- Source: 1856 in Australia
- Perth, Australia Barat
- Pulau Norfolk
- Holden
- Kuda laut
- Sepak bola
- Sejarah Sulawesi
- Majapahit
- Amerika Serikat
- Ular-cokelat timur
- Koloni Tasmania
- 1856 in Australia
- 1856
- 1856 in Australian literature
- Arthur Morgan (Australian politician, born 1856)
- Electoral Act 1856
- Joseph Thomson
- 1856 in architecture
- List of prime ministers of Australia
- Rail transport in Australia
- Prime Minister of Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1856 in Australia.
Incumbents
= Governors
=Governors of the Australian colonies:
Governor of New South Wales – Sir William Denison
Governor of South Australia – Sir Richard MacDonnell
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Henry Young
Governor of Victoria – Sir Henry Barkly
Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony – Sir Arthur Kennedy.
= Premiers
=Premiers of the Australian colonies:
Premier of New South Wales – Stuart Donaldson from 6 June to 25 August then Charles Cowper to 2 October then Henry Parker
Premier of Queensland – office not created until 1859
Premier of South Australia – Boyle Travers Finniss from 24 October
Premier of Tasmania – William Champ from 1 November
Premier of Victoria – Dr William Haines
Premier of Western Australia – office not created until 1890
Events
6 January – French musician and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa dies in Sydney.
7 February – Tasmanian Electoral Act introduced the secret ballot, which was known elsewhere, in particular in the United States as the "Australian ballot"
19 March – The Electoral Act 1856 introduced the secret ballot in Victoria
2 April – South Australia introduced the secret ballot
11 April – At a public meeting in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Embling repeated the slogan "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest".
22 May – First Parliament of New South Wales opened by the governor, Sir William Denison
24 June – Queen Victoria makes Norfolk Island a separate settlement from Tasmania to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales.
23 September – The town of Perth, Western Australia, is proclaimed a City by letters patent from Queen Victoria.
25 November – The first Parliament of Victoria is officially opened by the Acting Governor Edward Macarthur.
Exploration and settlement
1 January – The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
8 June – Pitcairn Islanders arrived on Norfolk Island; the last convict had left and the island was no longer a penal colony. Queen Victoria granted the island to the Pitcairners as a home. Bounty Day is celebrated each year in Norfolk Island to commemorate the event.
Suburb of Goodna founded in Queensland, Australia – Originally part of NSW, its 150-year anniversary was celebrated in 2006.
Arts and literature
Births
25 January – Sir John Hoad, 4th Chief of the General Staff (d. 1911)
8 March – Tom Roberts, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1931)
12 March – Rosetta Jane Birks, suffragist (d. 1911)
11 April – Sydney Smith, New South Wales politician (d. 1934)
15 June – William Henry O'Malley Wood, banker, public servant and surveyor (d. 1941)
18 June – Sir Robert Best, Victorian politician and lawyer (d. 1946)
3 August – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
19 September – Sir Arthur Morgan, 16th Premier of Queensland (d. 1916)
9 October – Sir Thomas Ewing, New South Wales politician (d. 1920)
3 December – George Leake, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1902)
Deaths
30 January – William Buckley, convict (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1780)
3 May – John Wollaston, settler and clergyman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1791)
17 October – William Allen, philanthropist and businessman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)