1881 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1881 in Australia.
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Incumbents
    
    Governors
    
Governors of the Australian colonies:
- Governor of New South Wales – Lord Augustus Loftus
 - Governor of Queensland – Sir Arthur Kennedy
 - Governor of South Australia – Sir William Jervois
 - Governor of Tasmania – Major Sir George Strahan
 - Governor of Victoria – George Phipps, Marquess of Normanby
 - Governor of Western Australia – Sir William Robinson
 
Premiers
    
Premiers of the Australian colonies:
- Premier of New South Wales – Sir Henry Parkes
 - Premier of Queensland – Thomas McIlwraith
 - Premier of South Australia – William Morgan till 24 June then Sir John Cox Bray
 - Premier of Tasmania – William Giblin
 - Premier of Victoria – Graham Berry until 9 July then James Service
 
Events
    
- 28 June – The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence.
 
Census
    
In the mid-19th century the colonial statisticians encouraged compatibility between the colonies in their respective censuses, and in 1881 a census was held simultaneously in each of the colonies.[1] This was part of a census of the British Empire. The questions posed in the colonies were not uniform.
The population of Australia was 2,250,194.[2]
| NSW | Vic | Qld | Tas | SA | NT | WA | Australia | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 751,468 | 862,346 | 213,525 | 115,704 | 276,414 | 9,797 | 29,708 | 2,250,194 | 
Northern Territory was counted within South Australia (286,211) and was 3,451 plus 6,346 Aboriginals in settled districts. The population of Western Australia did not include full-blood Aborigines.[2]
The population of greater Melbourne was 282,947 and of Sydney was 224,939.[2]
Arts and literature
    
    
Sport
    
- Zulu wins the Melbourne Cup
 
Births
    
- 10 January - Leslie Rainey, cricketer, footballer and tennis player (died 1962)
 - 6 April - Frank Leslie Thomson Wilmot, Australian poet (died 1942).
 - 11 September - William Jolly, first Lord Mayor of Brisbane (died 1955)
 
Deaths
    
- 2 August - Marcus Clarke, author (born 1846)
 
References
    
- "The population census - a brief history". 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2005. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2006.
 - Aplin, Graeme; S.G. Foster; Michael McKernan, eds. (1987). Australians: Events and Places. Broadway, New South Wales, Australia: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates. p. 97. ISBN 0-949288-13-6.