1909 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1909 in the Commonwealth of Australia.

Incumbents

 * Monarch – Edward VII
 * Governor-General – William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
 * Prime Minister – Andrew Fisher (until 2 June), then Alfred Deakin
 * Chief Justice – Samuel Griffith

State premiers

 * Premier of New South Wales – Charles Wade
 * Premier of South Australia – Thomas Price (until 5 June), then Archibald Peake
 * Premier of Queensland – William Kidston
 * Premier of Tasmania – John Evans (until 19 June), then Sir Elliott Lewis (until 20 October), then John Earle (until 27 October), then Sir Elliott Lewis
 * Premier of Western Australia – Sir Newton Moore
 * Premier of Victoria – Sir Thomas Bent (until 8 January), then John Murray

State governors

 * Governor of New South Wales – Admiral Sir Harry Rawson (until 24 March), then Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford (from 28 May)
 * Governor of South Australia – Sir George Le Hunte (until 2 January), then Sir Day Bosanquet (from 29 March)
 * Governor of Queensland – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford (until 26 May), then Sir William MacGregor (from 2 December)
 * Governor of Tasmania – Sir Gerald Strickland (until 20 May), then Sir Harry Barron (from 29 September)
 * Governor of Western Australia – Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford (until 23 April), then Sir Gerald Strickland (from 31 May)
 * Governor of Victoria – Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael

Events

 * 8 January – Sir Thomas Bent retires as Premier of Victoria, and is replaced by John Murray.
 * 9 March – Electric trams begin operation in Adelaide.
 * 31 March – Victoria is the last Australian state to grant women's suffrage.
 * 30 April – Tasmania begins to use the Hare-Clark single transferable vote method in the 1909 general election.
 * 26 May – The Protectionist Party and the Free Trade Party merge to form the Fusion Party, led by Alfred Deakin.
 * 2 June – The Labor government of Andrew Fisher is ousted from office by Alfred Deakin's Fusion Party, and Deakin becomes Prime Minister for the third time.
 * 5 June – Steam trams begin operation in Rockhampton, Queensland.
 * 18 to 21 August – Disastrous floods strike Victoria.
 * 6 October – Martha Rendell becomes the last woman to be hanged in Western Australia.
 * 9 October – John Earle becomes Premier of Tasmania, leading Tasmania's first Labor government, however Earle's minority government only lasts a week.
 * 6 December - the Newcastle–Bolgart Railway was opened.
 * 10 December – The University of Queensland is established.
 * 14 December – New South Wales passes law ceding land to the Commonwealth for construction of the national capital, Canberra.
 * 21 December – British Field Marshal Lord Kitchener arrives in Darwin after an invitation from Alfred Deakin to review Australia's military and defence plans.
 * 24 December – Former Prime Minister Sir George Reid resigns from Parliament to become Australia's first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Science and technology

 * 16 July – The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made.

Sport

 * 29 January – New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
 * 15 June – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
 * 21 August – Andrew Wood wins the inaugural men's national marathon title, clocking 2:59:15 in Brisbane. Though billed as the Australasian Championships, the Australian Athletic Union did not consider it to be the official championship.
 * 31 August – The first interstate ice hockey competition is held in Melbourne.
 * 14 September - The 1909 NSWRFL season culminates in the grand final which was forfeited by Balmain to make South Sydney back-to-back premiers
 * 29 October – The South Melbourne Swans defeat the Carlton Blues 4.14 (38) to 4.12 (36) in the 1909 VFL Grand Final.
 * 2 November – Prince Foote wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

 * 19 January – Leon Goldsworthy, explosives expert (died 1994)
 * 8 February – Elisabeth Murdoch, philanthropist (died 2012)
 * 13 February – Reginald Ansett, businessman and aviator (died 1981)
 * 2 March – Percival Bazeley, scientist (died 1991)
 * 19 March – Nell Hall Hopman, tennis player (died 1968)
 * 26 March – Chips Rafferty, actor (died 1971)
 * 9 April – Robert Helpmann, dancer and choreographer (died 1986)
 * 23 May – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, Governor General of Australia (died 1991)
 * 15 June – Cyril Walsh, High Court judge (died 1973)
 * 20 June – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (died 1959)
 * 23 June – Keith Virtue, aviator (died 1980)
 * 6 July – Eric Reece, Premier of Tasmania (died 1999)
 * 9 September – Decima Norman, athlete (died 1983)
 * 10 September – Dorothy Hill, geologist (died 1998)
 * 3 December – Stanley Burbury, Governor of Tasmania (died 1995)

Deaths

 * 9 February – Charles Conder, artist (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1868)
 * 4 March – Max Hirsch, Victorian politician, businessman and economist (born in Prussia and died in Russia) (b. 1852)
 * 14 March – William Charles Kernot, engineer (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1845)
 * 6 April – Sir Julian Salomons, 5th Chief Justice of New South Wales (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1835)
 * 18 April – William Saumarez Smith, Anglican archbishop (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1836)
 * 28 April – Henry D'Esterre Taylor, banker and federationist (b. 1853)
 * 23 May – Elias Solomon, Western Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1839)
 * 31 May – Thomas Price, 24th Premier of South Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1852)
 * 29 June – Sir George Shenton, Western Australian politician (died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1842)
 * 4 July – Alfred Compigne, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1818)
 * 23 July – Sir Frederick Holder, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
 * 8 August – Mary MacKillop, religious sister (b. 1842)
 * 18 September – Mary Lee, suffragette and social reformer (born in Ireland) (b. 1821)
 * 6 October – Martha Rendell, convicted murderer (b. 1871)
 * 10 November – George Essex Evans, poet (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1863)
 * 6 December – Sir William Henry Bundey, South Australian politician and judge (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1838)