1953 in Australia

none February 2020 November 2025 The following lists events that happened during 1953 in Australia. Elizabeth II William McKell, then William Slim Robert Menzies 8,815,362 Senate, WA, NSW, SA, QLD 1953 Incumbents thumb|upright|140px|Robert Menzies Monarch – Elizabeth II Governor-General – William McKell (until 8 May), then Sir William Slim Prime Minister – Robert Menzies Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon State Premiers 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 Premier of Western Australia – Ross McLarty (until 23 February), then Albert Hawke State Governors Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George (from 23 February) Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner Events thumb|Aerial view of the Story Bridge, 1953 20 March – The Television Act is passed by parliament, setting regulations for the broadcast of television in Australia, although television transmission did not commence until 1956. 2 June – Elizabeth II's coronation as Queen of Australia takes place at Westminster Abbey 29 October – British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-6, registration VH-BPE, en route from Sydney, crashes on approach to San Francisco, killing 19 people. 4 December – Oil is discovered in the Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia. Science and technology The first town to fluoridate the water supply in Australia was Beaconsfield, Tasmania. Graham Aplin S.G. Foster Michael McKernan Australians:Events and Places 1987 Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates Sydney, NSW, Australia 0-521-34073-X Tasmania 366 Arts and literature 1953 in Australian literature John Brack paints Men's Wear and The New House in Oakleigh, Victoria Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir Henry Simpson Newland Michael Kmit wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work The Evangelist John Mark Sport thumb|upright|Winner of the Sun Girl Quest at Suttons Beach, 1953 Athletics 26 September – Roland Guy wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:24:48 in Sydney. Cricket South Australia wins the Sheffield Shield Football 23 May: Fitzroy go within ten minutes of a team score of 0.0 (0), which would have been a VFL first, against Footscray in appalling conditions. Allan Ruthven kicks a late goal to save them from this ignominy. 1 August: Collingwood end Geelong's record 26-game unbeaten streak, which still stand, when they win 10.15 (75) to 7.13 (55). South Australian National Football League premiership: won by West Torrens Victorian Football League premiership: Collingwood defeated Geelong 77–65 Rugby league Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Souths defeated Easts 21–4 1953 NSWRFL season ends with South Sydney defeating St. George 31–12 in the Grand Final 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand takes place with the Americans playing matches hosted by various Australian teams including the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons. Golf Australian Open: won by Norman Von Nida Australian PGA Championship: won by Ossie Pickworth Horse racing My Hero wins the Caulfield Cup Hydrogen wins the Cox Plate Wodalla wins the Melbourne Cup Motor racing The Australian Grand Prix was held at Albert Park and won by Doug Whiteford driving a Talbot-Lago Tennis Australian Open men's singles: Ken Rosewall defeats Mervyn Rose 6–0 6–3 6–4 Australian Open women's singles: Maureen Connolly defeats Julie Sampson Haywood 6–3 6–2 Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3–2 in the 1953 Davis Cup final Wimbledon: Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall win the Men's Doubles Yachting Solveig IV takes line honours and Ripple wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Births 16 January – Vic Aanensen, Australian rules football player 4 February – Pam Allan, politician 5 February – Rod Jones, Australian novelist 14 February – Greg Browning, field hockey player 4 March Scott Hicks, film director Ray Price, rugby league footballer 7 March – Peter Webb, politician 15 March – Randall Goff, water polo player 17 March Margaret Jackson, businesswoman Mary-Louise McLaws, epidemiologist (died 2023) 12 April – Mike Munro, journalist 16 April – Peter Garrett, singer and politician 21 April John Brumby, politician Ron Hoenig, politician and barrister 30 April – Craig Baumann, politician 8 May Linda Dessau, 29th Governor of Victoria (2015–2023) Tony Doyle, politician (died 1994) 20 May – Robert Doyle, politician 16 June – Sandra Nori, politician 24 June – Michael Tuck, Australian Rules football player 1 July David Gulpilil, actor (died 2021) Allan Shearan, politician 5 July – David Morrow, sports commentator (died 2024) 13 July – Andrew Tink, politician 21 July – Jeff Fatt, musician (The Cockroaches and The Wiggles) 23 July – Geoff Corrigan, politician 27 July – Yahoo Serious, filmmaker 17 August – Noni Hazlehurst, actress 26 August – General David Hurley, AC, DSC, Chief of the Defence Force (2011–2014) 9 September – Janet Fielding, actress 11 September – Renée Geyer, singer (died 2023) 27 September – Greg Ham, musician (Men at Work) (died 2012) 13 November – Bob Brett, tennis coach (died 2021) 25 November – Graham Eadie, rugby league footballer 12 December – Martin Ferguson, politician Deaths 7 January – Frank Bottrill, blacksmith and inventor of a variant of the dreadnaught wheel (b. 1871) 28 January – James Scullin, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876) 12 February – Sir Hal Colebatch, 12th Premier of Western Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1872) 18 February – Denis Lutge, rugby league and union footballer (b. 1879) 6 March – Stephen Moreno, composer (born in Spain and died in France) (b. 1889) 2 May – Trevor Oldham, 13th Deputy Premier of Victoria (died in India) (b. 1900) 22 May – Louis Lavater, composer (b. 1867) 25 August – Jessie Aspinall, doctor, first female junior medical resident at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (b. 1880)https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/aspinall-jessie-strahorn-5077 Aspinall, Jessie Strahorn (1880–1953) 3 July 2022 3 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220703101709/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/aspinall-jessie-strahorn-5077 live 1 September – Bernard O'Dowd, journalist, author, and poet (b. 1866) Wallace-Crabbe C. 1988 A110067b O'Dowd, Bernard Patrick (1866–1953) 2008-02-25 2 December – Reginald Baker, athlete, sports promoter and film actor (died in the United States) (b. 1884) 20 December – King O'Malley, Tasmanian politician (born in the United States) (b. 1858) See also List of Australian films of the 1950s References 1953 in yes Australia Category:Years of the 20th century in Australia