Leaders

Monarch - George III
Governor of New South Wales – John Hunter
Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley King
Inspector of Public Works – Richard Atkins

Events

9 February – Sydney Cove wrecked, but some of the crew managed to reach Sydney more than 600 km away, leading to the rescue of other members of the crew.
26 June – HMS Reliance arrives in Sydney from the Cape of Good Hope, carrying stores ordered by Governor John Hunter and 26 merino sheep purchased by Captain Henry Waterhouse and Lieutenant William Kent. Wool pioneer John Macarthur would then acquire his first Merino sheep from them.
3 July – Following Aboriginal attacks on farms in the Hawkesbury region, Hunter dispatches a party of soldiers from the New South Wales Corps to protect settlers there.
1 August – Following advice from the master of the Sydney Cove who observed currents and tides while wrecked on Preservation Island, Governor Hunter writes to Joseph Banks that it seems certain that the yet-to-be-discovered Bass Strait exists.
19 September – John Shortland is the first European to enter the port of Newcastle. On the 9th he discovered the Hunter River estuary and coal.
3 December – George Bass sets out from Sydney in a whaleboat with six oarsmen to explore south along the coast. He discovers the Kiama Blowhole (6 December) and the Shoalhaven River (7 December), he also visits Jervis Bay, and named Twofold Bay on 19 December, Wilson's Promontory (2 January 1798) and Western Port (5 January). He returns to Sydney two months later, having greatly increased the settlers' knowledge of the geography of Australia.

Births

8 May – John Septimus Roe
19 June – Australian explorer Hamilton Hume born at Parramatta, New South Wales
20 July – Paweł Edmund Strzelecki

References

Barker, Anthony (1996). What Happened When. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-986-3.
National Library of Australia. "The World Upside Down: Australia 1788 – 1830". Archived from the original on 20 March 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2007.

v t e Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Timeline of Australian history

v t e 1797 in Oceania
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Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue