1972 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Paul Hasluck
• Prime Minister – William McMahon, then Gough Whitlam
• *Opposition Leader – Gough Whitlam, then Billy Snedden
• Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick

  State and Territory Leaders

• Premier of New South Wales – Robert Askin
• *Opposition Leader – Pat Hills
• Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• *Opposition Leader – Jack Houston
• Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan
• *Opposition Leader – Steele Hall, then Bruce Eastick
• Premier of Tasmania – Angus Bethune, then Eric Reece
• *Opposition Leader – Eric Reece, then Max Bingham
• Premier of Victoria – Sir Henry Bolte, then Rupert Hamer
• *Opposition Leader – Clyde Holding
• Premier of Western Australia – John Tonkin
• *Opposition Leader – Sir David Brand, then Sir Charles Court

  Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Alan Mansfield, then Sir Colin Hannah
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Mark Oliphant
• Governor of Tasmania – Lieutenant General Sir Edric Bastyan
• Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe
• Governor of Western Australia – Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Robert Dalkin, then Edward Pickerd
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Sir Frederick Chaney
• Administrator of Papua and New Guinea – Les Johnson

  Events

• 26 January – Aboriginal Tent Embassy was constructed in front of Parliament House.
• 10 May – Law professor George Duncan is drowned in the Torrens River, Adelaide. Police establish that his death was a homophobic-related murder.
• 3 June – Douglas Nicholls becomes the first Indigenous Australian to be knighted.
• 29 July – Kerry Anne Wells earned Australia's first Miss Universe crown, in Dorado, Puerto Rico.
• 6 October – Faraday School kidnapping – six pupils and their teacher are kidnapped for $1 million ransom in Victoria.
• 15 November – First aircraft hijacking in Australia. Ansett Airlines Flight 232 from Adelaide to Alice Springs with 28 passengers and a crew of 4. Followed by gun battle at Alice Springs Airport.
• 1 December – Belinda Green is crowned Miss World in London, becoming the second Australian winner of this pageant. Australia won the two most important beauty contest in this year.
• 2 December – 1972 Australian federal election: The Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam defeats the Liberal/Country Coalition Government led by Prime Minister William McMahon. Consequently, Whitlam becomes the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia since the defeat of Ben Chifley in 1949.
• Shane Gould is announced as Australian of the Year
• The health warning, "Smoking is a Health Hazard" becomes compulsory on cigarette packets in Australia.

  Arts and literature

• Thea Astley's novel The Acolyte wins the Miles Franklin Award

  Film

• The Adventures of Barry McKenzie

  Television

• 13 March – Controversial soap opera Number 96 debuts on Network 0–10.
• 16 November – The Aunty Jack Show premieres on ABC-TV in Sydney.

  Sport

• 16 September – Bernard Vine wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:28:21 in Richmond, Australia.
• In the 1972 NSWRFL season's premiership final Manly-Warringah defeat Eastern Suburbs
• In the Bulimba Cup final Brisbane defeat Toowoomba 55–2 at Lang Park
• Piping Lane wins the Melbourne Cup
• Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
• American Eagle takes line and handicap honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
• Shane Gould wins 3 gold medals for swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
• Australia draws Ashes Cricket Test Series 2–2 with England

  Births

• 2 January – Adam Elliot, animator and screenwriter
• 7 January – Shane Kelly, cyclist
• 16 January – Greg Page, former member of The Wiggles
• 5 February – Brad Fittler, rugby league footballer and coach
• 6 February – Mark Ladbrook, track and field sprinter
• 7 March – Simon Pryce, current member of The Wiggles
• 11 March – Adam Bandt, politician
• 25 March – Nina Bonner, field hockey goalkeeper
• 8 April – Katrina Powell, field hockey player
• 15 April – Glenn Butcher, politician
• 16 May – Adam Crouch, politician
• 20 May – Michael Diamond, professional target shooter
• 30 May – Renita Farrell, field hockey player
• 19 June – Poppy Montgomery, actress
• 22 June – Damien Oliver, jockey
• 24 June – Robbie McEwen, cyclist
• 24 June – Ian Rutledge, field hockey coach
• 30 June – Stuart Rendell, hammer thrower
• 6 July – Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria
• 12 August – Allison Tranquilli, basketball player
• 1 September – Louise Dobson, field hockey player
• 20 September – Jenny Morris, field hockey player
• 11 October – Claudia Black, actress
• 1 November – Toni Collette, actress
• 7 November – Melissa Bell, actress
• 8 November – Kylie Shadbolt, artistic gymnast
• 13 November – Samantha Riley, swimmer
• 9 December – Annalise Braakensiek, model, actress, television presenter, businesswoman and activist
• 11 December – Del Kathryn Barton, artist
• 22 December – Anthony Edwards, rower
• 28 December – Patrick Rafter, tennis player

  Deaths

• 6 January – Olegas Truchanas, conservationist and nature photographer
• 22 January – Jack Cummings, tennis player
• 2 February – Matt Goggin, Australian rules footballer
• 15 February – Sir Kenneth Street, Chief Justice of New South Wales
• 29 February – Ernie Barber, Australian rules footballer
• 9 March – Roy Kendall, politician and MI6 officer
• 19 March –
• * George Bassett, politician
• * Jack Carington Smith, artist
• 16 April – Frank O'Connor, public servant
• 2 May – Arthur Trebilcock, Tasmanian cricketer
• 7 July – Owen Dixon, former Chief Justice of Australia
• 21 August – Ernestine Hill, author
• 23 September – Peter O'Sullivan, Australian rules footballer
• 4 November – Harry Rigby, World War I flying ace