ABC replaces its separate news and current affairs programs with ABC National, a one-hour program combining both news and current affairs analysis.

ATV10 presents the first installment of the World War II mini-series The Cowra Breakout.

Then, after midnight, HSV7 presents its first News Overnight, comprising news programs sourced via satellite from the American NBC and CNN networks as well as replays of local news and current affairs programming.

See also: Monday 4 March 1985 — SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Monday 4 March 1985 — WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Monday 4 March 1985 — TASMANIA, Monday 4 March 1985 — DARWIN

The National, ABC’s $25m news gamble [2015]

Source: The Age, 4 March 1985

	ABV2	HSV7	GTV9	ATV10	SBS0/28
6AM			6am Rocky And Bullwinkle 6.25 Go Health 6.30 Scooby Doo	6am Felix The Cat 6.05 Popeye 6.30 McHale’s Navy (B&W)
7AM		7am The Flintstone Frolics 7.30 Mickey And Donald	7am Today	7am Good Morning Australia
8AM	8am Sesame Street	8am Leave It To Beaver 8.30 Shazzan!
9AM	9am Arthur And The Square Knights Of The Round Table 9.25 Dr Snuggles 9.30 Play School	9am Hallelujah! 9.30 Family Affair	9am Here’s Humphrey	9am That Girl 9.30 Fat Cat And Friends
10AM	10am For Schools: Watch, The Colonials, Words And Pictures, The Magic Bag, For The Juniors, Infinity Ltd, Australian History, Computer Club, Kontakte	10am Romper Room	10am Another World	10am Good Morning Melbourne. Roy Hampson, Annette Allison
11AM		11am Eleven AM	11am Here’s Lucy 11.30 National Nine Morning News	11am All My Children	11am The Sprite And The Owl 11.10 Follow Me 11.30 Daughter Of The Porter (Lebanon)
12PM		12pm Movie: A Question Of Love. 1978 [IMDB]	12pm Midday With Ray Martin	12pm After Noon. Tony Murphy, Katrina Lee	12.40pm Movie: Sipsirica (Hungary) [IMDB]
1PM	1.15pm Close 1.25 For Schools: Junior Secondary Maths 1.45 Close		1.30 Days Of Our Lives	1.30 Movie: That Kind Of Woman. 1959 (B&W)  [IMDB]
2PM		2pm Donahue	2.30 The Young And The Restless		2.25 Close
3PM	3pm Sesame Street 3.55 AEIOU	3pm Cop Shop	3.30 General Hospital	3.30 Blankety Blanks. Graham Kennedy
4PM	4pm Play School 4.30 Mr Squiggle	4pm Wombat 4.30 The Yearling	4pm Skippy The Bush Kangaroo 4.30 The Ossie Ostrich Video Show	4pm Simon Townsend’s Wonder World
5PM	5pm Into The Labyrinth 5.25 Bananaman 5.30 Astroboy 5.55 Come And Get It	5pm Wheel Of Fortune 5.30 The New Price Is Right	5pm Happy Days 5.30 Blankety Blanks. Daryl Somers	5pm Gilligan’s Island 5.30 Perfect Match. Greg Evans, Debbie Newsome	5.30 Don Quixote
6PM	6pm Heroes 6.30 ABC National PREMIERE Richard Morecroft, Geraldine Doogue	6pm Family Ties 6.30 Seven National News	6pm National Nine News 6.30 Willesee. Mike Willesee	6pm Eyewitness News. David Johnston, Jo Pearson	6pm Russian Language And People 6.30 SPIS — A Distant Paradise (Germany)
7PM	7.30 Mother And Son	7pm Day By Day. Mark Day 7.30 Sons And Daughters	7pm Sale of The Century. Tony Barber, Delvene Delaney 7.30 Knight Rider	7pm MASH 7.30 Mini-Series: The Cowra Breakout PREMIERE [IMDB]	7pm World News 7.30 Aristocrats
8PM	8pm Fawlty Towers 8.30 Minder	8.30 Movie: Six Pack. 1982 [IMDB]	8.30 Dynasty		8.30 The Octopus (Italy)
9PM	9.20 Police		9.30 The Mike Walsh Show		9.35 Writer’s Playhouse: Second Chance
10PM	10.10 A New World (For Sure) 10.40 Soccer: English Cup Championship	10.35 Newsworld		10.30 Eyewitness News 10.40 Mississippi	10.05 Movie: The Girl In Room 17. 1970 (Greece) (B&W) [IMDB]
11PM	11.40 Close	11.10 Greyhound Racing: Australian Cup 11.30 Barney Miller	11pm National Nine News 11.05 Hawaii Five O	11.40 Movie: The Singer Not The Song. 1961 [IMDB]	11.40 Close
12AM		12am News Overnight PREMIERE 12am Today (NBC), 2am Daybreak (CNN), 4am Newsworld (Rpt), 4.30 Day By Day (Rpt), 5am Daywatch (CNN) (Continues to 7am)	12.05am Movie: The Culpepper Cattle Company. 1972 [IMDB]
1AM			1.55 Movie: Crunch. 1975 [IMDB]
2AM				2.20am Close
3AM			3.50 Movie: Iron Man. 1952 [IMDB]
4AM
5AM			5.10 Bonanza (Continues to 6am)