Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Sir William Slim
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
Premier of Queensland – Vince Gair
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – John Cain I (until 7 June), then Henry Bolte
Premier of Western Australia – Albert Hawke
Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott
Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack
Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner
19 February – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established at a meeting in Bangkok.
22–28 February – 1955 Hunter Valley floods: Enormous flooding of the Hunter River and adjacent areas of the Murray–Darling basin causes loss of life and set many rainfall and streamflow records.
19 April – Australian Labor Party split of 1955. Expelled members form the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), predecessor of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
28 May – A state election is held in Victoria. John Cain's Labor government is defeated by the Liberal and Country Party, led by Henry Bolte.
August – Widespread floods and exceedingly persistent rainfall effect the southern fringe of the continent.
12 August – The aircraft carrier HMAS Vengeance is returned to the British Royal Navy.
21 August – The Consolidated Zinc Corporation announced it has discovered bauxite at Weipa, Queensland.
28 October – The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne is commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy.
16 November – The Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth, South Australia is established.
23 November – The Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean are transferred from British to Australian control.
10 December – Federal election: The incumbent Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden defeat the Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt. Malcolm Fraser first enters Parliament as Liberal member for Wannon.
Science and technology
The Guthega power station becomes the first to generate electricity in the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Arts and literature
28 November – Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll receives its stage premiere by the Union Theatre Repertory Company in Melbourne with the playwright in a leading role; this is influential as the first authentically naturalistic modern drama in the theatre of Australia
19 December – Dame Edna Everage makes her first stage appearance, in Melbourne
John Brack paints The Car and Collins St., 5 pm in Oakleigh, Victoria
Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Robert Campbell Esq.
Donald Friend wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work St John and Scenes from the Apocalypse
Patrick White's novel The Tree of Man is published
Alan Marshall's childhood autobiography I Can Jump Puddles is published
Jedda, a film by Charles Chauvel, is released
Sport and recreation
Board games
19 January – Australian debut of Scrabble
Cricket
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
England defeats Australia 3–1 in The Ashes
Football
South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
Victorian Football League premiership: Melbourne defeated Collingwood 64–36
Rugby
Bledisloe Cup: won by the All Blacks
Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Valleys defeat Brothers 17–7
New South Wales Rugby League premiership: South Sydney defeat Newtown 12–11
Golf
Australian Open: won by Bobby Locke
Australian PGA Championship: won by Ossie Pickworth
Horse Racing
Rising Fast wins the Caulfield Cup
Kingster wins the Cox Plate
Toparoa wins the Melbourne Cup
Motor Racing
The Australian Grand Prix is held at Port Wakefield and won by Jack Brabham driving a Cooper Bristol
Tennis
Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall defeats Lew Hoad 9–7 6–4 6–4
Australian Open women's singles: Beryl Penrose Collier defeats Thelma Coyne Long 6–4 6–3
Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 5–0 in the 1955 Davis Cup final
Wimbledon: Rex Hartwig and Lew Hoad win the Gentlemen's Doubles
Yachting
Even takes line honours and Moonbi wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
1 January – Mario Andreacchio, film director
13 January – Paul Kelly, rock musician
10 February – Greg Norman, golfer
4 March – Tim Costello, Baptist minister and CEO of World Vision
23 April – Judy Davis, actress
3 May – David Hookes (died 2004), cricketer
31 May – Tommy Emmanuel, guitarist
23 June – Alan J. Gow, motorsport executive
5 July – Peter McNamara, tennis player
24 July – David Smith, race walker
27 July – Allan Border, cricketer
5 August – Robert Flower (died 2014), footballer
19 August – Mary-Anne Fahey, actress and comedian
5 October – Wilbur Wilde, saxophonist
8 October – Paul Lennon, Premier of Tasmania
11 December – David Atkins, actor and dancer
19 December– Lincoln Hall (died 2012), mountain climber
10 May – John Radecki (born 1865 in Poland), stained-glass artist
6 June – Max Meldrum (born 1875), painter
1 August – Charles Shaw (born 1900), fiction writer
11 November – Harry Cobby (born 1894), military aviator
19 December – Keith Smith (born 1890), aviation pioneer
1955 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
