More than 12 million Australians had their final say on same-sex marriage in 2017. The result was a resounding 'yes'.
But 2017 wasn't all good news for the Coalition. Liberal and National Party members were strongly represented in federal Parliament's dual citizenship saga - a political mess expected to continue well into 2018.
Internationally, Emmanuel Macron was elected France's youngest President. While Jacinda Ardern took the reins as Prime Minister of New Zealand, just weeks after stepping up as opposition leader.
The leadership was handed to Ms Ardern by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. The streets of Zimbabwe erupted into scenes of celebration as controversial leader Robert Mugabe formally stepped down as President after decades of stranglehold rule. His resignation letter was read aloud by Zimbabwe parliamentary Speaker Jacob Mudenda.
Twenty-two people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a homemade bomb at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at a country music festival in Las Vegas. 64-year-old Stephen Paddock fired more than 1,000 bullets from his room on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel.
And in sport, the Australian Socceroos successfully qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a two-goal win over Honduras.
But Australia's road to Russia was off to a sombre start, with the shock resignation of coach Ange Postecoglou.
