- Cessna pilot Frederick Valentich disappears while flying over Bass Strait. November 21 November – Last day of commercial whaling in Australia. No sperm whales caught that day by the chaser ships (Cheynes II, III and IV) operated by the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Albany, Western Australia. The last whale caught by an Australian whaling company was the day before, 20 November. Arts and literature Brett Whiteley wins the Archibald Prize with Art, Life and the other thing Jessica Anderson's novel Tirra Lirra By the River wins the Miles Franklin Award Helen Garner becomes the first woman to win the National Book Council Award for her novel Monkey Grip, selected as Book of the Year. Film Blue Fin Little Boy Lost Sport 6 May – Melbourne and St Kilda set a still-standing record VFL/AFL aggregate score of 52.33 (345) 1 July – Footscray kick a record VFL score of 33.15 (213) beating the previous record by three points. Kelvin Templeton and Ian Dunstan combine for 22 of the 33 goals. 6 August – James Langford wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:19:29 in Caboolture. 19 September – After a controversial NSWRFL finals series with two draws, Manly thrash Cronulla 16–0 to win their fourth premiership with Graham Eadie dominating. Newtown finish in last position, claiming their third straight and final wooden spoon before their departure from the premiership five years later. 30 September – Hawthorn 18.13 (121) defeats North Melbourne 15.13 (103) for its fourth VFL premiership. Arwon wins the Melbourne Cup Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield Apollo wins the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Births 4 January – Paul Licuria, Australian rules footballer 14 January – James Mathison, TV host 25 January – Jason Johnson, Australian rules footballer 1 February – Tim Harding, singer (Hi 5) 2 February – Annabel Ellwood, tennis player 7 February – Frank Drmic, basketball player 8 February – Mick de Brenni, politician 16 February – Lance Thompson, rugby league player (d. 2018) 1 March – Gavin Woods, water polo player 14 March – Karyne Di Marco, hammer thrower 18 March – Brooke Hanson, swimmer 4 April – Sam Moran, singer (The Wiggles) 16 April – Matthew Lloyd, footballer and coach 2 June – Luke Williamson, rugby league player 30 June – Ben Cousins, AFL Footballer 8 August – Kate Ritchie, actress, radio & television personality 16 August – Ben Galea, rugby