1880 in Australia

Incumbents

Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Augustus Loftus
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Arthur Kennedy
• Governor of South Australia – Sir William Jervois
• Governor of Tasmania – Frederick Weld until 5 April, vacant thereafter
• Governor of Victoria – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby

  Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Sir Henry Parkes
• Premier of Queensland – Thomas McIlwraith
• Premier of South Australia – William Morgan
• Premier of Tasmania – William Giblin
• Premier of Victoria –
• * until 5 March – Graham Berry
• * 5 March-3 August – James Service
• * starting 3 August – Graham Berry

  Events

• 20 January – Bushranger Captain Moonlite hanged in Sydney.
• 31 January – The Bulletin magazine is first published.
• May – School is made compulsory for children aged 6 to 14 in New South Wales.
• 28 June – Ned Kelly captured at Glenrowan, Victoria.
• 1 October – The Melbourne International Exhibition is opened at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.
• 10 October – Geologist Lamont Young and four others disappear on a boat trip north from Bermagui, New South Wales.
• 11 November – Bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged.
• 23 November – Redmond Barry, the judge who sentenced Ned Kelly to be hanged, dies just twelve days after Kelly was hanged.

  Science and technology

• 2 February – The first successful shipment of frozen beef and mutton from Australia arrived in London aboard the SS Strathleven.
• August – The first telephone exchange in Australia opened in Melbourne.

  Arts and literature

Sport

• Grand Flaneur wins the Melbourne Cup.
• England defeat Australia by 5 wickets in a Cricket Test held at The Oval.

  Births

• 15 April – Doug McLean, Sr., rugby footballer
• 8 August – Earle Page, the eleventh Prime Minister of Australia
• 11 December – Frank Tarrant, cricketer

  Deaths

• 20 January – Captain Moonlight, bushranger, hanged
• 2 May – Tom Wills, cricketer and founder of Australian rules football, suicide
• 26 June – Aaron Sherritt, bushranger, shot by Joe Byrne
• 28 June – Joe Byrne, bushranger,
• 28 June – Steve Hart, bushranger,
• 28 June – Dan Kelly, bushranger and the younger brother of Ned Kelly,
• 29 July - Charles Hervey Bagot, South Australian pastoralist, mine owner and parliamentarian
• 27 September - Charles Hardwicke, Tasmanian explorer
• 27 October – Samuel Gill, artist
• 11 November – Ned Kelly, bushranger, hanged
• 23 November – Redmond Barry, Judge