Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

Premier of New South Wales – Stuart Donaldson from 6 June to 25 August then Charles Cowper to 2 October then Henry Parker
Premier of Queensland – office not created until 1859
Premier of South Australia – Boyle Travers Finniss from 24 October
Premier of Tasmania – William Champ from 1 November
Premier of Victoria – Dr William Haines
Premier of Western Australia – office not created until 1890

Events

6 January – French musician and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa dies in Sydney.
7 February – Tasmanian Electoral Act introduced the secret ballot, which was known elsewhere, in particular in the United States as the "Australian ballot"
19 March – The Electoral Act 1856 introduced the secret ballot in Victoria
2 April – South Australia introduced the secret ballot
11 April – At a public meeting in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Embling repeated the slogan "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest".
22 May – First Parliament of New South Wales opened by the governor, Sir William Denison
24 June – Queen Victoria makes Norfolk Island a separate settlement from Tasmania to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales.
23 September – The town of Perth, Western Australia, is proclaimed a City by letters patent from Queen Victoria.
25 November – The first Parliament of Victoria is officially opened by the Acting Governor Edward Macarthur.^[1]

Exploration and settlement

1 January – The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
8 June – Pitcairn Islanders arrived on Norfolk Island; the last convict had left and the island was no longer a penal colony. Queen Victoria granted the island to the Pitcairners as a home. Bounty Day is celebrated each year in Norfolk Island to commemorate the event.
Suburb of Goodna founded in Queensland, Australia – Originally part of NSW, its 150-year anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

Arts and literature

Main article: 1856 in Australian literature

Births

25 January – Sir John Hoad, 4th Chief of the General Staff (d. 1911)
8 March – Tom Roberts, artist (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1931)
12 March – Rosetta Jane Birks, suffragist (d. 1911)
11 April – Sydney Smith, New South Wales politician (d. 1934)
15 June – William Henry O'Malley Wood, banker, public servant and surveyor (d. 1941)
18 June – Sir Robert Best, Victorian politician and lawyer (d. 1946)
3 August – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
19 September – Sir Arthur Morgan, 16th Premier of Queensland (d. 1916)
9 October – Sir Thomas Ewing, New South Wales politician (d. 1920)
3 December – George Leake, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1902)

Deaths

30 January – William Buckley, convict (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1780)
3 May – John Wollaston, settler and clergyman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1791)
17 October – William Allen, philanthropist and businessman (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1790)

References

^ "THE NEW PARLIAMENT". The Argus. Melbourne. 26 November 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 16 February 2012 – via National Library of Australia.

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 1856 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue