The following lists events that happened during 1796 in Australia.
Leaders
Monarch - George III
Governor of New South Wales – John Hunter
Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley King
Inspector of Public Works – John Macarthur/Richard Atkins
Events
16 January – Australia's first theatre opens in Sydney. Edward Young's The Revenge and the comedy The Hotel are the first works performed. 23 January – The distillation of spirits is prohibited. 5 February – Soldiers from the New South Wales Corps wreck a house belonging to millwright John Baughan. 10 February – Magistrate William Balmain challenges Macarthur over the house-wrecking incident. 29 February – Macarthur resigns as Inspector of the Public Works and is replaced by Richard Atkins. June – George Bass makes an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Blue Mountains. Coal is discovered near Port Stephens. 14 September – Governor Hunter complains to the Colonial Secretary of Macarthur's behaviour. 15 September – Macarthur complains to Colonial Secretary of Hunter's governing. 9 November – As Sydney grows, Hunter disbands the convict night watch. He divides Sydney into four districts responsible for their own watchmen and orders houses to be numbered.
Births
20 March – Edward Gibbon Wakefield
date unknown
Henry Vincent, first superintendent of Rottnest Island Aboriginal Prison (d. 1869)