Editing 2004 in Australia

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
The following lists events that happened during '''2004 in Australia'''.
{{Infobox Australian year
| monarch = [[Elizabeth II]]
| governor-general = [[Michael Jeffery (Australian Army officer)|Michael Jeffery]]
| pm = [[John Howard]]
| population = 20,091,504
| australian = 
| elections = [[2004 Queensland state election|Queensland]], [[2004 Australian federal election|Federal]], [[2004 Australian Capital Territory election|ACT]]
}}
{{Year in Australia|2004}}

==Incumbents==
[[File:Jeffery Michael 030238DI-002.jpg|thumb|upright|140px|[[Michael Jeffery (Australian Army officer)|Michael Jeffery]]]]
[[File:Howard John BANNER.jpg|thumb|upright|140px|[[John Howard]]]]
*[[Monarchy of Australia|Monarch]] – [[Elizabeth II]]
*[[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] – [[Michael Jeffery (Australian Army officer)|Michael Jeffery]]
*[[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] – [[John Howard]]
**[[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister]] – [[John Anderson (Australian politician)|John Anderson]]
**[[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|Opposition Leader]] – [[Mark Latham]]
*[[Chief Justice of Australia|Chief Justice]] – [[Murray Gleeson]]

===State and territory leaders===
*[[Premier of New South Wales]] – [[Bob Carr]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)|Opposition Leader]] – [[John Brogden (politician)|John Brogden]]
*[[Premier of Queensland]] – [[Peter Beattie]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Queensland)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Lawrence Springborg]]
*[[Premier of South Australia]] – [[Mike Rann]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Rob Kerin]]
*[[Premier of Tasmania]] – [[Jim Bacon (politician)|Jim Bacon]] (until 21 March), then [[Paul Lennon]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Rene Hidding]]
*[[Premier of Victoria]] – [[Steve Bracks]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Victoria)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Robert Doyle]]
*[[Premier of Western Australia]] – [[Geoff Gallop]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Colin Barnett]]
*[[Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory]] – [[Jon Stanhope]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Australian Capital Territory)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Brendan Smyth (politician)|Brendan Smyth]]
*[[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory]] – [[Clare Martin]]
**[[Leader of the Opposition (Northern Territory)|Opposition Leader]] – [[Terry Mills (Australian politician)|Terry Mills]]
*[[List of heads of government of Norfolk Island|Chief Minister of Norfolk Island]] – [[Geoffrey Robert Gardner|Geoffrey Gardner]]

===Governors and administrators===
*[[Governor of New South Wales]] – [[Marie Bashir]]
*[[Governor of Queensland]] – [[Quentin Bryce]]
*[[Governor of South Australia]] – [[Marjorie Jackson-Nelson]]
*[[Governor of Tasmania]] – [[Richard Butler (diplomat)|Richard Butler]] (until 9 August), then [[William Cox (governor)|William Cox]] (from 15 December)
*[[Governor of Victoria]] – [[John Landy]]
*[[Governor of Western Australia]] – [[John Sanderson]]
*[[Australian Indian Ocean Territories|Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories]] – [[Evan Williams (diplomat)|Evan Williams]]
*[[List of administrative heads of Norfolk Island|Administrator of Norfolk Island]] – [[Grant Tambling]]
*[[Administrator of the Northern Territory]] – [[Ted Egan]]

==Events==
===January===
* 2 January – "Crocodile Hunter" [[Steve Irwin]] feeds a crocodile at his famous [[Australia Zoo]] while holding his one-month-old baby son, [[Robert Irwin (television personality)|Robert Irwin]].  The incident generates a great deal of criticism both nationally and internationally over the next few days.
* 8 January – 33 asylum seekers detained on Nauru decide to suspend their month-long hunger strike after hearing of plans for an Australian medical team to travel to the island.
* 13 January – ''[[MS Mega Express Four|Spirit of Tasmania III]]'' makes its inaugural trip from Sydney to [[Devonport, Tasmania|Devonport]].
* 16 January – 
**Prime Minister [[John Howard]] discusses the issues of security and missile defense with the United States Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff, General Richard Myers.
**Queensland Premier [[Peter Beattie]] announces an election date of 7 February.
* 19 January – Cricketer [[David Hookes]] died after a fight outside a Melbourne pub.
* 23 January – The Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission has found no evidence of any misconduct by the state's police or judiciary, or by politicians including Premier [[Peter Beattie]] and Federal MP [[Tony Abbott]], in relation to the jailing last year of [[Pauline Hanson]] and [[David Ettridge]].
* 28 January – 
**[[Port Kembla, New South Wales|Port Kembla]] ethanol explosion
**Prime Minister [[John Howard]] and Foreign Minister [[Alexander Downer]] call for a sporting boycott in Zimbabwe.

===February===
* 1 February – The first ''[[The Ghan|Ghan]]'' passenger train across Australia from [[Adelaide Parklands Terminal|Adelaide]] to [[Darwin railway station|Darwin]] sets off on its three-day journey.
* 6 February – The [[Music Industry Piracy Investigations]] organization uses an [[Anton Piller order]] to raid offices of [[peer-to-peer|P2P]] companies [[Sharman Networks]] and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the homes of their key [[corporate officer|executives]], as well as several [[internet service provider]]s and universities.
* 8 February – [[Peter Beattie]]'s [[Australian Labor Party]] Queensland state government is re-elected in a landslide.
* 11 February – A [[UH-60 Black Hawk|Black Hawk]] helicopter reportedly crashed near [[RAAF Base Amberley]] with at least five seriously injured.
* 14 February – [[2004 Redfern riots|Riots]] break out between [[New South Wales Police Force|police]] and [[Australian Aborigine|Aboriginal residents]] of Sydney suburb [[Redfern, New South Wales|Redfern]]
* 15 February – [[2004 Redfern riots|Violent riots]] ensue in the Sydney suburb of [[Redfern, New South Wales|Redfern]] after an Aboriginal boy dies while allegedly fleeing police.
* 23 February – [[Premier of Tasmania]] [[Jim Bacon (politician)|Jim Bacon]] resigns after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, handing power to his deputy, [[Paul Lennon]].
* 25 February – [[Qantas]] launches its discount domestic airline, [[Jetstar]].
* 29 February – [[Malcolm Turnbull]] controversially wins [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] pre-selection for the federal seat of [[Division of Wentworth|Wentworth]], displacing sitting member [[Peter King (Australian politician)|Peter King]].

===March===
* 3 March – A bottle of wine is discovered on board the Queensland Government jet when Indigenous Policy Minister Liddy Clark and her staff visit an alcohol-free Indigenous community at Lockhart River, about 800&nbsp; km north of [[Cairns]].
* 11 March – A [[Australian Senate|Senate]] report on poverty is immediately dismissed by Prime Minister [[John Howard]]. The report shows between 2 and 3.5 million Australians, or up to 19 percent of the population, are living in poverty.
* 20 March – [[Van Tuong Nguyen]] is sentenced to death in the Singaporean High Court after being convicted of trafficking 396.2g of [[heroin]] into [[Singapore]] in December 2002.
* 27 March – Brisbane City Council Elections. Liberal candidate [[Campbell Newman]] becomes [[Lord Mayor of Brisbane]] defeating Labor candidate Tim Quinn, thus ending 13 years of Labor government in Brisbane.

===April===
* 5 April – Australia's biggest supplier of the potential [[explosive]] [[ammonium nitrate]] decides to pull the product from its stores in response to concerns it could be used by terrorists.
* 14 April – The [[Family Court of Australia|Family Court]] allows a thirteen-year-old child, born female, to start preliminary hormone treatment: the child identifies as being male and has been suffering from [[gender identity disorder]].
* 24 April – [[John Howard]] joins Australian troops in [[Baghdad]] for ceremonies honoring the country's war dead.

===May===
* 14 May – [[Hobart]] woman Mary Donaldson marries [[Frederik X|Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark]] in Copenhagen to become [[Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark]]
* 18 May – The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement is signed.
* 25 May – [[Jetstar]] commences operations with a maiden flight from [[Newcastle Airport, New South Wales|Newcastle]] to [[Launceston Airport|Launceston]] via [[Melbourne Airport|Melbourne]].
* 29 May – Premier of Victoria [[Steve Bracks]] announces plans to amend the Victorian constitution with recognise Aboriginal people. It would be the first time a state formally recognized Aboriginals in its constitution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/aborigines-win-land-recognition-20040530-gdxy0i.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 April 2024 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427093225/https://www.theage.com.au/national/aborigines-win-land-recognition-20040530-gdxy0i.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-05-29/constitution-to-recognise-victorias-aborigines/1983694 |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 April 2024 |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427093225/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-05-29/constitution-to-recognise-victorias-aborigines/1983694 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 31 May – The [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] airs an episode of "[[Play School (Australian TV series)|Play School]]" featuring a segment about a little girl and her two "mums".  The segment was criticised for exposing children to issues of sexuality.

===June===
* 1 June – Australian [[Jennifer Hawkins]] wins the [[Miss Universe]] contest, held in [[Quito]], Ecuador.
Defence Minister [[Robert Hill (Australian politician)|Robert Hill]] admits that his office knew of allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
* 2 June – Former Qantas baggage handler, 34-year-old [[Bilal Khazal]], is arrested outside his home at Lakemba, in Sydney's south-west, charged with collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts. It's the first time someone has been charged with this offense since the laws were passed in 2002.
* 3 June – [[President of the United States]] [[George W. Bush]] publicly supports Prime Minister [[John Howard]] and criticises Opposition Leader [[Mark Latham]], sparking criticism from the Opposition for intervening in Australian domestic politics.
* 8 June – A post-mortem examination report is released which reveals that euthanasia crusader, Nancy Crick, had no cancer in her body at the time she took her life on 21 May 2002.
* 15 June – Prime Minister John Howard releases the Government's Energy Statement which introduced the term "Mandatory Renewable Energy Target", benchmarks set by the government for the amount of non-polluting energy that Australia uses.  Australia's current target is two percent renewable energy.
* 16 June – Defence Minister Robert Hill releases his long-awaited statement to the Senate explaining how it was that he and Prime Minister, John Howard, misled Parliament over Defence knowledge of Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
* 24 June – Federal Sports Minister [[Rod Kemp]] releases details of an inquiry into sports doping. Retired Justice Robert Anderson has one week to question the five implicated cyclists, and use scientific testing to show [[Cycling Australia]] and the [[Australian Olympic Committee]] that the athletes have no case to answer.
* 25 June – 
**The New South Wales Government rushes new water laws through Parliament.
**The Premier's Conference is held in Canberra.

===July===
* 2 July – Federal Opposition Leader [[Mark Latham]] denies having "king hit" a constituent when he was a councilor on Liverpool Council in Sydney during the 1980s.
* 5 July – 
**Australia and [[Thailand]] sign a [[free trade]] agreement.
**Federal Opposition Leader [[Mark Latham]] calls an extraordinary media conference to deal with the circulating rumours about him.

* 23 July – [[South Australian National Party]] [[Karlene Maywald]] State mp, becomes minister for the River Murray and Minister for Water Security in the Rann Labor government. This represents the first [[political alliance]] between the Labor and National parties since the [[Albert Dunstan]] Victorian state government of 1935–43. 
* 30 July – Australian cyclist, [[Jobie Dajka]], is dropped from the Australian Athens Olympic team after he admitted to lying to the Robert Anderson doping inquiry.  His DNA has been found on syringes and vials in the room of disgraced cyclist [[Mark French]] at the Australian Institute of Sport in Adelaide.

===August===
* 3 August – President George W. Bush signs the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act into law.
* 6 August – 
**In a 4–3 ruling, the High Court finds that the existing immigration laws are valid and that failed asylum seekers who cannot be deported can be held in detention indefinitely. 
**The leader of the extreme right-wing Australian Nationalists Movement in Western Australia, [[Jack van Tongeren]], is taken into custody by police. Police were seeking the self-proclaimed white supremacist to question him about racist graffiti attacks in Perth.
**Gavin Hopper, former tennis coach of [[Mark Philippoussis]], is sentenced in Melbourne over the indecent assault of one of his 14-year-old pupils at Wesley College.
* 9 August – [[Richard Butler (diplomat)|Richard Butler]], the controversial [[Governor of Tasmania]], resigns.
* 13 August – The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act is passed by the Senate, with amendments.  The Labor Party had insisted on amendments designed to protect cheap generic medicine manufacturers.
* 16 August – Michael Scrafton, a former senior adviser to Peter Reith, reveals that he told John Howard on 7 November 2001 that the Children Overboard claim might be untrue.  Mr. Howard said they only discussed the inconclusive nature of the video footage. In light of the new information, the Labor opposition called for a further inquiry, which was convened on 1 September.
* 17 August – Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham is hospitalised after being diagnosed with pancreatitis.
* 20 August – 
**United States Ambassador to Australia, [[Tom Schieffer]], makes it clear he expects Australia would help the United States defend Taiwan if China invaded Taiwan.
**The New South Wales [[Independent Commission Against Corruption (New South Wales)|Independent Commission Against Corruption]] (ICAC) sends Premier [[Bob Carr]] a summons to appear before the commission on a charge of contempt.  The Opposition called for his resignation.
* 29 August – [[John Howard]] announces that the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 federal election]] will take place on 9 October

===September===
* 1 September – 
**Senator [[George Brandis]] presents telephone records to the Senate Inquiry into the "Children Overboard" affair in a bid to discredit claims by former government adviser, Michael Scrafton, that he told Prime Minister, John Howard, that there was no evidence to support claims made about asylum seekers throwing their children into the sea.
**Prime Minister [[John Howard]] denies having lied to the Australian public about "children overboard".
**Australian Olympic athletes returned from the Athens Olympic Games.
* 8 September – [[British Airways]] announces that it is selling its $1.1 billion stake in [[Qantas]] in order to cut debt and fund possible acquisitions.  The sale ends an 11-year relationship between the two airlines.
* 9 September – A [[2004 Jakarta embassy bombing|bomb blast]] outside the Australian embassy in [[Jakarta]], Indonesia, kills eleven people and injures up to 100 people.
* 17 September – Federal Treasurer [[Peter Costello]] unveils the updated estimate of the national GST revenue. Prime Minister [[John Howard]] says the States will receive $3 billion more revenue than expected as a result.
* 29 September – [[Mark Latham]] officially launches the Labor Party's election campaign.
* 30 September – The President of Nauru, [[Ludwig Scotty]], declared a state of emergency, dissolved Parliament and set an election date of 23 October.

===October===
* 9 October – The [[Liberal Party of Australia]] government of [[John Howard]] is returned for a fourth term at the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 federal election]].
* 12 October – 
**[[Simon Crean]] resigns from the position of Shadow Treasurer, requesting a lesser portfolio, and [[John Faulkner]] resigns as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate in the aftermath of the [[Australian Labor Party]]'s election loss.
**Numerous Australians visit [[Kuta, Bali]], to commemorate the second anniversary of October [[2002 Bali bombing]], with services being held across the nation.
* 14 October – 
**[[Annette Ellis]] stands down as Shadow Minister for Ageing, Seniors, and Disabilities.
**The successful tenderer for Melbourne's [[EastLink (Melbourne)|Mitcham-Frankston Freeway]] is announced, with tolls due to be set at $4.43 for a one-way trip.

===November===
* 15 November – The Cairns Tilt Train derailment occurred at 11:55{{nbsp}}pm, when the City of Townsville diesel tilt train derailed north of Berajondo, approximately 342&nbsp; km (213&nbsp; mi) north-west of Brisbane, Queensland.
*26 November – A [[2004 Palm Island death in custody#Riot|riot]] occurs on [[Palm Island, Queensland|Palm Island]] leading to a complete break down of law and order with the 18 members of the [[Queensland Police]] barricading themselves in the local hospital.

===December===
* 7 December – Heavy rain causes flash flooding on Queensland's Gold Coast overnight. 200mm of rain fell in the afternoon and early evening.
* 26 December – 26 [[Australians]] are among the [[Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|victims]] of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 Indian Ocean tsunami]], including the [[Australian rules football|Australian football]] player [[Troy Broadbridge]].

===Full date unknown===
*FaktorTel, an Australian-based communications company is founded.<ref>[http://www.ausindustry.gov.au/library/COMETGrantDeedsExecuted0405FYfinal20050817093437.pdf  Australian government grant ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113020644/http://www.ausindustry.gov.au/library/COMETGrantDeedsExecuted0405FYfinal20050817093437.pdf |date=13 January 2007 }}</ref>

==Arts and literature==
{{main|2004 in Australian literature}}
*[[ARIA Music Awards of 2004]]
*[[Shirley Hazzard]]'s novel ''[[The Great Fire (Hazzard novel)|The Great Fire]]'' wins the [[Miles Franklin Award]]
*[[Laurie Duggan]] is awarded the [[Australian Literature Society Gold Medal]] for ''[[Mangroves (poetry)|Mangroves]]''.
*[[Brian Castro]]'s novel ''[[Shanghai Dancing]]'' wins the [[New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards|Christina Stead Prize for fiction]].
*[[Annamarie Jagose]]'s novel ''[[Slow Water]]'' wins the [[Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction]].
*[[The Suitcase Royale]], a theatre-comedy ensemble from [[Melbourne]] is formed.

==Film==
* 28 February – Central City Studios, a five-studio film production complex, opens in the [[Melbourne Docklands]].
* 29 February – [[Adam Elliot]]'s short animated film ''[[Harvie Krumpet]]'' wins the [[76th Academy Awards|2003 Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film|Animated Short Film]].
* [[Oyster Farmer]]

==Television==
*1 January – [[Australian television|Australia]]'s first [[Digital television|Digital]] commercial free-to-air channel, [[Tasmanian Digital Television]] begins broadcasting in Hobart as a supplementary broadcaster to existing broadcasters [[Southern Cross Tasmania]] & WIN Television. On the same day, WIN TEN goes on air in the [[Mount Gambier]] & [[Riverland, South Australia|Riverland]] regions of South Australia as a supplementary broadcaster to existing [[Regional television in Australia|solus]] broadcaster [[WIN Television]].
*February – ''[[Deal or No Deal (Australia)|Deal or No Deal]]'' debuts its 5:30{{nbsp}}pm timeslot on [[Seven Network|Seven]].
*February – Top-rating game show ''[[Wheel of Fortune (Australian game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' makes a super international revamp and a super new-look over to continue its long-run on ''Seven Local TV''.
*15 March – [[Foxtel]] launches its new digital service, Foxtel Digital.
*April – After 18 years at [[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]], [[Margaret Pomeranz]] & [[David Stratton]] announce their resignation from the station to move to the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] to present a new program, ''[[At the Movies (Australian TV series)|At the Movies]]''. Four younger presenters replace them on ''[[The Movie Show]]'' – [[Megan Spencer]], [[Fenella Kernebone]] & [[Jaimie Leonarder]] with [[Marc Fennell]] presenting a segment on newly released DVDs.
*26 July – [[Broken Hill]] resident [[Trevor Butler]] proposes to his girlfriend immediately after winning [[Australian dollar|A$]]1,000,000 on ''[[Big Brother (Australian TV series)|Big Brother]]''
*21 November – 16-year-old [[Casey Donovan (singer)|Casey Donovan]] wins the second series of ''[[Australian Idol]]'' defeating 21-year-old favourite, [[Anthony Callea]]
*11 December – The [[Network Ten]] is the next [[Australian television]] network to introduce a watermark on its programs, although the watermark was broadcast on Ten News. It was located on the bottom left of the screens by [[TEN (TV station)|TEN-10]] Sydney before switching to the bottom right in 2006.
Ending this year:
*November – ''[[Burke's Backyard]]'' (1987–2004)
*November – ''[[Australia's Funniest Home Video Show]]'' (1990–1999, 2000–2004) (program comes back as '''''Australia's Funniest Home Videos''''' and revamps a new-look and new theme in 2005.)
*December – ''[[Cheez TV]]'' (1995–2004)

==Sport==
*6 January – Australian captain [[Steve Waugh]] retires from [[Test cricket]], playing his last match against India at the [[Sydney Cricket Ground]]
*26 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2003–2004 season, which is held at the [[Sydney Olympic Park]] in [[Homebush Bay]].
*24 March – [[Sydney Kings]] defeat [[West Sydney Razorbacks]] 90–79 in Game 5 of the best-of-five [[National Basketball League (Australia)|NBL]] Grand Final series, becoming champions for the second time.
*4 April – Minor Premiers [[Perth Glory]] defeat [[Parramatta Power]] 1–0 at [[Parramatta Stadium]] in the last [[National Soccer League|NSL]] Grand Final, becoming National Champions for the second year in succession.
*At the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, rower [[Sally Robbins]] collapses as the team is set to win bronze, relegating them out of the medals. She is mocked by the press & her teammates afterward.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chipperfield|first1=Mark|title=Public humiliation for Australian rower who gave up in Athens final|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/1472133/Public-humiliation-for-Australian-rower-who-gave-up-in-Athens-final.html|website=The Telegraph|access-date=8 May 2018|date=18 September 2004}}</ref>
*August – Australia brings home 50 medals, including a record 17 [[gold medal]]s, from the [[2004 Summer Olympics]].
*28 August – The [[Sydney Swifts]] defeat the [[Melbourne Phoenix]] 52–51 in the [[Commonwealth Bank Trophy]] [[netball]] grand final.
*5 September — The [[Sydney Roosters]] win the [[minor premiership]], following the conclusion of the final main round of the [[2004 NRL season]]. The [[South Sydney Rabbitohs]] finish in last position, claiming the [[wooden spoon (award)|wooden spoon]] for the second year in a row.
*12 September – [[Daniel Green (athlete)|Daniel Green]] wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:23:06 in Sydney, while [[Jenny Wickman]] claims the women's title in 2:55:09.
*25 September – {{AFL|PA}} (17.11.113) defeat the {{AFL BL}} (10.13.73) to win the 108th [[Australian Football League|VFL/AFL]] premiership. It is the first [[Australian Football League|AFL]] premiership for Port Adelaide & the first grand final loss for Brisbane. It is also the first time 2 non-Victorian teams faced off in a grand final.
*3 October – The [[Canterbury Bulldogs]] defeat the [[Sydney Roosters]] 16–13 to win the [[National Rugby League]] premiership. It marks a successful end to a controversial season for the Bulldogs, in which they were accused of sexual assault while in [[Coffs Harbour]]. The behavior from some of their fans at times also put the club in hot water. It is the Bulldogs' most recent premiership win.
*10 October – [[Greg Murphy]] and [[Rick Kelly]] take consecutive victories by winning the [[2003 Bathurst 1000]] for the [[HSV Dealer Team|K-mart Racing Team]]. It was the sixth consecutive win for [[Holden]], extending the longest winning streak for a manufacturer in the race's history.
*29 October – [[Test cricket]]: [[Australian cricket team|Australia]] wins the third test against [[Indian cricket team|India]], winning the [[Border–Gavaskar Trophy]], and winning the first away test series against India since 1969.
*2 November – [[Makybe Diva]] wins the [[2004 Melbourne Cup|Melbourne Cup]] [[horse racing]] event. It is the second consecutive Melbourne Cup win for the mare.

==Births==
*2 February &ndash; [[Lucia Field]], dancer and singer
*23 April &ndash; [[Teagan Croft]], actress

==Deaths==
*3 January – [[Des Corcoran]], 75, 37th [[Premier of South Australia]] 
*19 January – [[David Hookes]], 48, [[cricket]]er
*16 February – [[Shirley Strickland]], 78, athlete, three-time Olympic champion<ref>{{cite news|first1=Jane|last1=Cadzow|title=Death of a golden girl|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/death-of-a-golden-girl/2006/01/21/1137734180679.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1|access-date=26 April 2018|work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=21 January 2006}}</ref>
*28 February  – [[Jet Rowland]], 1 (born 2002)
*21 March  – [[Elizabeth Essex-Cohen]], 63, physicist
*24 March – [[Rupert Hamer]], 87, former [[Premier of Victoria]]
* [[28 March]] – [[Percy Beames]], 92, Australian rules footballer ([[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]]) and cricketer (b. [[1911]])
*19 April – [[Tim Burstall]], 76, film director and producer
*26 May – [[Gatjil Djerrkura]], 54, indigenous leader, Chairman of [[ATSIC]]
*20 June – [[Jim Bacon (politician)|Jim Bacon]], 54, former [[Premier of Tasmania]]
*7 July – [[Xiaokai Yang]], 55, economist
*12 July – [[George Mallaby (actor)|George Mallaby]], 64, actor
*17 August – [[Thea Astley]], 78, novelist
*22 August – [[Marcel Caux]], 105, First World War veteran, last known survivor of the [[Battle of Pozières]]
*4 September – [[Walter Campbell (judge)|Walter Campbell]], 83, [[Governor of Queensland]]
*11 October – [[Keith Miller]], 84, [[cricket]]er, [[Australian rules football]]er, fighter pilot and journalist
*1 November – [[Marie Tehan]], 64, [[Victoria, Australia|Victorian]] health minister
*6 November – [[Johnny Warren]], 61, [[football (soccer)]] player, coach and ethnic community advocate
*8 November – [[Eddie Charlton]], 78, [[snooker]] player<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/08/1099781322504.html|title= Eddie 'Mr Snooker' Charlton dies, 75|publisher= The Age|date= 20 November 2004|access-date= 14 July 2021|archive-date= 5 June 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130605074314/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/08/1099781322504.html|url-status= live}}</ref>
*19 November – [[Mulrunji]], 36, [[Indigenous Australian]] resident of [[Palm Island, Queensland|Palm Island]] who [[2004 Palm Island death in custody|controversially died in custody]].
*20 November – [[Janine Haines]], 59, [[Australian Democrats]] senator
*20 November – [[Yvonne Aitken]], 93, botanist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003330b.htm|title=Aitken, Yvonne (1911–2004)|website=Encyclopedia of Australian Science|access-date=January 7, 2022|archive-date=7 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107153804/https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003330b.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
*4 December – [[June Maston]], 76, sprinter and athletics coach
*26 December – [[Troy Broadbridge]], 24, [[Australian rules football|Australian football]] player, who died in the [[2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami|Indian Ocean Tsunami]]

==See also==
* [[2004 in Australian television]]
* [[List of Australian films of 2004]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Years in Australia}}
{{Oceania topic|2004 in|countries_only=yes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004 in Australia}}
[[Category:2004 in Australia| ]]
[[Category:Years of the 21st century in Australia]]
[[Category:2004 in Oceania|Australia]]
[[Category:2004 by country|Australia]]