Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

Governor of New South Wales – Lord Augustus Loftus
Governor of Queensland – Arthur Edward Kennedy
Governor of South Australia – Sir William Jervois
Governor of Tasmania – Major Sir George Strahan
Governor of Victoria – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
Governor of Western Australia – (office first formed in 1890)

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

Premier of New South Wales – Henry Parkes
Premier of Queensland – Thomas McIlwraith
Premier of South Australia – John Cox Bray
Premier of Tasmania – William Giblin
Premier of Victoria – Sir Bryan O'Loghlen
Premier of Western Australia – (office first formed in 1890)

Events

1 January – Bilateral conventions for the exchange of money orders come into effect between the United States of America and the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria.
2 February – A cyclone causes considerable damage to the town of Cardwell, Queensland.
8 May – Planning begins on the Working Men's College in Melbourne (now RMIT University).
31 May – The steamer Pretty Jane is wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach, 30 km west of Lakes Entrance. There were no deaths.^[1]^[2]
9 December – Brisbane is the first city in Australia to install electric lighting.

Science and technology

6 December – A rare transit of Venus across the disc of the Sun is visible from Australia, and many scientific parties arrive from around the world to observe and record the transit. The next occurrence was June 2004.^{[1] Archived 10 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine}

Arts and literature

Main article: 1882 in Australian literature

Sport

17 February – The first cricket Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground begins.
29 August – The Australian cricket team beats England for the first time in a test match at The Oval in London. A mock obituary appears in the next day's Sporting Times, mourning "the death of English cricket", which leads to the creation of The Ashes.
The Assyrian wins the Melbourne Cup
30 December – The first Test of the 1882–83 Ashes tour begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[3]

Births

19 January – John Cain snr. (died 1957), Premier of Victoria
18 February – Harvey Sutton (died 1963), track and field athlete
24 March – Enid Derham (died 1941), poet
29 April – Tom Richards (died 1935), Australian rugby union player
5 May – Sir Douglas Mawson, geologist and explorer (born in England)
8 July – Percy Grainger (died 1961), composer and pianist
26 July – Albert Dunstan, (died 1950), Premier of Victoria
6 December – Warren Bardsley (died 1954), cricketer

Deaths

1 August – Henry Kendall (b. 1839), poet
8 September – Robert Johnston (b. 1792), naval officer
2 December – Eliza O'Flaherty (b. 1818), writer and stage actress

Notes

^ SHIPWRECKS OF VICTORIA
^ "127-year-old shipwreck found on beach". Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^ 1st Test

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 1882 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