1937 in Australia

Updated on Apr 25, 2026

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Monarchy George VI Population 6,835,536		Prime minister Joseph Lyons Elections Federal, VIC, TAS
Governor-General Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie

See also: 1936 in Australia, other events of 1937, 1938 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

Monarch – King George VI

Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie

Prime Minister – Joseph Lyons

State Premiers

Premier of New South Wales – Bertram Stevens

Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith

Premier of South Australia – Richard L. Butler

Premier of Tasmania – Albert Ogilvie

Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan

Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors

Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst (from 8 April)

Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson

Governor of South Australia – Sir Winston Dugan

Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark

Governor of Victoria – William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield

Governor of Western Australia – none appointed

Events

9 February – Cairns is hit by a tropical cyclone.

15 February – An explosion kills 13 men at the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi, Victoria.

20 February – A general election is held in Tasmania. The incumbent Labor government led by Albert Ogilvie is returned to power.

1 March – Bernard O'Reilly locates the wreckage of an Airlines of Australia Stinson airliner, VH-UHH City of Brisbane, in the McPherson Range in southern Queensland. Two survivors are rescued, five others did not survive.

20 April – Regular airmail services begin between Australia and the USA.

23 October – The ACTU calls on the government to boycott trade with Japan, following the Japanese invasion of China.

Arts and literature

24 June – The Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board replaces the Book Censorship Advisory Committee, and temporarily lifts the ban on Ulysses by James Joyce.

Sunbaker by photographer Max Dupain

Sport

3 March – Captained by Don Bradman, Australia defeats England in the Fifth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, retaining The Ashes.

25 September – Geelong become premiers of the 1937 VFL season, defeating Collingwood 18.14 (122) to 12.18 (90).

19 November – Hubert Opperman completes an epic bicycle ride from Fremantle, Western Australia to Sydney, taking 13 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes.

Births

16 January – Lorraine Bayly, actor

19 January – John Lions, computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)

21 January

Peter Gallagher (died 2003), rugby league footballer

Michael Beahan, Labor Senator for Western Australia

25 January – John Watson, Liberal Senator for Tasmania

4 February – John Devitt, Olympic swimmer

19 February

Lee Harding, science fiction writer

Colin Ridgway, NFL American footballer (died 1993)

21 February – Ron Clarke, Olympic athlete

3 March – Kevin O'Halloran, Olympic swimmer

7 April – Louise Faulkner, missing woman

19 April – Lindsay Fox, businessman

27 May – Peter Pinne, writer and composer

1 June – Colleen McCullough, novelist (died 2015)

11 June – Robin Warren, Nobel Prize-winning pathologist

26 July

Alan Cadman, politician

Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania (1995–2003)

28 August – Tony Marchant, Olympic track cyclist

1 September – Ian Callinan, High Court judge

4 September – Dawn Fraser, Olympic swimmer

17 September – Gary Chapman, Olympic swimmer

18 September – Barry Muir, rugby league footballer

3 October – John Hodges, Minister for Immigration (1982–1983)

10 October – Bruce Devlin, golfer

21 November – John Kerin, politician

12 December

Michael Jeffery, Governor-General of Australia

Judy Tegart, tennis player

17 December – Kerry Packer, businessman (died 2005)

Deaths

14 February – Walter Burley Griffin (born 1876), architect of Canberra (died in India)

18 March – Walter Wilson Froggatt (born 1858), geologist and economic entomologist

9 June – Charles Chewings (born 1859), geologist and anthropologist

10 July – Thomas Brentnall (born 1846), accountant and musician

22 July – Ted McDonald (born 1891), cricketer and Australian Rules footballer (Essendon, Fitzroy)

28 July – Sir George Hyde (born 1877), head of the Royal Australian Navy

14 August – Bruce Smith (born 1851), politician

28 August – George Prendergast (born 1854), Premier of Victoria (1924)

28 September – William Ramsay Smith (born 1859), anthropologist

2 October – Sir Granville Ryrie (born 1865), soldier soldier

4 November – Alfred Walter Campbell (born 1868), neurologist

6 November – William Moore (born 1868), art and drama critic

17 November – Jack Worrall (born 1860), cricketer and Australian Rules footballer

19 November – Rayner Hoff (born 1894), sculptor

27 November – Walter Howchin (born 1845), geologist

11 December – Godfrey Irving (born 1867), soldier and Chief of the General Staff (1915)

16 December – Sir Murray Bourchier (born 1881), soldier and Deputy Premier of Victoria

References

1937 in Australia Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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