1603 - Dutch ship Duyfken, under Capt. Willem Janszoon , explores northern Australian coastline (western coast of Cape York), being first recorded European encounter
1616 - Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog explores the west coast of Australia
1642 - Dutch explorer Abel Tasman explores the west coast of Tasmania, lands on the east coast and names the island Anton Vandiemenslandt
1688 - English explorer William Dampier explores the west coast of Australia
1792 - Two French ships, La Recherche and L'Espérance anchored in Recherche Bay, named after one of their ships, near the southernmost point of Tasmania at a time when Britain and France were vying to be the first to discover and colonise Australia
1890 - The Australian Federation Conference decides to call a constitutional convention
1891 - National Australasian Convention meets, agrees on adopting the name "Commonwealth of Australia" and agrees to draft a Constitution
1891 - The first attempt at a federal Constitution is drafted
1891 - The Convention adopts the Constitution, though it still has no legal status
1892 - Gold is discovered at Coolgardie , Queensland
1893 - The Corowa Conference (the "people's convention") calls upon the colonial parliaments to pass Enabling Acts, allowing the election of delgates to a new Constitutional Convention aimed at drafting an agreeable proposal, and then putting it to a referendum in each colony
1895 - All the Premiers (with the exceptions of Queensland and Western Australia) agree to implement the Corowa proposals
1896 - Bathurst Conference (the second "people's convention") meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution
1897 - In two sessions, the Second National Australasian Convention meets (with all colonies except Queensland present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on the 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later in the year.
1898 - The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people
1898 - After much public debate, the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian referenda are successful; the New South Wales referendum narrowly fails
1899 - All colonies except Western Australia vote "yes", after new referenda
1899 - The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales, but not within 100 miles of Sydney
1899 - The Australian Labor Party takes power in Queensland, becoming the first trade union party to do so anywhere in the world
1902 - The Franchise Act guarantees women the right to vote in federal elections (by this stage, most states had already done this). However, it excludes most non-European ethnic groups, including Aboriginal people.
1902 - Breaker Morant is executed for having shot Boers who had surrendered
1949 - Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also given the right to vote in Federal Elections.
1949 - The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements.
1966 - The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted.
1967 - South-eastern Tasmania devastated by bushfires on 7 February, killing 62 people
1967 - Indigenous Australians gain the right to citizenship after a referendum to allow the federal government to legislate for them is supported by over 90% of the population
1968 - Australia signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
1985 - The government grants the freehold title of a large area of land in central Australia, including prominent landmarks Uluru and Kata Tjuta, to the Mutitjulu people, who in turn give them a 99-year lease
1988 - Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects
1992 - New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner resigns after a corruption inquiry finds against him
1993 - The High Court delivers the Mabo Decision, which rules that indigenous native title does exist. This effectively extinguishes the concept of terra nullius.
1993 - Paul Keating defeats John Hewson in an election that had been widely described as being "unwinnable" for him; the Australian Greens stand candidates for the first time
1997 - Eighteen people die when the Bimbadene and Carinya Lodges collapse at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30pm on 30 July
1998 - A major strike results when Patrick Stevedores attempt to introduce non-union labour to reduce the influence of the Maritime Union of Australia
1998 - The Australian Stock Exchange is demutualised and floated as a public company, becoming the world’s first stock exchange to be listed on an exchange.
1999 - Both houses of the federal parliament pass a motion signifying both recognition of and regret at past treatment of indigenous Australians.
