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie
• Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens
• Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
• Premier of South Australia – Richard L. Butler
• Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie
• Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
• Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst (from 8 April)
• 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

• 9 February – Cairns is hit by a tropical cyclone.
• 15 February – An explosion kills 13 men at the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi, Victoria.
• 20 February – A general election is held in Tasmania. The incumbent Labor government led by Albert Ogilvie is returned to power.
• 1 March – Bernard O'Reilly locates the wreckage of an Airlines of Australia Stinson airliner, VH-UHH City of Brisbane, in the McPherson Range in southern Queensland. Two survivors are rescued, five others did not survive.
• 20 April – Regular airmail services begin between Australia and the USA.
• 23 October – The ACTU calls on the government to boycott trade with Japan, following the Japanese invasion of China.

Arts and literature

• 24 June – The Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board replaces the Book Censorship Advisory Committee, and temporarily lifts the ban on Ulysses by James Joyce.
• Sunbaker by photographer Max Dupain

Sport

• 3 March – Captained by Don Bradman, Australia defeats England in the Fifth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, retaining The Ashes.
• 25 September – Geelong become premiers of the 1937 VFL season, defeating Collingwood 18.14 (122) to 12.18 (90).
• 19 November – Hubert Opperman completes an epic bicycle ride from Fremantle, Western Australia to Sydney, taking 13 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes.

Births

• 16 January – Lorraine Bayly, actor
• 21 January
  • Peter Gallagher (died 2003), rugby league footballer
  • Michael Beahan, Labor Senator for Western Australia
• 25 January – John Watson, Liberal Senator for Tasmania
• 4 February – John Devitt, Olympic swimmer
• 19 February
  • Lee Harding, science fiction writer
  • Colin Ridgway, NFL American footballer (died 1993)
• 21 February – Ron Clarke, Olympic athlete
• 3 March – Kevin O'Halloran, Olympic swimmer
• 7 April – Louise Faulkner, missing woman
• 19 April – Lindsay Fox, businessman
• 27 May – Peter Pinne, writer and composer
• 1 June – Colleen McCullough, novelist
• 11 June – Robin Warren, Nobel Prize-winning pathologist
• 26 July
  • Alan Cadman, politician
  • Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania (1995–2003)
• 28 August – Tony Marchant, Olympic track cyclist
• 1 September – Ian Callinan, High Court judge
• 4 September – Dawn Fraser, Olympic swimmer
• 17 September – Gary Chapman, Olympic swimmer
• 18 September – Barry Muir, rugby league footballer
• 3 October – John Hodges, Minister for Immigration (1982–1983)
• 10 October – Bruce Devlin, golfer
• 21 November – John Kerin, politician
• 12 December
  • Michael Jeffery, Governor-General of Australia
  • Judy Tegart, tennis player
• 17 December – Kerry Packer, businessman (died 2005)

Deaths

• 14 February – Walter Burley Griffin (born 1876), architect of Canberra (died in India)
• 18 March – Walter Wilson Froggatt (born 1858), geologist and economic entomologist
• 9 June – Charles Chewings (born 1859), geologist and anthropologist
• 10 July – Thomas Brentnall (born 1846), accountant and musician
• 22 July – Ted McDonald (born 1891), cricketer and Australian Rules footballer (Essendon, Fitzroy)
• 28 July – Sir George Hyde (born 1877), head of the Royal Australian Navy
• 14 August – Bruce Smith (born 1851), politician
• 28 August – George Prendergast (born 1854), Premier of Victoria (1924)
• 28 September – William Ramsay Smith (born 1859), anthropologist
• 2 October – Sir Granville Ryrie (born 1865), soldier
• 4 November – Alfred Walter Campbell (born 1868), neurologist
• 6 November – William Moore (born 1868), art and drama critic
• 17 November – Jack Worrall (born 1860), cricketer and Australian Rules footballer
• 19 November – Rayner Hoff (born 1894), sculptor
• 27 November – Walter Howchin (born 1845), geologist
• 11 December – Godfrey Irving (born 1867), soldier and Chief of the General Staff (1915)
• 16 December – Sir Murray Bourchier (born 1881), soldier and Deputy Premier of Victoria