3 January – One man is killed and another is injured following a double stabbing at the Asia-Pacific headquarters of the Church of Scientology in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood.[1][2]
5 January – A far-right political rally held in Melbourne, marked by scuffles with police and counter-protesters, is attended by Independent Senator Fraser Anning, who admits to using tax-payer funded travel to attend the event.[3][4][5]
7 January – A mass fish die-off occurs on the Lower Darling River at Menindee Lakes. Up to 1 million fish, including endangered species, ultimately die in what is described as possibly the largest fish die-off in Australian history.[6][7]
29 January – The South Australian Murray Darling Basin Royal Commission report is released. The commission, which commenced in 2018, was critical of the Murray Darling Basin Plan and the Commonwealth Murray Darling Basin Authority.[10][11]
February
Four people are killed and over a thousand people remain evacuated from homes in Townsville as flooding peaks in the city, following a metre of rainfall in the first week of the month. Among the dead were two men on 4 February, and two young boys on 25 February, all from drowning.[12][13][14]
12 February – The Liberal-National Coalition government becomes the first Australian federal government to lose a vote on its own legislation in 78 years, after a defeat on the floor of the House of Representatives.[16]
13 February – Nineteen homes are destroyed by bushfires in the New England and Northern Rivers regions of New South Wales.[17]
26 February – Following the lifting of a suppression order, it is revealed that Cardinal George Pell had been convicted in December 2018 of sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996.[18]
March
13 March – Cardinal George Pell is sentenced to six years in prison following his conviction over the sexual abuse of two choirboys.[19]
19 March – a few days prior to the state election, a video from September 2018 surfaced in which NSW Labor leader Michael Daley made comments about Asian immigration in Sydney. Daley said "Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs," and "So there's a transformation happening in Sydney now where our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in and taking their jobs".[20][21]
11 April – Actor Geoffrey Rush is awarded $850,000 in damages after winning a defamation case against The Daily Telegraph.[24]
12–14 April – After 25 years, Australia's Dirt n Dust Festival is held for the final time at Julia Creek, Queensland.[25] Although scheduled for 2020 and 2021, those events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26][27] It was announced in 2021 that the festival had been permanently cancelled due to a lack of volunteers.[28]
May
16 May – Bob Hawke, Australia's 23rd Prime Minister, dies at the age of 89.
4 June – At least four men are killed and a woman is injured after a 45-year-old gunman allegedly goes on a shooting spree in the city centre of Darwin, Northern Territory.[31]
8–27 July – A biennial joint Australia-United States military exercise Talisman Saber 2019 is held.
August
13 August – 2019 Sydney stabbing attack
16 August – Pro-Hong Kong protesters clash with pro-China supporters in Melbourne, while police are forced to intervene during similar confrontations in Sydney and Adelaide, following the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[35]
21 August – The Victorian Court of Appeal dismisses George Pell's appeal to overturn his conviction for child sex offences.[36]
29 August – An attempt to deport the Sri LankanTamilNadesalingam familyasylum seekers was thwarted by a last-minute injunction, forcing the plane carrying the couple and their children out of Australia to land in Darwin.[37]
September
9 September – Homes and buildings, including the historic Binna Burra Lodge, are destroyed by a bushfire in Queensland's Scenic Rim region.[38]
8 November – Three people are killed and 150 homes are destroyed by a large number of bushfires burning across New South Wales and South East Queensland.[41][42]
11 November – A week-long State of Emergency is declared in New South Wales and the Australian Defence Force is put on alert amid mounting bushfire warnings.[43][42]
December
30–31 December – Eight people are killed, hundreds of homes are destroyed and the Royal Australian Navy is mobilised to assist evacuation efforts following bushfires on the New South Wales South Coast and in Victoria's East Gippsland[44][45]
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