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2020 in Australia

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The following lists events that happened during 2020 in Australia.

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Incumbents

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David Hurley
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Scott Morrison

State and territory leaders

Governors and administrators

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Events

January

February

March

  • 1 March – Australia records its first death from the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
  • 3 March –
  • 11 March – Two people are killed and two others are injured following a series of stabbings in Melbourne, with the offender shot dead by police.[19]
  • 13 March
  • 15 March – Morrison announces that all travellers arriving in or returning to Australia from overseas must self-isolate for 14 days, mirroring a similar requirement imposed by New Zealand.[23] Cruise ships will also be barred from docking in the country for 30 days.[24][25]
  • 18 March – Scott Morrison announces that all non-essential indoor gatherings of a hundred people or more will be banned. Schools, universities, workplaces and essential services such as retail stores will be exempt from the new measures.[26]
  • 19 March –
    • Premier of Tasmania Peter Gutwein announces that non-essential travellers arriving in Tasmania from must self-isolate for 14 days.[27]
    • Scott Morrison announces that from 20 March all non-residents will be forbidden from entering the country.[28]
    • The 2020 AFL season commences with Richmond taking on Carlton at the MCG.
  • 21 March – Chief minister of the Northern Territory, Michael Gunner announces the Northern Territory will introduce strict border controls from 4:00 pm on 24 March. Anyone arriving from interstate or overseas will have to self-isolate for 14 days.[29]
  • 22 March –
    • South Australia and Western Australia also follow suit of the Northern Territory and Tasmania to close off their borders starting from Tuesday 24 March. Anyone arriving from interstate and overseas will also have to self isolate for 14 days.[30][31]
    • Scott Morrison announces that from midday Monday 23 March all pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas and indoor sporting venues across the country will shut down indefinitely in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.[32]
    • The cruise ship Ruby Princess disembarked passengers in Sydney despite several of them, and some crew, showing symptoms of coronavirus. As of 6 April 2020 at least 12 deaths and more than 700 cases of coronavirus in Australia in Australia are now linked to this incident.
    • The 2020 AFL season and 2020 AFL Women's season are suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 AFL season has been scheduled to resume on 11 June 2020.[33]
  • 23 March –
    • As a result of the indefinite closure of venues within the hospitality, tourism, leisure, fitness and entertainment industries, the Centrelink and myGov websites crashed when too many people simultaneously try to apply online for unemployment benefits. Huge lines of newly unemployed people are seen outside Centrelink offices across the country.[34]
    • The Australian Parliament sits to debate and pass an economic stimulus package to attempt to mitigate the economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, then adjourns until August 2020.[35]
    • The 2020 NRL season is suspended until 28 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Queensland has closed its borders, it has made an exemption for players and officials traveling to and from interstate for football. As a biosecurity measure, all players must also be vaccinated against influenza.
  • 25 March –
    • From 12pm, Australia required that Australian citizens and permanent residents seek exemptions to leave the country.[36]
  • 26 March –
    • From midnight further measures and restrictions on social gatherings and certain businesses are put in place. Weddings will be limited to 5 people including the bride, groom and celebrant. Funerals will be limited to 10 people. All food court seating areas are to be closed. Social gatherings of more than 10 people are discouraged as well as house parties with police to enforce these new restrictions. Auctions that require persons to be present are now banned. Open houses within the property market are now banned. Beauty Parlours, tattoo Parlours and other businesses with the health and beauty industry that require close physical contact between individuals and are not deemed essential are now banned. Hairdressers are exempt from these new measures.[37]
    • Queensland follows other states and territories and closes its borders from midnight. Only those who work in essential services are permitted to enter. Exceptions are made for those who commute to work across the state border, such as residents of Tweed Heads.[38]
  • 28 March –
  • 31 March –
    • From midnight 31 March 2020 new national restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus are put in place through the Public Health Act 2010, via Sect 7 of the Act, where a Ministerial Order was signed by the Minister for Health, however, as it is only an order and not law it is up to the states and territories as to whether these are enforceable. The new measures include a two-person limit on public gatherings (excluding members of your own household), the banning of all indoor gatherings in households and the closure of playgrounds, skate parks and outdoor gyms.[39]

April

  • 7 April – The High Court unanimously quashes Cardinal George Pell's convictions and substitutes verdicts of acquittal; the Court's summary of its judgment states that there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof".[40][41][42][43]
  • 14 April – The City of Wagga Wagga council voted to cut ties with its China's sister city Kunming city, a week later they would vote again joining Kunming as a sister city.[44][45][46]
  • 19 April – The Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is working to create a mandatory code of conduct that would require Facebook, Google and other tech giants to pay news outlets when they use its content.[47]
  • 24 April – Perth Airport blocks runways with bulldozers to pressure Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd to pay its $16 million debt.[48]

May

June

July

  • 1 July – 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election. The Labor party retains the seat after Kristy McBain claimed victory in the by-election with an indicative two-party-preferred vote of 50.4%.[61][62]
  • 8 July –
    • In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Victorian capital city of Melbourne and nearby Shire of Mitchell reintroduce stage three restrictions for at least six weeks after a surge in coronavirus case numbers with the majority of new cases stemming from community transmission. All other states and territories introduce strict quarantine measures or deny entry for any incoming travellers who have recently visited Victoria.[63]
    • The border between New South Wales and Victoria is closed for the first time since the 1918–19 Spanish flu pandemic, after an increase in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne.[64]
  • 15 July – An increase in COVID-19 community transmission cases in Sydney is traced back to a resident of Melbourne who traveled across the border before the Melbourne stage 3 restrictions came into effect with the initial outbreak arising from a hotel in the Western Sydney suburb of Casula. Despite the rise in case numbers, premier Gladys Berejiklian confirms NSW will not be going back to a lockdown scenario. Several other states and territories introduce strict quarantine measures or deny entry for any incoming travellers who have either recently visited greater Sydney or suburbs within the City of Liverpool, City of Fairfield and City of Campbelltown.[65]
  • 16 July – Tara June Winch wins the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel The Yield.[66]
  • 17 July – Victoria records 428 new coronavirus cases, the state's highest daily total since the beginning of the pandemic.[67]
  • 19 July – With increasing numbers of coronavirus cases in parts of Victoria, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews advises face coverings will be mandatory for all residents of Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire whenever they leave their homes from Thursday 23 July. Anyone in a public area without a mask will risk a $200 fine.[68]
  • 22 July – Australia records 502 new coronavirus cases. The highest number of new cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.[69]
  • 23 July – Leonard Warwick is found guilty of carrying out the Family Court of Australia attacks in the early 1980s.[70]
  • 29 July – CSIRO gave scientific names to 165 new species this year, naming five flies after Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes: Thor (Daptolestes bronteflavus), Loki (Daptolestes illusiolautus), Black Widow (Daptolestes feminategus), Deadpool (Humorolethalis sergius), and Stan Lee (Daptolestes leei).[71]

August

  • 2 August – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating numbers of infection rates, especially in the workplace, Victoria declares a state of disaster and stage four restrictions are put in place. This including a police-enforced curfew in metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire between 8 pm and 5 am, the shutdown of a number of non-essential businesses, exercise only allowed for one hour a day and only one person per household allowed to go shopping once a day and within a 5 km radius of home. As a consequence of rising infection numbers imported from metropolitan Melbourne all other areas of regional Victoria are to enter stage three restrictions previously placed on Melbourne and Mitchell Shire on 5 August.[72]
  • 10 August – Parkes Observatory is added to the National Heritage List.[73]
  • 12 August – World War II sailor Teddy Sheean is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.[74]
  • 22 August – 2020 Northern Territory general election: Michael Gunner's Labor government is returned for a second four-year term.[75]

September

October

November

December

  • 18 December – The 2020 Sydney to Hobart yacht race is cancelled for the first time in its history due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in Sydney, New South Wales, as the Tasmanian government declared Greater Sydney a "medium risk" zone, which would require all participants to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Tasmania.[85]
  • 19 December – In response to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, all other states and territories close their borders to all residents of greater Sydney, throwing interstate travel plans into chaos for those intent on visiting or leaving greater Sydney. The Northern Territory later relaxes its border restriction.[86]
  • 21 December – The final report from the inquiry into Victoria's botched hotel quarantine program which led to a second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria and over 800 deaths is released. The report is unable to determine who commissioned the use of private security and criticises the Andrews Government for failing to do "proper analysis" of the plan.[87]
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Arts and literature

Television

Deaths

January

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Mark Harris
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Barry Tuckwell
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Manfred Clynes
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Ian Tuxworth

February

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Sir Lenox Hewitt

March

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Ray Wedgwood
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Catherine Hamlin
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John Davies
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Arianne Caoili
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Jim Bailey

April

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Andrea Mitchell
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Robert May, Baron May of Oxford

May

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George Mikell
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Ashley Cooper
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Bobby Dimond

June

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Geoffrey Burnstock
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Noel Kelly
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John Madigan
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Michael Falzon

July

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Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya
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Barry Jarman
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Ron Tauranac

August

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Dick Tooth
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Lorna Beal
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Sir Bob Elliott

September

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Sonny Chua
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Susan Ryan
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Helen Reddy

October

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Jacinda Barclay

November

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Barbara McAulay
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Jeannie Little
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Chris Hurford
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James Wolfensohn

December

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Michael Jeffery
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Doug Anthony
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See also


Country overviews

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References

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