This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1972.

• Thomas Keneally becomes the first Australian to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.^[1]

• Thea Astley – The Acolyte
• Russell Braddon – End Play
• Jon Cleary – Man's Estate
• Sumner Locke Elliott – The Man Who Got Away
• Catherine Gaskin – A Falcon for a Queen
• David Ireland – The Flesheaters
• Thomas Keneally – The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
• Peter Mathers – The Wort Papers

• Peter Carey
  • "Crabs"
  • "Peeling"
• Frank Hardy – It's Moments Like These
• Elizabeth Jolley – "Dingle the Fool"
• Frank Moorhouse – The Americans, Baby
• Kath Walker – Stradbroke Dreaming

• Hesba Brinsmead – Echo in the Wilderness
• Alan Marshall – Fight for Life
• Mary Elwyn Patchett – Rebel Brumby
• Ivan Southall – Head in the Clouds
• Eleanor Spence – The Nothing Place
• Patricia Wrightson – An Older Kind of Magic

• A. Bertram Chandler – The Hard Way Up

• Michael Dransfield
  • Drug Poems
  • The Inspector of Tides
• Harry Payne Heseltine – The Penguin Book of Australian Verse (edited)
• Les Murray – Poems Against Economics
• Peter Porter
  • After Martial
  • Preaching to the Converted
• Thomas Shapcott – Begin With Walking
• Peter Skrzynecki – Head-Waters

• David Williamson – Juggler's Three

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1972 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

Unknown date

• Louis Armand, poet and critic^[7]
• Steve Toltz, novelist^[8]
• Samuel Wagan Watson, poet^[9]
• Helen Dale (born Helen Darville), novelist

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1972 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 3 June – Martin Boyd, novelist (born 1893)^[10]
• 16 August – Dulcie Deamer, poet (born 1890)^[11]
• 16 October – Eunice Hanger, playwright and educator (born 1911)^[12]

• 1972 in Australia
• 1972 in literature
• 1972 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

v t e Years in Australian literature (1855–present)
19th century	1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024