Leaders

• Governor of New South Wales – Captain Arthur Phillip
  Arthur Phillip
  Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
  
  
• Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island
  Administrative heads of Norfolk Island
  The Administrator of Norfolk Island acts as a representative both of the Crown and of the Australian Federal Government, as well as carrying out other duties according to the Norfolk Island Act 1979....
  
   – Philip Gidley King
  Philip Gidley King
  Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
  
  
• Commanding officer of the colony's marine
  Royal Marines
  The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
  
   presence – Major Robert Ross

Events

• 28 February – John Irving becomes the first convict to be emancipated in New South Wales
  New South Wales
  New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
  
  .
• 19 March – HMS Sirius
  HMS Sirius (1786)
  HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet, which set out from Portsmouth, England, in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. Sirius was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1790....
  
  , while transporting supplies to Norfolk Island, becomes wrecked and destroyed on a reef. This destroys many of the colony's supplies, and Phillip is again forced to introduce rationing to avoid famine
  Famine
  A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
  
  .
• March – Following the loss of the Sirius, Lieutenant-Governor King
  Philip Gidley King
  Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
  
   returns to Britain to report on the difficulties of the settlements in New South Wales. Marine
  Royal Marines
  The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
  
   commander Robert Ross takes control of Norfolk Island
  Norfolk Island
  Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
  
   in his absence, and under his harsh rule the condition on the island deteriorates.
• 17 April – In order to replenish the supplies lost with the Sirius, Phillip sends the colony's only remaining ship (HMS Supply) to Batavia.
• 3 May – Bennelong
  Bennelong
  Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
  
   escapes.
• 3 June – The Lady Juliana
  Lady Juliana (ship)
  Lady Juliana was a convict ship dispatched in 1789 from Britain to Australia. She was the first convict ship to arrive at Port Jackson in New South Wales after the First Fleet. She is therefore sometimes considered as part of the Second Fleet and sometimes not...
  
  arrives in Port Jackson – the first ship to land on Australian soil since the First Fleet
  First Fleet
  The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
  
  . Much to the colonist's despair, she contains no fresh supplies, only more convicts.
• 20 June – The Second Fleet
  Second Fleet (Australia)
  The Second Fleet is the name of the second fleet of ships sent with settlers, convicts and supplies to colony at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson, Australia. The fleet comprised six ships: one Royal Navy escort, four convict ships, and a supply ship....
  
   arrives in Port Jackson with much needed supplies. It also carries 759 new convicts and the first detachment of the New South Wales Corps
  New South Wales Corps
  The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
  
  .
• July – The first census taken in the colonies reveals the population of NSW to be 1,715 and Norfolk Island to be 524.
• 7 September – Governor Arthur Phillip
  Arthur Phillip
  Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
  
   is speared in the shoulder while speaking with a group of Indigenous Australians
  Indigenous Australians
  Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
  
  , due to a misunderstanding. Acting as interpreter, Bennelong
  Bennelong
  Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
  
  prevents the situation from escalating and the Aboriginals are permitted to leave in peace.
• 18 October – HMS Supply returns from Batavia with more supplies.