• Monarch – George VI
• Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
• Prime Minister – Robert Menzies (until 28 August), then Arthur Fadden (until 7 October), then John Curtin
• Chief Justice – Sir John Latham

State Premiers edit

• Premier of New South Wales – Alexander Mair (until 16 May), then William McKell
• Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford
• Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
• Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

State Governors edit

• Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
• Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
• Governor of Western Australia – none appointed

• 25 March – The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) is formed.
• 31 March – The Siege of Tobruk begins.
• 7 April – The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) is formed.
• 10 May – A general election is held in New South Wales. The ALP led by William McKell defeats the incumbent United Australia Party and Premier Alexander Mair.
• 12 May – The Daily Mirror newspaper is first published in Sydney.
• 30 June – HMAS Waterhen sinks off Libya – the first Australian naval vessel lost in the war.
• 3 October – Prime Minister Arthur Fadden resigns following the rejection of his budget by two independent MPs.
• 7 October – John Curtin is sworn in as Prime Minister after Arthur Fadden's government loses majority support in the House of Representatives.
• 11 November – The Australian War Memorial is opened in Canberra.
• 19 November – The light cruiser HMAS Sydney engages the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran in an hour-long battle off the coast of Western Australia. Both ships are sunk, the Sydney going down with 645 crew.
• 9 December – Australia declares war on Japan, and the Axis powers of Finland, Hungary and Romania.
• 13 December – A general election is held in Tasmania. The Labor Party led by Robert Cosgrove is returned to power.

• William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir James Elder, KBE
• The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark is published.

• 30 August – St. George win the 1941 NSWRFL season for their first premiership after the club's founding in 1920, defeating Eastern Suburbs 31–14. North Sydney finish in last place, claiming the wooden spoon.
• 27 September – Melbourne wins the 45th VFL Premiership, defeating Essendon 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98).
• 4 November – Skipton wins the Melbourne Cup.
• Velocity wins the Caulfield Cup
• Beau Vite wins the Cox Plate
• The Sheffield Shield is not contested due to war

• 3 January – Roger Rogerson, detective and convicted murderer (died 2024)
• 23 January – Jock R. Anderson, economist and academic
• 29 January – Maggie Kirkpatrick, actress
• 4 February – Russell Cooper, Premier of Queensland (1989)
• 24 February – Clive Doyle, Australian-born Branch Davidian (died 2022)
• 2 March – John Cornell, film producer (died 2021)
• 11 March – Kim Santow, NSW Supreme Court judge (died 2008)
• 29 March – Michael Thornhill, film producer, screenwriter and film director (died 2022)
• 31 March – Faith Leech, swimmer (died 2013)
• 10 April – Wendy Fatin, politician
• 13 April – Alan Jones, radio personality
• 17 April – Bill Landeryou, politician (died 2019)
• 24 April – John Williams, classical guitarist
• 6 May – Peter Corrigan, architect (died 2016)
• 11 May – Ian Redpath, cricketer
• 18 May – Lobby Loyde, rock music guitarist (died 2007)
• 30 May – Kevin Coombs, Paralympic athlete (died 2023)
• 31 May – Julian Croft, poet
• 4 June – Kenneth G. Ross, playwright
• 8 June – George Pell, cardinal (died 2023)
• 23 June – Margaret Hamilton, publisher and author (died 2022)
• 24 June – Graham McKenzie, cricketer
• 25 June – Kenneth Walker, cricketer
• 28 June – Harry Quick, politician
• 1 July
  • Alf Duval, rower
  • Denis Michael Rohan, Australian citizen who, on August 21, 1969, set fire to the pulpit of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem (died 1995)
• 3 July – Merv Cross, orthopaedic surgeon and rugby league player (died 2023)
• 9 July – Jan Lehane, tennis player
• 21 July – Ron Corry, football (soccer) player, coach
• 31 July – Heather McKay, squash player
• 28 August – Tony Barry, actor (died 2022)
• 1 September – Graeme Langlands, rugby league footballer and coach (died 2018)
• 22 September – Murray Bail, writer
• 27 September – Gay Kayler, country music singer
• 3 October – John Elliott, businessman (died 2021)
• 5 October – Earle Bailey, politician
• 14 October – David Kemp, politician
• 16 October – Genevieve Lloyd, philosopher and feminist
• 25 October – Helen Reddy, singer (died 2020)
• 28 October – Fred Chaney, WA politician
• 7 November – Willi Sawall, race walker
• 16 November – Max Gillies, actor
• 13 December – Dixie Willis, middle distance runner
• 15 December – Richard Neville, writer (died 2016)

• 20 January – Raimund Pechotsch, musical composer (born in Austria-Hungary) (b. 1864)
• 5 February – Banjo Paterson, bush poet, journalist and author (b. 1864)
• 18 March – Harry Boan, Western Australian politician and businessman (b. 1860)
• 1 April – Jack Chamberlain, cricketer (b. 1884)
• 12 April – James Boyd, Victorian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1867)
• 15 April – Emily Pelloe, botanical illustrator (b. 1878)
• 4 May – Chris McKivat, Olympic rugby union and league player (b. 1880)
• 8 May – Alexander Hay, New South Wales politician (born in New Zealand) (b. 1865)
• 15 June – John Lynch, New South Wales politician (b. 1862)
• 24 June – Sir Francis Anderson, philosopher (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1858)
• 1 July – Francis Birtles, adventurer (b. 1881)
• 7 July – Randolph Bedford, Queensland politician and writer (b. 1868)^[1]
• 27 July – James Ronald, Victorian politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1861)
• 31 July – Ron Barassi Sr., Australian rules footballer (Melbourne) and soldier (died in Libya) (b. 1913)
• 1 August – James Drake, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1850)
• 23 August – Jack O'Connor, cricketer (b. 1875)
• 30 August – Gregan McMahon, actor and theatrical producer (b. 1874)
• 31 August – Sir Thomas Bavin, 24th Premier of New South Wales (born in New Zealand) (b. 1874)
• 1 September – Millice Culpin, Queensland politician (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1846)
• 5 September – George Marchant, soft drink manufacturer and philanthropist (born in the United Kingdom) (b. 1857)
• 1 October – Sir John Longstaff, artist (b. 1861)
• 18 November – Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (born in Chile) (b. 1867)
• 19 November – Joseph Burnett, naval captain (b. 1899)
• 28 November - Elwyn Roy King, fighter ace and military officer (b. 1894)
• 22 December – Cyril Cameron, Tasmanian politician and soldier (b. 1857)

• List of Australian films of the 1940s