1986 in Australian literature

• Elizabeth Jolley won the 1986 Miles Franklin Award for The Well

• Geoffrey Serle AO, for "service to scholarship and literature, particularly in the field of Australian history"[1]
• Nicholas Hasluck AM, for "service to literature"[2]
• Dorothy Hewett AM, for "service to literature"[3]
• Barbara Jefferis AM, for "service to literature"[4]
• Grace Perry AM, for "service to Australian literature, particularly as editor of Poetry Australia"[5]
• Russel Ward AM, for "service to literature, particularly in the field of Australian history"[6]

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1986 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 23 August — Jack Heath, writer of fiction for children and adults

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1986 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 27 September — Olga Masters, writer, journalist, novelist and short story writer (born 1919)
• 10 November — Laurence Collinson, British and Australian playwright, actor, poet, journalist, and secondary school teacher (born 1925)

• 1986 in Australia
• 1986 in literature
• 1986 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature