2002 in Australia

← 2001 2000 1999 2002 in Australia → 2003 2004 2005
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2002 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor General – Peter Hollingworth
• Prime Minister – John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia – Rob Kerin, then Mike Rann
• Premier of Queensland – Peter Beattie
• Premier of Tasmania – Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia – Geoffrey Gallop
• Premier of Victoria – Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Jon Stanhope
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Clare Martin
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – Geoffrey Robert Gardner

Events

• 20 January - The first of the Ashfield gang rapes takes place.
• 26 January – The Melbourne inner-city Birrarung Marr park was formally opened to the public.
• 9 February – The last remaining Liberal/National coalition state government is voted out in South Australia and replaced by an Australian Labor Party one, led by Mike Rann. It would be the last such Coalition state government until September 2008.
• February onwards – The worst drought in 100 years affects most of Australia, with water restrictions being put in place in Sydney, Melbourne and many other areas, and farmers being devastated by crop failures.
• 4 March- bankrupt airline Ansett Australia formerly ceases all operations, with its final flights that had been operating on a scaled down version of the once major carrier, flying for the last time. The airline's remaining 3,000 staff members are made redundant and the company falls into the history pages permanently after 66 years of operation.
• 31 March – Janelle Patton becomes Norfolk Island's first murder victim in 150 years.
• 7 July – The British Naval destroyer HMS Nottingham runs aground off Lord Howe Island. It is eventually sent out to Newcastle for basic repairs and on to Portsmouth in the UK for more detailed repairs.
• 20 July – The ALP government of Jim Bacon is re-elected for a second term in Tasmania.
• 19 October – The Australian Greens win their first seat in the House of Representatives when their candidate Michael Organ wins the Cunningham by-election on preferences.
• 21 October – Two people are killed & three others are injured in a shooting at Monash University. It was the first such mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.
• 27 October – Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is banned by the Attorney-General, in response to the Bali bombings of 12 October.
• 30 November – In Victoria, the Labor government of Steve Bracks is re-elected for a second term.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2002
• Tim Winton's novel Dirt Music wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• Crackerjack
• The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
• Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002. A true story of three girls journey home. It is a story of aboriginal pride, strength and love.

Television

• July – Kath & Kim premieres on the ABC and is a surprise hit.
• September – SBS launches its first Digital channel, the SBS World News Channel.

Sport

• 15 February – Steven Bradbury wins Australia's first Winter Olympic Games gold medal in the 1.000m men's short track speed skating. He only qualified for the finals after all the other competitors in his semifinal crashed, and in the final, he again saw all the other contenders crash in front of him.
• 17 February – Alisa Camplin wins gold in the women's aerial skiing contest. The favourite, Jacqui Cooper, also from Australia, severely injured herself whilst training & was out of action for some time.
• 11 April – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2001–2002 season, which are held at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane, Queensland. The 5,000 metres were conducted at Melbourne on Thursday 7 March 2002.
• 12 May – Olympic Sharks become NSL Champions for the second time, defeating Perth Glory 1-0 at Subiaco Oval in front of a crowd of the 42,735.
• August – The Bulldogs are deducted 37 competition points after breaking the salary cap scandal, which saw them fined half a million dollars and relegated from minor premiers to wooden spooners for 2002.
• 13 September – The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 49-44 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• 15 September – Jeremy Horne wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:25:27 in Sydney, while Heather Turland claims the women's title in 2:51:06.
• 28 September – The Brisbane Lions (10.15.75) defeat the Collingwood Magpies (9.12.66) to win the 106th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the second consecutive premiership for Brisbane.
• 6 October – The Sydney Roosters defeat the New Zealand Warriors 30-8 to win the 95th NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It marks the end of a 27-year premiership drought for the Roosters.
• 13 October – Mark Skaife and Jim Richards win the Bob Jane T-marts Bathurst 1000 defending the Holden Racing Team's 2001 win. It was Richards' seventh victory, more than anyone other than Peter Brock.
• 5 November – Media Puzzle wins the Melbourne Cup. This comes just days after jockey Damien Oliver's brother is killed after falling off his horse in a race.

Births

• 9 April - Jet Rowland (died 2004)
• Full date unknown - Nicholas McAnulty, child actor

Deaths

• 13 May – Ruth Cracknell (76), actress
• 16 May – Alec Campbell (103), Australia's last surviving ANZAC
• 19 May – John Gorton (90), 19th Prime Minister
• 25 May – Jack Pollard (75), sports writer and journalist
• 1 August – Theo Bruce (79), long jumper
• 25 August – Dorothy Hewett (79), poet, playwright and novelist