11 February – Ray Martin takes over Mike Walsh's old daytime slot, replacing The Mike Walsh Show with Midday with Ray Martin. The Mike Walsh Show continues and moves to 10:30pm weekdays as a late night talk show until Walsh departs the network in November.
18 February – Network 0/28 becomes known as SBS.
22 February – Seven Network screens a late night sketchy comedy series called The Eleventh Hour featuring a number of performers who later appear in The Comedy Company and Fast Forward.
4 March – The ABC launches a one-hour news and current affairs program called The National as a replacement for the traditional 7:00pm state-based news bulletins as well as its former current affairs program Nationwide. The new format, costing the national broadcaster a budgeted $25 million, turned out to be an expensive failure and lasted less than twelve months.
18 March – Neighbours premieres on the Seven Network. Six months later Neighbours is axed by HSV-7, but Network Ten bought the rights and picks up the soap and it becomes a massive hit for them.
25 March – Neighbours debuts in Brisbane.
8 June – Hey Hey It's Saturday moves to 6:30pm Saturdays. Then Hey Hey It's Saturday Night rebrands back to its original title.
30 June – SBS expands to Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Gold Coast.
13–14 July – ABC televises the worldwide Live Aid event, featuring concerts held around the world.
13 January – The Maestro's Company (SBS)
14 January – Possession (Nine Network)
26 January – The Early Bird Show (Network Ten)
4 February – The Cartoon Connection (Channel Seven)
6 February – The Italians (ABC)
22 February – The Eleventh Hour (Channel Seven)
4 March – The National (ABC)
4 March – News Overnight (Channel Seven)
6 March – The Investigators (ABC)
7 March - Pressure Point (ABC)
7 March - The Fast Lane (ABC)
18 March – Neighbours (Channel Seven in 1985, Network Ten from 1986 onwards)
29 March – Friday Night Football (AFL) (Channel Seven)
9 May – The Henderson Kids (Network Ten)
20 May – Now You See It (Channel Seven)
27 May – Bang Goes the Budgie (ABC)
14 June – Golden Pennies (ABC)
15 July – Butterfly Island (ABC)
8 August – Captain Cookaburra's Road to Discovery (ABC)
27 October – Anzacs (Nine Network)
5 January – The Bounder (Channel Seven)
5 January – Hallelujah! (Channel Seven)
12 January – Rubik, the Amazing Cube (Network Ten)
7 February – Duty Free (Channel Seven)
13 February – Spitting Image (Nine Network)
26 February – The Cosby Show (Nine Network)
28 February – Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Stacy Keach) (Channel Seven)
4 March – Bananaman (ABC)
9 March – Terrahawks (Channel Seven)
22 March – Chocky (ABC)
4 April – The Edison Twins (Nine Network)
22 April – Danger: Marmalade At Work (ABC)
22 April – Fresh Fields (ABC)
29 April – Going Great (Nine Network)
29 April – Ulysses 31 (ABC)
3 May – Chocky's Children (ABC)
6 May – Spacewatch (ABC)
6 May – The Wind in the Willows (ABC)
6 May – Barbara's World of Horses and Ponies (ABC)
9 May – Murder, She Wrote (Nine Network)
25 May – Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery (SBS)
14 June One by One (ABC)
14 June – Sharon and Elsie (ABC)
5 July – Time Out (SBS)
13 July – The Biskitts (Nine Network)
14 July – Muppet Babies (Network Ten)
15 July – Just Good Friends (ABC)
16 July – The Young Ones (ABC)
20 July – Monchichis (Nine Network)
31 July – Swallows and Amazons Forever! (ABC)
5 August – The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (ABC)
9 August – Children of the Dog Star (ABC)
10 August – Alvin and the Chipmunks (Ruby-Spears version) (Network Ten)
15 August – Home to Roost (Channel Seven)
7 September – Goldie Gold and Action Jack (Network Ten)
9 September – Pink Panther and Sons (Network Ten)
10 September – Mistral's Daughter (Nine Network)
12 September – Miami Vice (Nine Network)
16 September – Eyes (SBS)
16 September – Dungeons and Dragons (Channel Seven)
5 October – Dragon's Lair (Network Ten)
8 October – Expedition Adam 84 (ABC)
29 October – Voltron: Defender of the Universe (ABC)
11 November – Cover Up (Channel Seven)
11 November – Double Dare (1985) (Channel Seven)
11 November – Charles in Charge (Channel Seven)
12 November – Oh Madeline (Nine Network)
12 November – Off the Rack (Nine Network)
12 November – Jessie (Channel Seven)
13 November – 50/50 (Nine Network)
21 November – Moving (ABC)
22 November – Kate & Allie (Channel Seven)
23 November – She-Ra: Princess of Power (Channel Seven)
27 November – Hot Pursuit (Channel Seven)
16 December – Blott on the Landscape (ABC)
23 December – Eye to Eye (Nine Network)
30 December – Two Marriages (Channel Seven)
31 December – The Max Headroom Show (ABC)
Mr. Squiggle and Friends (1959 – 1999)
Four Corners (1961 – present)
Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971 – present)
Young Talent Time (1971 – present)
Countdown (1974 – 1987)
Prisoner (1979 – 1986)
Wheel of Fortune (1981 – present)
Sale of the Century (1980 – 2001)
Sunday (1981 – 2008)
Today (1982 – present)
Perfect Match (1984 – present)
Neighbours (1985 – present)
1985 in Australian television Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
