The following lists events that happened during 1963 in Australia.
Incumbents
Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Governor General – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
Chief Justice – Sir Owen Dixon
State Premiers
Premier of New South Wales – Robert Heffron
Premier of South Australia – Sir Thomas Playford
Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece
Premier of Western Australia – David Brand
Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte
State Governors
Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric Woodward
Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel Smith
Governor of South Australia – Sir Edric Bastyan
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan (until 25 March) then Sir Charles Gairdner Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner (until 25 October) then Sir Douglas Kendrew Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks (until 8 May) then Sir Rohan Delacombe
Events
John Carew Eccles is announced as the Australian of the Year
The first stage of the Ord River Scheme is completed
British nuclear tests at Maralinga ceased
March – a special federal conference of the Australian Labor Party was called on the building of a North-west Cape communications facility which would support the US nuclear submarine capability. Despite the opposition of the Left faction, the Australian Labor Party National Executive voted narrowly to support the base. 21 March – At the conference, Arthur Calwell and Gough Whitlam were photographed outside the venue at Kingston in Canberra. Although Calwell was the Leader of the Opposition, neither man was a member of the federal executive. Menzies jibed that the ALP was ruled by "36 faceless men". 14 August – Yolngu people petitioned the Australian House of Representatives with a bark petition after the government sold part of the Arnhem Land reserve on 13 March to a bauxite mining company. The government did not consult the traditional owners. When bauxite mining at Nhulunbuy near Yirrkala went ahead, the Yolngu took their case against the mining company to the Northern Territory Supreme Court. Despite their claim not being upheld in the 1971 court decision, non-indigenous Australians were alerted to the need for indigenous representation in such decisions, and a permanent parliamentary standing committee was created to scrutinise developments at Yirrkala, among other initiatives related to the indigenous people's moral right to their lands. 1 November – Indigenous Australians could vote in federal elections on the same basis as other electors when an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act became law. The November 1963 election was the first federal election for Indigenous people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Indigenous voting rights in other states had been in place since 1949. 15 November - The Queensland Police Service raids the town of Mapoon, forcing residents at gunpoint to leave their houses and board a boat for relocation 200 km to the north. 30 November – Federal election: The Coalition government was returned with an increased majority of 10 seats over the Australian Labor Party. The election was for the House of Representatives only.
Science and technology
John Carew Eccles shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse 3 December – Australians could connect more easily by telephone with the rest of the world by International Direct Dialling with the opening of the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System (COMPAC). This was part of a scheme to connect the British Commonwealth by telephone.
Arts and literature
Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott
is awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award
Film
Short films produced in Australia included the following screened at the Venice Film Festival Adam and Eve – Dusan Marek Along the Sepik – Ian Dunlop Russell Drysdale – Dahl Collings Sidney Nolan – Dahl Collings They Found a Cave – Andrew Steane – XV Int. Festival Films for Young People William Dobell – Dahl Collings Others: The Queen Returns – The 1963 Australian visit of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was filmed by the Commonwealth Film Unit. Much of the 30-minute film is devoted to Canberra and its history as the Queen's visit coincided with Canberra's Jubilee Celebrations – 50 years since the founding of the city.
Television
Nine Network founded as the "National Television Network"
The panel show Beauty and the Beast premieres on the Seven Network.
