JULY

1 - David Hurley is sworn in as the 27th Governor General of Australia.

7 - A 33-year-old man is arrested and charged after scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge in heavy fog, apparently to protest against the government of Iran.

3 - Former rugby league star Jarryd Hayne is committed to stand trial on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a woman in the NSW Hunter region.

5 - Bernard Tomic is fined his first-round prize money of more than $80,000 by Wimbledon officials who claim the Australian didn't play up to the "required professional standards".

27 - Rising swimming star Shayna Jack tests positive to a banned substance, forcing the 20-year-old to withdraw from the national squad. Jack maintains her innocence.

30 - Brisbane-based Melissa Lucashenko wins the Miles Franklin Literary Award for Too Much Lip. She is the third indigenous Australian writer to win the prize.

AUGUST

4 - Kerry Robertson, 61, becomes the first Victorian to use the state's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act, her two daughters saying their mother's death was "beautiful and peaceful".

8 - A bill to decriminalise abortion passes the NSW Lower House after heated and lengthy debate. It passes the Upper House on September 25.

17 - The chairman of Macquarie Media says Alan Jones will be fired if he makes any comments similar to those he directed at Jacinda Ardern this week, when he said Scott Morrison should "shove a sock" down the New Zealand prime minister's throat.

26 - An attempt to deport Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers Kokilapathmapriya Nadesalingham (Priya) and Nadesalingam Murugappan (Nades) is thwarted by a last-minute injunction, forcing the plane carrying the couple and their children out of Australia to land in Darwin. The family is taken to Christmas Island detention centre, where they await a final hearing.

28 - The NSW government announces a $10 million initiative to combat what Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall describes as a looming "Fish Armageddon".

29 - Prime Minister Scott Morrison hits out at a gender-inclusive toilet sign on display in his department, describing it as "political correctness", "not necessary" and "over the top".

SEPTEMBER

5 - Notorious paedophile Michael Guider, who killed schoolgirl Samantha Knight decades ago, walks free from a Sydney prison.

8 - Australia retains The Ashes for the first time on English soil since 2001 with a thrilling win in the fourth Test.

12 - Five years to the day since William Tyrrell, then three years old, disappeared from Kendall, NSW, police say they're "continuing to explore lines of inquiry and persons of interest".

19 - Mother of missing Beaumont children, Nancy Beaumont, dies aged 92, having never known what happened to her three children, who disappeared from an Adelaide beach in the 1960s.

20 - Thousands of young Australians walk out of classrooms to demand action on climate change alongside thousands more adults and business leaders, part of worldwide rallies inspired by young Swedish activist Greta Thonberg.

21 - Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny are greeted at the White House by US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania.

28 - Richmond thrash GWS by 89 points to win their 12th AFL premiership and their second in three seasons.

OCTOBER

1 - Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe cuts the cash rate to a record 0.75% and says he's prepared to ease again if needed to support growth.

6 - The Sydney Roosters win the 2019 NRL grand final after a 14-8 victory over the Canberra Raiders.

22 - An Adelaide man dies after falling more than 10 metres from a zipline in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland. His wife is seriously injured.

26 - Climbing Uluru is now banned, ending a rush by tourists to climb the red rock before the deadline.

27 - Australian serial killer Ivan Milat, convicted of murdering foreign and Australian backpackers between 1989 and 1993, dies in custody.

29 - Codey Herrmann, the man who raped and murdered international student Aiia Maasarwe in Melbourne, is jailed for at least 30 years.

NOVEMBER

5 - Australians celebrate another Melbourne Cup, but this year it's tainted by an ABC probe revealing multiple instances of animal cruelty and hundreds of registered racehorses being discarded at slaughterhouses across Australia.

8 - Renewable energy - mostly solar and wind - supplies more than half of Australia's national grid for the first time for a brief, 10-minute period.

10 - NSW's premier declares a seven-day state of emergency ahead of catastrophic fire warnings as deadly bushfires continue to burn in NSW and Queensland.

12 - Disgraced Cardinal George Pell gets one final chance to fight his child sex convictions, with a full bench of the High Court expected to hear appeal arguments early in 2020.

21 - An online fundraising appeal set up by a NSW koala hospital to rescue and rehabilitate marsupials devastated by bushfires raises more than $1 million.

25 - Accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards goes on trial in WA's Supreme Court, charged with the murders of three women in 1996 and 1997.

27 - Victorian singer-songwriter Tones and I sweeps the floor at the Arias, cementing her status as breakout artist of the year.

DECEMBER

4 - Sam Neill is honoured for his illustrious career with the highest accolade at the AACTA Awards. The Nightingale takes out best film category.

9 - Australian tourists off a cruise ship are among 47 people on New Zealand's volcanic White Island when it erupts. Just over a week later, 16 Australians are confirmed dead and 12 are in Australian hospitals with burns.

10 - WA becomes the second state after Victoria to legalise voluntary assisted dying, to applause from the floor of parliament and the public gallery.

19 - Two volunteer firefighters die and three are hospitalised with severe burns as the bushfire crisis raging across Australia's east coast intensifies. Scott Morrison "deeply regrets" any offence caused by him going overseas on holiday during the emergency and says he will return early.

Australian Associated Press