See also: 1900 in Australia, other events of 1901, 1902 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Queen Victoria (until 22 January), then Edward VII
• Governor General – John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun
• Prime Minister – Edmund Barton

Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – William Lyne (until March 28), then John See
• Premier of South Australia – Frederick Holder (until 15 May), then John Jenkins
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp
• Premier of Tasmania – Elliott Lewis
• Premier of Western Australia – Sir John Forrest (until 15 February), George Throssell (until 27 May), George Leake (until 21 November), Alf Morgans (until 23 December), then George Leake
• Premier of Victoria – Sir George Turner (until 12 February), then Alexander Peacock

Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (until 30 April)
• Governor of Victoria – George Clarke (from 10 December)
• Governor of Queensland – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington (until 19 December)
• Governor of South Australia – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
• Governor of Western Australia – Arthur Lawley
• Governor of Tasmania – Arthur Havelock (from 8 November)

Events

• January 1 – The Constitution of Australia comes into force, as the federation of Australia is complete. John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, is appointed as the first Governor-General, and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister.
• March 1 – Following federation naval and military forces of the States are transferred to Commonwealth control.
• March 29 – The first federal election is held to elect the first members of the House of Representatives and the first members of the Senate.
• March 31 – A national census is held, which indicates the population of Australia is 3,773,801 (excluding Indigenous Australians).
• May 9 – The Parliament of Australia is opened in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.
• May 22 – The foundation stone for St John's Cathedral, Brisbane is laid by the Duke of Cornwall and York. the church celebrated 100 years of construction in 2006 and is only gothic-style stone building under construction anywhere in the world.
• September 3 – The Flag of Australia and Australian Red Ensign are adopted by the Government of Australia as official flags, following a national design competition.
• December 21 - Construction begins on the rabbit-proof fence.
• December 23 – The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 comes into force, instituting the White Australia Policy.

Sport

• February 6 – Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield.
• September 28 – Essendon beats Collingwood 6.7 (43) to 2.4 (16) in the 1901 VFL grand final.
• November 5 – Revenue wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

• March 27 – Kenneth Slessor (d. 1971), poet
• September 25 – Gordon Coventry (d. 1968), Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood

Deaths

• January 10 – Sir James Dickson (b. 1832), Premier of Queensland and Federal Minister for Defence
• June 20 – Alexander Forrest (b. 1849), explorer, surveyor and politician
• August 8 – William Groom (b. 1833), publican, newspaper proprietor and member of parliament
• November 30 – Edward John Eyre (b. 1815), explorer

See also

• 1901
• 1900s