1953 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1953 in Australia.

← 1952 1951 1950 1953 in Australia → 1954 1955 1956
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1953 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – William McKell (until 8 May), then Sir William Slim
• Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
• Sir Owen Dixon

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
• Premier of Queensland – Vince Gair
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
• John Cain I
• Albert Hawke

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott
• Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George (from 23 February)
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

• 20 March – The Television Act is passed by parliament, setting regulations for the broadcast of television in Australia, although television transmission did not commence until 1956.
• 2 June –
  Queen of Australia takes place at Westminster Abbey
• 29 October –
  San Francisco
  , killing 19 people.
• 4 December – Oil is discovered in the Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia.

Science and technology

The first town to fluoridate the water supply in Australia was Beaconsfield, Tasmania.^[1]

Arts and literature

• The New House in Oakleigh, Victoria
• Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir Henry Simpson Newland
• Blake Prize for Religious Art
  with his work The Evangelist John Mark

Sport

• Athletics
  • 26 September – Roland Guy wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:24:48 in Sydney.
• Cricket
  • Sheffield Shield
• Football
  • 23 May:
    Footscray in appalling conditions. Allan Ruthven
    kicks a late goal to save them from this ignominy.
  • 1 August: Collingwood end Geelong's record 26-game unbeaten streak, which still stand, when they win 10.15 (75) to 7.13 (55).
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by West Torrens
  • Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Geelong
    77–65
• Rugby league
  • Easts
    21–4
  • 1953 NSWRFL season ends with South Sydney defeating St. George 31–12 in the Grand Final
  • 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand takes place with the Americans playing matches hosted by various Australian teams including the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons.
• Golf
  • Australian Open: won by Norman Von Nida
  • Australian PGA Championship: won by Ossie Pickworth
• Horse racing
  • My Hero wins the Caulfield Cup
  • Hydrogen wins the
    Cox Plate
  • Wodalla wins the Melbourne Cup
• Motor racing
  • The
    Albert Park and won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago
• Tennis
  • Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall defeats Mervyn Rose
    6–0 6–3 6–4
  • Julie Sampson Haywood
    6–3 6–2
  • Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3–2 in the 1953 Davis Cup final
  • Men's Doubles
• Yachting
  • Solveig IV takes line honours and Ripple wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

• 16 January – Vic Aanensen, Australian rules football player
• 4 February – Pam Allan, politician
• 5 February – Rod Jones, Australian novelist
• 14 February – Greg Browning, field hockey player
• 4 March
  • Scott Hicks, film director
  • Ray Price, rugby league footballer
• 7 March – Peter Webb, politician
• 15 March – Randall Goff, water polo player
• 17 March
  • Margaret Jackson, businesswoman
  • Mary-Louise McLaws, epidemiologist (died 2023)
• 12 April – Mike Munro, journalist
• 16 April – Peter Garrett, singer and politician
• 21 April
  • John Brumby, politician
  • Ron Hoenig, politician and barrister
• 30 April – Craig Baumann, politician
• 2 May –
  Chris Anderson
  , rugby league footballer and coach
• 8 May
  • Linda Dessau, 29th Governor of Victoria (2015–present)
  • Tony Doyle, politician (died 1994)
• 20 May – Robert Doyle, politician
• 16 June – Sandra Nori, politician
• 24 June – Michael Tuck, Australian Rules football player
• 1 July
  • David Gulpilil, actor (died 2021)
  • Allan Shearan, politician
• 13 July – Andrew Tink, politician
• 21 July – Jeff Fatt, musician (The Cockroaches and The Wiggles)
• 23 July – Geoff Corrigan, politician
• 17 August – Noni Hazlehurst, actress
• 26 August – General David Hurley, AC, DSC, Chief of the Defence Force (2011–2014)
• 9 September – Janet Fielding, actress
• 11 September – Renée Geyer, singer (died 2023)
• 27 September – Greg Ham, musician (Men at Work) (died 2012)
• 13 November – Bob Brett, tennis coach (died 2021)
• 25 November – Graham Eadie, rugby league footballer
• 12 December – Martin Ferguson, politician

Deaths

• 28 January – James Scullin, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876
  )
• 12 February – Sir Hal Colebatch, 12th Premier of Western Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1872
  )
• 18 February – Denis Lutge, rugby league and union footballer (b. 1879
  )
• 6 March – Stephen Moreno, composer (born in Spain and died in France) (b. 1889
  )
• 2 May – Trevor Oldham, 13th Deputy Premier of Victoria (died in India) (b. 1900
  )
• 22 May – Louis Lavater, composer (b. 1867
  )
• 25 August – Jessie Aspinall, doctor, first female junior medical resident at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (b. 1880)^[2]
• 1 September – Bernard O'Dowd, journalist, author, and poet (b. 1866)^[3]
• Reginald Baker, athlete, sports promoter and film actor (died in the United States) (b. 1884
  )
• 20 December – King O'Malley, Tasmanian politician (born in the United States) (b. 1858
  )

• List of Australian films of the 1950s

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1953 in Australia.