2000

• January 1: The world enters the year 2000 without the predicted chaos from the Y2K computer bug.
• May 12: The Olympic torch is lit in Greece in preparation for its journey Down Under to the Sydney Olympic Games.
• June 8: The Olympic torch arrives in Uluru and begins a 100 day journey around Australia. A selection of famous athletes, politicians, and culturally significant people are chosen to carry the torch through various locations around Australia as it makes its way to Sydney for the Opening Ceremony.
• June 11: The human genome project culminates in a finished draft of the human genetic code (DNA). This discovery is said to be significant in the early detection and treatment of genetically inherited diseases.
• July 1: The goods and services tax (GST) is introduced across Australia.
• August 7: New airline carriers Virgin Blue and Impulse Airlines take to the skies, offering Australian consumers discount airfares.
• September 16: Sydney hosts what is deemed to be the "best ever" Olympic Games, according to Juan Antonio Samaranch. Cathy Freeman lights the Olympic flame declaring the Games open and Australia wins a record 16 gold, 25 silver and 17 bronze medals. Australian volunteers are recognised for their outstanding contribution to the success of the Games.
• October 14: Sydney hosts the Paralympic Games.
• October 26: Siamese twins Monique and Taylah Armstrong, born joined at the head, are successfully separated after a 12-hour operation in Brisbane.

• November 24: Media mogul Kerry Packer is given a second chance at life, after a lifesaving kidney donation from his helicopter pilot Nicholas Ross.
• December 29: Australia makes cricket history after winning a world record 13 consecutive Test matches.
• December 30: The Greater Blue Mountains are listed on the World Heritage register in the culmination of a 14-year battle for international recognition of its eucalypt forests and rare plants.. This now means 1 million hectares of the Blue Mountain area commands the same international status as the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kakadu and the wilderness of south-west Tasmania.

2001

• Lleyton Hewitt becomes the youngest ever tennis player to be crowned World No. 1.

2003

• Australia hosts the 2003 Rugby World Cup – the fifth Rugby World Cup.
• Makybe Diva becomes the first racehorse to win the famed Melbourne Cup on three occasions, in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Makybe Diva is inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.

2004

• Australian born Mary Donaldson marries Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark in Copenhagen to become Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark.

2005

• Professor Ian Frazer and his team at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane develop a vaccine to prevent and treat cervical cancer, which affects 500,000 women each year. The immunologist is named Australian of the Year in 2006.
• The Socceroos qualify for 2006 FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974, by defeating Uruguay in Sydney.

2006

• Melbourne hosts the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
• Environmentalist and TV star Steve Irwin dies from a stingray wound while filming a documentary in Australia. He is affectionately known as the ‘Crocodile Hunter’ and internationally renowned as a wildlife warrior, and for the catchcry “Crikey".

2007

• Internationally acclaimed explorer, conservationist and scientist, Tim Flannery, is named Australian of the Year for his work in raising awareness of climate change.

2008

• Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologises to Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations. The historic apology includes the word “sorry” three times and is televised around the country, shown at outdoor settings in remote indigenous communities and public spaces such as Federation Square.

2009

• Heath Ledger wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight at the Academy Awards.
• Surgeons at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital separate conjoined Bangladeshi twins, Trishna and Krishna, in a marathon operation, which takes almost 27 hours.
• Black Saturday Bushfires become Australia’s worst bushfire disaster. Australians band together to raise in excess of $392 million for The Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.

2010

• Julia Gillard becomes Australia’s first female Prime Minister.
• Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail around the world, non-stop and unassisted. Inspired by Kay Cottee and Jesse Martin, she stops the nation when she sails back into Sydney Harbour. The following year she receives the Young Australian of the Year Award.

2011

• ‘Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure’ airs on Australian TV. She tries Vegemite for the first time at the Sydney Opera House.