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← 1867 1866 1865 1868 in Australia → 1869 1870 1871
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	Other events of 1868 Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1868 in Australia.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Victoria

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore
• Governor of Queensland – Sir George Bowen, then Colonel Sir Samuel Blackall
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Dominick Daly until 19 February
• Governor of Tasmania – Colonel Thomas Browne, then Charles Du Cane
• Governor of Victoria – Sir John Manners-Sutton
• Governor of Western Australia – Dr John Hampton, then Sir Benjamin Pine

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales – James Martin, until 27 October then John Robertson
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Mackenzie, until 25 November then Charles Lilley
• Premier of South Australia – Henry Ayers, until 24 September then John Hart (2nd time), until 13 October then Henry Ayers (4th time), until 3 November then Henry Strangways
• Premier of Tasmania – Richard Dry
• Premier of Victoria – James McCulloch, until 6 May then Charles Sladen, until 11 July then James McCulloch (2nd time)

Events

• 10 January – The last convict ship to Western Australia, the Hougoumont, arrives in Western Australia. This brought the end of penal transportation to Australia.
• February–May – A series of atrocities in retaliation to the killing of a police officer, a police assistant, and a local workman result in the deaths of between 15 and 150 Aboriginal people around Flying Foam Passage on Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) in Western Australia. These atrocities are later referred to as the Flying Foam Massacre.
• 5 March – The Queensland Parliament passes the Polynesian Labourers Act to regulate the employment of Pacific Islanders recruited through blackbirding.
• 12 March – Henry James O'Farrell fires a revolver into the back of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (second son of Queen Victoria) while the latter is picnicking in the beachfront suburb of Clontarf. It was Australia's first attempted political assassination. O'Farrell first claimed that he was acting under instruction from Melbourne Fenians but later retracted the claims. He had problems with alcoholism and mental illness.

Economy

• The Geelong Woollen Company sets up the first woollen mill in Australia.

Sport

• May to October – The first Australian cricket team to tour overseas plays against several English teams, winning 14 matches, losing 14 and drawing 19.
• 3 November – Glencoe wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

• 21 February – Ernest Roberts, South Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1913)
• 19 June – Richard Crouch, Victorian politician (d. 1949)
• 27 October – William Gillies, 21st Premier of Queensland (d. 1928)
• 14 November – Steele Rudd, author (d. 1935)

Deaths

• 21 April – Henry James O'Farrell, attempted assassin (born in Ireland) (b. 1833)
• 10 June – Charles Harpur, poet (b. 1813)
• 21 July – William Bland, New South Wales politician and medical practitioner (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1789)

References

1. Although formally appointed Governor, Pine never actually came to Western Australia to take up his post; the role was filled by an administrator, Lieutenant Colonel John Bruce.
2. ^ Australia through Time (16th ed.). North Sydney NSW: Random House Australia. 2009. ISBN 9781741668865.
3. "Polynesian Laborers Act 1868". Queensland Government Gazette. Vol. IX, no. 47. 4 March 1868. p. 217. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Text Queensland.
4. "Intercolonial news: Queensland". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LVII, no. 9304. New South Wales, Australia. 16 March 1868. p. 2. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Trove.
5. Lyons, Mark & Nairn, Bede (1974). "O'Farrell, Henry James (1833–1868)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 5. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 9 January 2021.

v t e Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Timeline of Australian history

• 1868 in Australia
• 1868 by country
• Years of the 19th century in Australia