This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

← 1865 1864 1863 1866 in Australia → 1867 1868 1869
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	Other events of 1866 Timeline of Australian history

The following lists events that happened during 1866 in Australia.

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Young, Bt
• Governor of Queensland – Sir George Bowen
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Dominick Daly
• Governor of Tasmania – Colonel Thomas Browne
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Charles Darling (until 7 May), then Sir John Manners-Sutton (from 15 August)
• Governor of Western Australia – Dr John Hampton

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales – Charles Cowper (until 21 January), then James Martin
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Herbert (until 1 February), then Arthur Macalister (until 20 July), then Robert Herbert (until 7 August) then Arthur Macalister
• Premier of South Australia – John Hart, Sr (until 28 March), then James Boucaut
• Premier of Tasmania – James Whyte (until 24 November), then Sir Richard Dry
• Premier of Victoria – James McCulloch

• 1 February – Arthur Macalister becomes Premier of Queensland
• 19 March – Sister Mary MacKillop founds the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart at Penola, South Australia.
• 17 April – The Tariff Bill passes through the Parliament of Victoria; Australia's first protective tariffs become law the following day.
• 20 June – Adelaide's town Hall opens
• 12 July – SS Cawarra was wrecked off Newcastle, only 1 of 61 passengers and crew survive
• 18 July – The passenger vessel Netherby is wrecked off King Island, all 450 on board survived
• 20 July – Arthur Macalister resigns as Premier of Queensland during a bank crisis, he resumes his post on 7 August as the crisis eased
• 15 August – John Manners-Sutton becomes Governor of Victoria
• 8 September – The Blood or bread riots begin as unemployed men attempt to storm government stores; the riots continue to the 10th
• 10 October – Dandenong Market opens in South-East Melbourne.
• 24 October – The Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia opens in Melbourne.
• 24 November – Richard Dry becomes Premier of Tasmania
• 7 December – John Granville Grenfell, gold commissioner, killed by bushrangers near Narromine

• 29 January – Frank Tudor, 6th Federal Leader of the Opposition (d. 1922)
• 31 January – Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, 7th Governor-General of Australia (born in the United Kingdom) (d. 1936)
• 15 March – Matthew Charlton, 7th Federal Leader of the Opposition (d. 1948)
• 26 March – Barcroft Boake, poet (d. 1892)
• 27 March – John Allan, 29th Premier of Victoria (d. 1936)
• 11 April – Bernard O'Dowd, poet, activist, and journalist (d. 1953)
• 21 April – Stanley Price Weir, army officer and public servant (d. 1944)
• 5 August – Harry Trott, cricketer (d. 1917)
• 23 September – James Hume Cook, Victorian politician (born in New Zealand) (d. 1942)
• 15 October – Jack Barrett, cricketer (d. 1916)

• 11 January – Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, actor (born in Ireland) (b. 1818)
• 3 February – William Haines, 1st Premier of Victoria (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1810)
• 7 May – Edward Charles Close, New South Wales politician and soldier (born in the British Raj) (b. 1790)
• 5 June – John McDouall Stuart, explorer (born and died in the United Kingdom) (b. 1815)
• 25 September – Osmond Gilles, South Australian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1788)

• Barker, Anthony (1996). What Happened When. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-986-3.