1–10 January – The Kimberley and northern parts of Western Australia are severely affected by flooding caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie.[4] The Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing peaks at a record 15.81 metres on 4 January, with the bridge which carries the Great Northern Highway across the river damaged beyond repair.[4] Over 200 people evacuated from several communities with authorities declaring it the worst flooding the state has ever seen prompting prime minister Anthony Albanese and state premier Mark McGowan to visit the flood affected areas to inspect the damage.[5] The system eventually dissipates on 8 January and the Australian Defence Force is deployed to the area to help with the recovery efforts.[4][6]
1 January – Residents in Menindee, New South Wales are warned to prepare for the highest flood levels in fifty years with the Darling River expected to peak at 10.7 metres.[7]
3 January – A Tasmanian prisoner who absconded from custody while receiving treatment at the Royal Hobart Hospital just before 11 pm the previous evening is found shot dead at Granton at approximately 1:30 am.[9] Three men are subsequently charged with his murder and an investigation into how he escaped from custody is launched.[10][11][12]
12–17 January – Heavy rainfall causes widespread flooding across large parts of North Queensland.[15][16]
12 January –
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese becomes the first foreign leader to address the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.[17] Albanese and Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape also sign a joint statement pledging that the two countries will reach a new security deal by the end of April.[18]
18 January – An engine fails on a Qantas twin-jet Boeing 737 aircraft en route from New Zealand to Australia prompting the pilot of flight QF144 to declare a mayday before it arrives safely in Sydney.[24]
22 January – Two West Australian women are killed when a boat crashes into a channel marker in the Mandurah estuary including the mother of West Coast Eagles player Rhett Bazzo.[25] The skipper of the boat is later charged with two counts of manslaughter.[26]
24 January – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Alice Springs amid the town's youth crime crisis but is criticised for only spending four hours in the community.[27][28] Restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Alice Springs are introduced by the Northern Territory government in an attempt to combat the amount of crime.[29] The restrictions are put in place following calls from mayor Matt Paterson for the Australian Federal Police to be deployed to the town.[30]
25 January – An arrest warrant is issued for pro-Russian YouTuber Simeon Boikov after failing to appear in court accused of assaulting a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally at Sydney Town Hall in December 2022, prompting Boikov to take refuge in the Russian consulate.[31][32]
Victoria coroner Simon McGregor hands down his findings into the death in custody of Veronica Nelson at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on 2 January 2020 four days after her arrest on suspicious of shoplifting on 30 December 2019.[35] He criticises the state government for failing to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and finds the state's bail act discriminatory towards First Nations people, incompatible with the Charter of Human Rights and that the changes to the act in 2018 were a "complete, unmitigated disaster".[35]
Thousands of people at the Alice Springs Convention Centre for a "Save Alice Springs" town meeting organised by local business owner Garth Thompson to discuss the crime issues affecting the town.[36] Residents discuss the possibility of launching a $1.5 billion compensation claim against the Northern Territory Government for negligence.[36] The one-hour meeting ends after just 20 minutes after attendees shouted down Thompson for suggesting truant school children be reported to police for a welfare check.[36]
3 February – Despite pleading guilty one count of common assault, Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has the charge dismissed by ACT magistrate Beth Campbell who decides no conviction should be recorded against Kyrgios.[40]
9 February – Former Liberal Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge announces his resignation in parliament, effective from the end of the following week.[43]
12–15 February – At least 21 structures including homes are destroyed in several bushfires burning on Queensland's Western Downs.[44][45] The separate fires near Tara, Miles and Jandowae burn a combined total of 150,000 hectares of land.[45]
17 February – New South Wales finance minister Damien Tudehope resigns from state cabinet after it's discovered he failed to disclose he has shares in Transurban.[47]
26 February – Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape announces that University of Southern Queensland professor Bryce Barker and two of his colleagues have been released from captivity more than a week after they were kidnapped by a criminal gang while doing archaeological fieldwork in Papua New Guinea.[53]
March
1–15 March – Major flooding in the upper Victoria River affects remote Northern Territory communities prompting the evacuation of residents to Darwin.[54] The flooding also severs road and rail links between the Northern Territory and Western Australia impacting the supply of fresh food and essential supplies.[55][56]
6 March – The historic Pride of the Murraypaddle wheeler sinks in the Thomson River at Longreach in Central West Queensland with police treating the incident as suspicious.[58] The vessel, which had been trucked to Longreach from Victoria in 2022, is raised from the riverbed in September 2023 with the owner hopeful of it being restored in time for its 100th anniversary in 2024.[59][60]
8 March – Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese commences a four-day bilateral visit to India at the invitation of Indian prime minister Shri Narendra Modi.[61] During the visit, both prime ministers ride in a chariot in a lap of honour at the fourth cricket test at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.[62]
19 March – Victorian Liberal leader of the opposition, John Pesutto announced, that he would move to have Moira Deeming expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after she spoke at an anti-trans rally outside the Victorian Parliament.[74][75][76] In the end, a compromise was made with Deeming accepting a nine-month suspension from the party instead of expulsion from the party.[77]
22 March – Ten Australian Defence Force personnel survive after the MRH-90 Taipan army helicopter they were on ditches into the sea at Jervis Bay during counterterrorism exercises.[78][79]
26 March – Former US president Barack Obama arrives in Australia for several public speaking engagements.[82] Controversy arises when organisers of the event in Melbourne prevent 78-year-old Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy from delivering the Welcome to Country and is allegedly told she was being "too difficult" for requesting a support person and the opportunity to present Obama with a gift as per cultural practice.[83][84]
30 March – Following the 2023 New South Wales state election, Mark Latham NSW One Nation leader published a tweet in response to comments by gay politician Alex Greenwich. Latham's tweet included an explicit and derogatory description of anal sex: "Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your dick up a bloke's arse and covering it with shit?".[85] The comments were deemed to be homophobic by Alex Greenwich and other politicians,[86][87] Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson criticised Latham and called for him to apologise.[88][86]
Terence Darrell Kelly, the man who kidnapped 4-year-old Cleo Smith from her family's tent during a camping trip in Western Australia and held her captive for more than two weeks, is sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail.[94]
After a party room meeting, it was announced that the Liberal Party of Australia will oppose the Voice citing constitutional risks. All members of the shadow ministry are bound by this decision but a conscience vote is allowed for backbencher members.
13 April – Cyclone Ilsa crosses the Western Australia coast between Port Hedland and Bidyadanga as a category 5 system just before midnight local time.[95]
20 April – Large crowds gather in Exmouth, Western Australia to experience a rare total solar eclipse.[97]
22 April – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles announce that the wreck of Japanese transport ship Montevideo Maru had been discovered in the South China Sea.[98] An estimated total of 979 Australian prisoners of war and civilians were on board when it was sunk by American submarine USS Sturgeon in 1942 during World War II making it the worst maritime disaster in Australia's history.[99]
27 April – In what is her first official Australian engagement in ten years, Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark arrives in Sydney for a 24-hour visit, leading a Danish delegation to discuss Australia's sustainability and its transition to green energy.[100][101]
May
2 May – Vanessa Hudson is announced as the new chief executive officer of Qantas to succeed Alan Joyce when he officially retires in November.[102]
10 May – The ACT Government announces plans to force an acquisition on the Christian Calvary Hospital, Canberra hospital land and assets.[111] Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher condemned the proposal as an abuse of property rights and religious freedom, acquiring the hospital to force an "anti-life agenda" by performing abortions and assisted suicide. The Opposition Canberra Liberals also oppose the acquisition.[112][113][114][115]
12 May – Lara Alexander, alongside fellow Tasmanian Liberal John Tucker state MP, quits the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, in part due to concerns related to the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project. This leaves the Liberal Party in minority government and requiring seven seats to reach a majority in the next state election.[116]
16 May – A school bus crashes west of Melbourne with 45 children on board.[117]
17 May – A 95-year-old woman with dementia is tasered by a New South Wales police officer at an aged care facility in Cooma, New South Wales and sustains serious injuries after falling and fracturing her skull.[118] The officer is charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.[119] The woman later dies in hospital from her injuries.[120]
21 May – Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles is allegedly accosted and harassed by anti-fracking protestors while running the final five kilometres of the West Macs Monster – an annual 25 km running event along the Larapinta Trail.[121]
22 May – Indian prime minister Shri Narendra Modi arrives in Australia for a two-day visit to Australia during which he meets business and political leaders including prime minister Anthony Albanese.[122]
Western Australia premier Mark McGowan announces his intention to resign, citing exhaustion as his reason for stepping down.[126]
22-year-old Queensland sailor Xavier Doerr departs the Gold Coast on his attempt to break the records for the fastest solo and fastest non-stop circumnavigation of Australia.[127]
1 June – Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith loses a civil defamation trial in which he attempted to sue newspapers the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Canberra Times and journalists Chris Masters, Nick McKenzie and David Wroe.[129] Roberts-Smith is found to have committed war crimes in Afghanistan with Justice Anthony Besanko ruling that the newspapers and journalists had established substantial or contextual truth regarding alleged unlawful killings and bullying.[130]
5 June – New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley announces Kathleen Folbigg had been pardoned and would be released from the Clarence Correctional Centre in Grafton, New South Wales where she had been imprisoned for 20 years.[131] When making the announcement, Daley releases the summary findings prepared by an inquiry led by Justice Thomas Bathurst into Folbigg's 2003 convictions of killing her four children.[131]
14 June – Independent senator Lidia Thorpe uses parliamentary privilege in The Senate to accuse Liberal Party senator David Van of inappropriate behaviour.[138] Although Thorpe later returns to withdraw the remarks citing standing orders, her accusations prompt more women including former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker to come forward to raise further allegations against Van, all of which he strongly denies.[138][139] After he is removed from the Liberal Party's party room by Peter Dutton following the allegations, Van resigns from the Liberal Party and moves to the crossbench, although Dutton encourages Van to resign from parliament altogether.[140][141] In his resignation letter to the Victorian branch president Greg Mirabella, Van complains about not being afforded procedural fairness.[140]
20 June – Nestlé announces its decision to stop manufacturing Allen's Fantales, citing declining sales and the need for expensive upgrades at its factory to continue making the product.[143]
22 June – Queensland's oldest winery, the heritage-listed Romavilla Winery at Roma is destroyed by fire.[144]
27 June - Sydney drug lord Alen Moradian, 48, who held high-level links to the Comanchero bikie gang, was shot dead in an underground carpark at Bondi Junction.[145]
3 July – Indonesian president Joko Widodo arrives in Sydney for a 36-hour visit to Australia during which he meets with business and political leaders including prime minister Anthony Albanese.[148]
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