Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
Governor General – Sir Zelman Cowen
Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser
Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan
Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Premier of Tasmania – Doug Lowe
Premier of Western Australia – Sir Charles Court
Premier of Victoria – Rupert Hamer
1 January –
Another Vietnamese refugee boat arrives at night, from a camp off the Malaysian coast.
The Festival of Sydney begins.
A jail warder, Victor Sullivan is struck on the head by a prisoner at Parramatta Jail.
2 January – Senator Neville Bonner attacks the Queensland Government over delays in its housing reconstruction programme for Mornington Island, which was ravaged by Cyclone Ted more than a year ago.
3 January –
Bela Csidei, a prominent Sydney businessman, is alleged in the Darwin Magistrates' Court to have been involved in growing marihuana in the Northern Territory.
Acting Health Minister Mr McLeay reiterates the Federal Government's election promise to keep the Medibank levy and ceiling at the same level for the next six months.
Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announces that he will ask churches throughout Queensland to hold a day of prayer for rain, suggesting a date of January 15.
4 January –
The Australian dollar is devalued from 89.4 to 89.2 due to a drop in the US dollar to bring the effect devaluation since November 1976 to 15.3%.
Acting Prime Minister Doug Anthony announces that the Federal Government knew that Arab nations operated a blacklist for more than 20 years and that some Australian companies were on it, but that the Government had never been told officially that certain companies were being boycotted.
5 January –
Corrective Services Commissioner, W. McGeechan, talks 120 maximum security prisoners back into their cells after a 5-hour protest sit-in at Parramatta jail.
Aboriginal Senator Neville Bonner makes a complaint to the Queensland State Licensing Commission about the Mount Isa hotel which refused him service on Boxing Day.
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister Mr MacKellar reverses a department decision thereby allowing a Uruguayan woman to join her widowed brother, Ruben Molina, in Sydney.
18 January – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran meets with prison union officials about their demand that Bathurst Jail be reopened to relieve over crowding and staff shortages in other prisons.
13 February – Terrorism arrives in Australia for the very first time with the Sydney Hilton bombing killing 3 people and injuring 11 others.
14 March – Stephen Matthews, aged 20, swept from the Natural Bridge off Albany, by a King Wave. Rescued by whale ship, the Cheynes II. First recorded survival of someone swept into the sea at The Gap and Natural Bridge.
30 March – Commonwealth Police (Federal Police) begin arresting 180 Greek-Australians said to be involved in a conspiracy to defraud the Department Of Social Security.
4 April – Cyclone Alby kills 5 people in Western Australia.
15 May – Australia's longest serving prime minister Sir Robert Menzies dies.
24 June – The inaugural Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, a gay rights march is held in Oxford Street, Sydney to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York.
25 June – Trudie Adams disappears from the Surf Life Saving Club in Newport, New South Wales.
25 August – Michelle Pope and Stephen Lapthorne disappear. Still missing as of 3 August 2015.
7 October – The ALP government of Neville Wran is re-elected with a massively increased majority, leading to his win being dubbed as a "Wranslide".
8 October – Australia's Ken Warby sets the world water speed record to 510 km/h (317.60 mph) at Blowering Dam, New South Wales.
21 November – Last day of commercial whaling in Australia. No sperm whales caught that day by the chaser ships (Cheynes II, III and IV) operated by the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Albany, Western Australia. The last whale caught by an Australian whaling company was the day before, 20 November.
Arts and literature
Brett Whiteley wins the Archibald Prize with Art, Life and the other thing
Jessica Anderson's novel Tirra Lirra By the River wins the Miles Franklin Award
Blue Fin
Little Boy Lost
6 May – Melbourne and St Kilda set a still-standing record VFL/AFL aggregate score of 52.33 (345)
1 July – Footscray kick a record VFL score of 33.15 (213) beating the previous record by three points. Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan combine for 22 of the 33 goals.
6 August – James Langford wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:19:29 in Caboolture.
19 September – After a controversial NSWRL finals series with two draws, Manly thrash Cronulla 16–0 to win their fourth premiership with Graham Eadie dominating.
30 September – Hawthorn 18.13 (121) defeats North Melbourne 15.13 (103) for its fourth VFL premiership.
Arwon wins the Melbourne Cup
Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
Apollo wins the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
4 January – Paul Licuria, Australian rules footballer
25 January – Jason Johnson, Australian rules footballer
1 February – Tim Harding, singer (Hi 5)
7 February – Frank Drmic, basketball player
1 March – Gavin Woods, water polo player
14 March – Karyne Di Marco, hammer thrower
18 March – Brooke Hanson, swimmer
4 April – Sam Moran, singer (The Wiggles)
30 June – Ben Cousins, AFL Footballer
8 August – Kate Ritchie, actress, radio & television personality
16 August – Ben Galea, rugby player
22 September – Harry Kewell, soccer player
25 October – Matt Shirvington, track and field athlete
22 November – Steven King, plays with Geelong Football Club
9 January – Eddie Gilbert, (born 1905), Queensland cricketer
14 May – Robert Menzies (born 1894), Prime Minister of Australia
27 July – Robert Heffron (born 1890), Premier of New South Wales
6 October – Johnny O'Keefe, (born 1935), Australian rock and roll singer
1978 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
