1939 in Australia

See also: 1938 in Australia, other events of 1939, 1940 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George VI
• Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruvthen, 1st Baron Gowrie
• Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons (until 7 April), then Sir Earle Page (until 26 April), then Robert Menzies

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens (until 5 August) then Alexander Mair
• Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie (until 10 June), then Edmund Dwyer-Gray (until 18 December), then Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
• Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Winston Dugan (until 23 February), then Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey (from 12 August)
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
• Governor of Victoria – William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield (until 4 April), then Sir Winston Dugan (from 17 July)
• Governor of Western Australia – none appointed

Events

• 13 January – The bushfires of Black Friday kill 70 people in Victoria.
• 27 March – The first CAC Wirraway training aircraft, A20-3, takes to the air at Fishermans Bend, Victoria.
• 7 April – Prime Minister Joseph Lyons dies of a sudden heart attack, the first Prime Minister to die in office. Sir Earle Page, the leader of the Country Party is appointed caretaker Prime Minister until the United Australia Party can elect a new leader.
• 26 April – Robert Menzies is elected leader of the United Australia Party, and is sworn in as Prime Minister.
• 10 June – Premier of Tasmania Albert Ogilvie dies in office. Edmund Dwyer-Gray acts as Premier until he is officially elected as leader of the Labor Party in Tasmania on 6 July.
• 3 September – World War II begins. Australia declares war on Germany, following the United Kingdom and British Dominions' declaration of same, after the German invasion of Poland.
• 15 September – Robert Menzies announces a new War Cabinet.
• 1 December – Australia agrees to take 15,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Europe, following the German occupation of Austria and Czechoslovakia.
• 18 December – Edmund Dwyer-Gray steps aside as Premier of Tasmania, by prior arrangement with Robert Cosgrove to assume the premiership.

Arts and literature

• Max Meldrum wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of The Hon G J Bell, Speaker of the House of Representatives

Sport

• Rivette wins the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup
• Mosaic wins the Cox Plate
• South Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
• The Balmain club wins the 1939 NSWRFL premiership

Births

• 6 January – Murray Rose, swimmer
• 29 January – Germaine Greer, academic and feminist
• 13 February – Andrew Peacock, politician
• 13 February- Allan Pearson, Australian Farmer and Rural Businessmen
• 5 March – Tony Rundle, Premier of Tasmania (1996–1998)
• 4 April – Alex George, botanist
• 7 April – Brett Whiteley (died 1992), artist
• 12 April – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league footballer
• 20 April – Elspeth Ballantyne, actress
• 12 May – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league footballer
• 12 July – Phillip Adams, broadcaster and writer
• 26 July – John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia (1996–2007)
• 5 September – George Lazenby, actor (James Bond)
• 8 October – Paul Hogan, comedian and actor
• 9 October – John Pilger, journalist and filmmaker
• 10 October – Clive James, writer and social commentator
• 25 November – Ian Smith, politician
• 26 December – Fred Schepisi, film director

Deaths

• 14 February – James Webb, NSW politician
• 9 March – Edwin Greenslade Murphy (born 1866), journalist and poet
• 7 April – Joseph Lyons (born 1879), Prime Minister of Australia (1932–1939) and Premier of Tasmania (1923–1928)
• 25 April – Sir Charles Powers (born 1853), High Court judge
• 10 June – Albert Ogilvie (born 1890), Premier of Tasmania (1934–1939)
• 6 August – James MacCallum Smith (born 1868), WA politician
• 30 August – Edward Sydney Simpson (born 1875), mineralogist and geochemist
• 3 October – Henry Augustus Ellis (born 1861), physician and federalist
• 22 October – Sir John Langdon Bonython (born 1848), politician and journalist
• 15 November – William Hill (born 1866), politician
• 6 December – Sir Ernest Scott (born 1867), historian