The following lists events that happened during1956 in Australia.

← 1955 1954 1953 1956 in Australia → 1957 1958 1959
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	1956 in Australian television 1956 in Australian literature Other events of 1956 Timeline of Australian history

• Monarch –Elizabeth II
• Governor-General –Sir William Slim
• Prime Minister –Robert Menzies
• Chief Justice –Sir Owen Dixon

• Premier of New South Wales –Joseph Cahill
• Premier of Queensland –Vince Gair
• Premier of South Australia –Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Tasmania –Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Victoria –Henry Bolte
• Premier of Western Australia –Albert Hawke

• Governor of New South Wales –Sir John Northcott
• Governor of Queensland –Sir John Lavarack
• Governor of South Australia –Sir Robert George
• Governor of Tasmania –Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
• Governor of Victoria –Sir Dallas Brooks
• Governor of Western Australia –Sir Charles Gairdner

• August - TheMurray River flooded (the biggest flood in recorded history), affecting many towns near the river.
• 22 November – The1956 Summer Olympics opened inMelbourne. The opening ceremony was held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground with 107,700 people watching.

• William Dargie wins theArchibald Prize for his portrait ofAlbert Namatjira
• Quadrant literary magazine is founded, edited byJames McAuley

• 16 September – Australia's first TV stationTCN-9 begins regular transmission inSydney
• 4 November -HSV-7 begins as Melbourne's first TV Station.
• 5 November – The first TV station of theAustralian Broadcasting Commission is launched;ABN-2 Sydney.

• 8 September –John Russell wins his first men's national marathon title, clocking 2:26:37.8 inMelbourne.
• Melbourne Cup winner in 1956 was Evening Peal, ridden by George Podmore Trained by E.D.Lawson
• New South Wales wins theSheffield Shield
• Kurrewa IV takes line honours andSolo wins on handicap in theSydney to Hobart Yacht Race
• New South Wales Rugby League premiership:St George defeatedBalmain
• Victorian Football League premiership:Melbourne defeatedCollingwood
• Australian Men's Tennis Championship was won byLew Hoad from NSW aged 22
• Australian Women's Tennis Championship was won byMiss Mary Carter

• 9 January –Bill Leak, editorial cartoonist (d.2017)
• 20 January –Richard Morecroft, English-Australian journalist
• 29 January –Ian Davies, basketball player (d.2013)
• 6 February –Ken Lorraway, triple jumper (d.2007)
• 27 February –Andrea Mitchell, Western Australian politician and sports administrator (d.2020)
• 7 March –David Koch, television personality
• 9 March –Steve Vizard, actor
• 9 May –Jana Wendt, journalist
• 22 May –Peter Ali, basketball player
• 15 July –Steve Mortimer, rugby league footballer
• 21 July –Andy Campbell, basketball player
• 31 July –Ernie Dingo, actor
• 12 August –Suzanne Twelftree, Paralympic wheelchair tennis player and powerlifter (d.2019)
• 17 August –John Kosmina, soccer player and manager
• 17 September –Ross Glendinning, Australian Rules footballer
• 17 September –Yunupingu, musician (Yothu Yindi) and community leader (d.2013)
• 7 November
  • Michael Wooldridge, politician
  • Gordon McLeod, basketball player and assistant coach.
• 14 November –John Anderson, politician
• 23 November –Shane Gould, swimmer
• 21 December –Mark McArdle, Queensland politician (d.2020)^[1]

• 20 March –Fanny Durack, (b.1889), swimmer^[2]
• 29 May –Frank Beaurepaire, (b.1891), swimmer and politician
• 12 July –John Hayes, (b.1868), Premier of Tasmania
• 9 August –Archie Cameron, politician (b.1895)^[3]

• List of Australian films of the 1950s

• 1956 in Australia
• 1956 by country
• Years of the 20th century in Australia

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2020
• Use Australian English from October 2022
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English