1. Incumbents
     Governors  Premiers 

2. Events

3. Exploration and settlement

4. Science and technology

5. Arts and literature

6. Sport

7. Births

8. Deaths

9. References

The following lists events that happened during 1856 in Australia.

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales — Sir William Denison
• Governor of South Australia — Sir Richard MacDonnell
• Governor of Tasmania — Sir Henry Young
• Governor of Victoria — Sir Henry Barkly
• Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony — Captain Charles Fitzgerald

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.

Births

• 8 March — Tom Roberts, artist (died 1931)
• 3 August — Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia (died 1919)
• 19 September — Arthur Morgan, Premier of Queensland (died 1916)
• 3 December — George Leake, Premier of Western Australia (died 1902)

Deaths

• 1 January — Convict William Buckley dies near Hobart, aged 75.
• 3 May – John Wollaston, Western Australian settler and Anglican clergyman (b. 1790)
• 17 October – William Allen, joint founder of St Peter's College, Adelaide (b. 1790)

References

• The synagogue of Dura Europos
• The Sync
• The Syndicate (building)
• The Syndicate of Sound
• The Syren of the Skies
• The Syrian Internatioan University for Science & technology
• The Syrian International University for Science & technology
• The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Koran
• The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam
• The Sysco Corporation
• The System (1964 film)
• The System (disambiguation)
• The System Is a Vampire
• The System Is A Vampire
• The System (Mission: Impossible)
• The System (Nazism)
• The System of Dante's Hell
• (The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether
• The System of Economic Contradictions, or The Philosophy of Poverty
• The System of the World (disambiguation)
• The Séance
• The Séance at Hobs Lane
• The Sölve Monitor
• The Sölve (warship)
• The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone