A Look Back At

Born in 1966

What Was Life Like in 1966?

Who Was in Charge?

Prime Minister

Harold Holt

Monarch

Queen Elizabeth II

What Things Cost

Petrol (per litre)

$0.06

Loaf of Bread

$0.15

Average House

$8,000

Weekly Wage

$35.00

Events of 1966 in Australia

A selection from Wikipedia's '1966 in Australia'. Not a complete list.

  • 14 January – Ballet dancer and choreographer Robert Helpmann is named as 1965's Australian of the Year.
  • 14 February – Decimalisation of the Australian currency; the Australian dollar replaces the Australian pound at the rate of ten shillings to the dollar.
  • 10 March – On advice from Immigration Minister Hubert Opperman, federal cabinet reverses a decision of September 1964, agreeing that non-Europeans could be selected on an individual basis to enter as immigrants with permanent resident status and naturalisation on an equal basis with European applicants.
  • 7 April – New South Wales repeals the Sunday Observance Act, allowing theatres and cinemas to open, sporting events to charge admission and clubs to sell alcohol on Sundays.
  • 12 May – 21-year-old pilot Mary Fergusson on her final test flight to qualify for her full pilot's licence goes missing in Tasmania en route from Cambridge to Flinders Island prompting a widespread search.
  • 18 August – Australian forces engage in their first major battle in Vietnam at the Battle of Long Tan, inflicting heavy losses on NLF troops.
  • 3 November – The Liberal Reform Group (which later evolves into the Australian Party) is founded.
  • 26 November – The Liberal government of Harold Holt scores a massive victory in the 1966 federal election, and is returned to power with the largest majority in the federal parliament's 65-year history.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Popular Toys & Games

  • Twister
  • Super Ball
  • Operation

Australian No. 1 (Kent retrospective) on 1 January 1966

The Carnival Is Over

The Seekers

This chart was compiled later by David Kent from radio station charts.