The following lists events that happened during 1886 in Australia.
Contents
Incumbents
Monarch - Victoria
Premiers
Premier of New South Wales – John Robertson (until 25 February) then Patrick Jenning
Premier of Queensland – Samuel Griffith
Premier of South Australia – John Downer
Premier of Tasmania – Adye Douglas (til 8 March) then James Agnew
Premier of Victoria – James Service (til 18 February) then Duncan Gillies
Governors
Governor of New South Wales – Lord Carrington
Governor of Queensland – Anthony Musgrave
Governor of South Australia – William Robinson
Governor of Tasmania – George Strahan
Governor of Victoria – Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron Loch
Governor of the Crown Colony of Western Australia – Sir Frederick Broome
Events
25 January – The first assembly of the Federal Council of Australasia is held in Hobart.
30 May – The SS Ly-Ee-Moon sinks off Green Cape, New South Wales, with the loss of 71 persons.
12 June – William Spence chairs a meeting of shearers in Ballarat, Victoria at which the Australian Shearers Union is formed, an ancestor of the Australian Workers' Union.
Undated
Queen Victoria grants the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to the Clunies Ross family.
Sport
November – Arsenal wins the Melbourne Cup
England defeats Australia 3–0 in The Ashes
Births
3 January – Arthur Mailey (died 1967), cricketer and journalist
4 May – Aubrey Abbott (died 1975), politician and administrator of the Northern Territory
28 November – Margaret McIntyre (died 1948), politician[20]
Deaths
4 November – James Martin (born 1820), Premier of New South Wales