10 January – Evonne Goolagong wins the NSW junior hard-court title.
11 January – The bodies of two 15-year-old girls, Christine Sharrock and Marianne Schmidt, are found at Wanda Beach in southern Sydney. Despite the offer of an unprecedented £10,000 reward, the murders are never solved.
27 January – Queensland Police are given the power to arrest without warrant and ban anyone aiding the striking Mount Isa Mines workers. Union leader Pat Mackie is banned from the site.
February
Judge Aaron Levine overturns the obscenity conviction of the editors of Oz magazine
Charles Perkins leads The Freedom Ride, which travels through country NSW, protesting the racial discrimination against Aboriginal people.
Margaret Court wins the Australian women's tennis singles title for the sixth consecutive year
11 February – Mt Isa Mines suspends all operations.
20 February – Freedom Ride participants including Charles Perkins are ejected from the Moree municipal swimming baths after protesting against its policy of not admitting Aborigines.
The Seekers' single "I'll Never Find Another You" reaches No. 1 in the UK charts. It becomes the first recording by an Australian act to sell more than 1 million copies and eventually sells more than 1.75 million
March
1 March – The Amateur Swimming Union of Australia stuns the nation with its decision that Olympic champion and 1964 Australian of the Year Dawn Fraser will be banned from all amateur competition for ten years. The decision follows an inquiry into Fraser's alleged misbehaviour during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
6 March – The Australian Labor Party wins the South Australian election, taking government for the first time in 32 years. Labor leader Frank Walsh becomes Premier, replacing LCL leader Sir Thomas Playford, Australia's longest-serving premier, who had held office for 26 years, 4 months.
10 March – The first drawing of the national service conscription lottery.
17 March – The Queensland government legislates to ban picketing and restricting pamphlets and banners at the Mount Isa mine. The strikers workers return to work later in the month.
20 March to 26 April – The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visit Australia.
24 March – Prime Minister Menzies announces a new concept in tertiary education as recommended by the Martin Committee on the Future of Tertiary Education in Australia.
31 March – Merle Thorton and Rosalie Bogner chained their ankles to the front bar of the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane in protest against the Queensland liquor laws that banned women from pubs.[1]
29 April – Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces that an Australian combat force will be sent to South Vietnam in response to a request for military aid from the South Vietnamese government.
May
1 May – The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is defeated in the NSW state election after 24 years in government and the Liberal Party, led by Robin Askin takes power.
TV variety show In Melbourne Tonight celebrates its 2000th performance. Since its premiere in 1957 the show had earned the Nine Network over £AU4 million in advertising revenue and it attracted more viewers per capita than any other television show in the world, with the network rumoured to be paying host Graham Kennedy more than £AU20,000 per year (14 June)
21 June – The Premier of Tasmania, Eric Reece, announces the Gordon Power scheme will "result in some modification to the Lake Pedder National Park", but it was still in development and no further details were revealed.[2]
30 June – At a speech to the Australian Club in London, PM Sir Robert Menzies declares that Australia is in a state of war in Vietnam.
July
2 July – Secondary school teachers in Victoria stage a strike, the first teachers' strike in Australia since 1920.
18 to 20 July - Snow is recorded as far north as the Clark Range in Queensland, killing drought-weakened livestock. At the same time, extremely heavy rainfall in the North Coast turns drought into flood, with Brisbane having its wettest-ever July day with 193.2 millimetres (7.6 in).
August
13 August – A limited free-trade agreement is negotiated between Australia and New Zealand.
21 August – A report of the Vernon Committee of Economic Inquiry is tabled in federal parliament; the principal recommendations are rejected by government.
September
23 September – Roma Mitchell is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first woman to become a judge in Australia.
October
7 October – Sir Robert Menzies appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
Northern Territory patrol officers forcibly round up the last groups of the Pintubi Aboriginal people still living an independent traditional lifestyle, and resettle them on the Papunya and Yuendumu missions
Cricket: Australia lose a five test series away to the West Indies 2–1. The West Indies side includes greats such as Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, while Australia featured opening batsmen Bill Lawry and Bobby Simpson.
Rugby league: 1965 NSWRFL seasonSt. George win the tenth of a record eleven consecutive premierships in the NSWRL, defeating South Sydney 12–8 in the Grand Final. Eastern Suburbs finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
Golf: The Australian Veteran Golfers Association. (A.V.G.A.) was formed on 7 July 1965 by four businessmen, Messrs. A Hall, W.Foulsham J.Barkel and H.Hattersley.
^Henry, Margaret. "Sulman, Florence (1876–1965)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
