1874 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1874 in Australia.

Governors
Governors of the Australian colonies:
 * Governor of New South Wales – Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead
 * Governor of Queensland – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
 * Governor of South Australia – Sir Anthony Musgrave
 * Governor of Tasmania – Charles Du Cane
 * Governor of Victoria – Sir George Bowen
 * Governor of Western Australia – The Hon. Sir Frederick Weld GCMG.

Premiers
Premiers of the Australian colonies:
 * Premier of New South Wales – Sir Henry Parkes
 * Premier of Queensland – Arthur Hunter Palmer until 7 January, then Arthur Macalister
 * Premier of South Australia – John Hart until 10 November, then Arthur Blyth
 * Premier of Tasmania – Alfred Kennerley
 * Premier of Victoria – Charles Gavan Duffy until 31 July, then George Kerferd

Events

 * 8 January – Arthur Macalister becomes Premier of Queensland for the third time.
 * 10 March – Ernest Giles is the first European to explore and later names (12 March) the Petermann Ranges.
 * 1 April – John Forrest leads an expedition from Geraldton, Western Australia across the Gibson Desert to the Peake telegraph station in South Australia.
 * 15 June – Brisbane's first Victoria Bridge opens; it is lost in the 1893 Brisbane flood.
 * 31 July – George Kerferd becomes Premier of Victoria.
 * 28 September – Victorian Humane Society established; it later becomes the Royal Humane Society of Australasia.
 * 6 November – University of Adelaide established by act of the South Australian Parliament; it opened in 1876.

Arts and literature

 * Marcus Clarke's For the Term of his Natural Life is published in book form

Sport

 * Southern Rugby Union is established; renamed New South Wales Rugby Union in 1892
 * Haricot wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

 * 2 March – Gregan McMahon, actor and theatre director (d. 1941)
 * 3 March – Ada Crossley, singer (d. 1929
 * 17 September – Walter Murdoch, essayist (d. 1970)
 * 17 October – Sir Lionel Lindsay, painter (d. 1961)

Deaths

 * 1 February – Alexander Harris, soldier, teacher and author (b. 1805)
 * 6 April – Michael Fenton, first Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (b. 1789)
 * 17 May – Sir Roger Therry, jurist (b. 1800)
 * date unknown
 * Robert Menli Lyon, Aboriginal advocate (b. 1789)