1885 in Australian literature

• Francis Adams — Leicester : An Autobiography
• Rolf Boldrewood
  • The Crooked Stick, or, Pollie's Probation
  • The Sealskin Cloak
• Ada Cambridge — A Little Minx : A Sketch
• Rosa Praed
  • Affinities : A Romance of To-Day
  • The Head Station : A Novel of Australian Life

• Victor Daley
  • "On the River"
  • "On the Shore"
• George Essex Evans — "Australia Militant"
• Mary Hannay Foott
  • "Happy Days"
  • "No Message"
  • Where the Pelican Builds and Other Poems
• Philip J. Holdsworth — "My Queen of Dreams"
• Henry Parkes — The Beauteous Terrorist and Other Poems
• A. B. Paterson — "El Mahdi to the Australian Troops"
• J. Brunton Stephens — Convict Once and Other Poems

• Rolf Boldrewood
  • "A Canvas Town Romance"
  • "A Transformation Scene"
• Rosa Praed — Australian Life, Black and White

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1885 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 13 June — Henry George Lamond, novelist (died 1969)
• 1 July — Dorothea Mackellar, poet (died 1968)
• 18 August — Nettie Palmer, critic (died 1959)
• 28 August — Vance Palmer, novelist (died 1959)

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1885 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 1885 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature