The following lists the top 40 (end of decade) charting albums on the Australian Album Charts, for the 1980s. These were the best charting albums in Australia for the 1980s. The source for this decade is the Kent Music Report, known from 1987 onwards as the Australian Music Report.
| Title | Artist | Highest pos. reached | Date reached | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Whispering Jack | 1 | November 1986 | ||
| 2. | Brothers in Arms | 1 | May 1985 | ||
| 3. | Thriller | 1 | June 1983 | ||
| 4. | Born in the U.S.A. | 1 | October 1984 | ||
| 5. | Whitney Houston | 1 | June 1986 | ||
| 6. | Can't Slow Down | 1 | June 1984 | ||
| 7. | Too Low for Zero | 2 | August 1983 | ||
| 8. | 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 | 3 | December 1982 | ||
| 9. | Business as Usual | 1 | December 1981 | ||
| 10. | Kick | 1 | October 1988 | ||
| 11. | Graceland | 1 | October 1986 | ||
| 12. | An Innocent Man | 3 | November 1983 | ||
| 13. | Revenge | 2 | August 1986 | ||
| 14. | Crowded House | 1 | June 1987 | ||
| 15. | Love over Gold | 1 | October 1982 | ||
| 16. | Colour by Numbers | 1 | October 1983 | ||
| 17. | No Jacket Required | 1 | May 1985 | ||
| 18. | Like a Virgin | 2 | January 1985 | ||
| 19. | The Swing | 1 | April 1984 | ||
| 20. | The Joshua Tree | 3 | March 1987 | ||
| 21. | Little Creatures | 2 | August 1985 | ||
| 22. | Back in Black | 1 | March 1981 | ||
| 23. | Man of Colours | 1 | October 1987 | ||
| 24. | For the Working Class Man | 1 | December 1985 | ||
| 25. | Slippery When Wet | 1 | July 1987 | ||
| 26. | The Lonesome Jubilee | 2 | May 1988 | ||
| 27. | She's So Unusual | 3 | February 1985 | ||
| 28. | East | 2 | June 1980 | ||
| 29. | The Wall | 1 | March 1980 | ||
| 30. | Tracy Chapman | 3 | June 1988 | ||
| 31. | Chariots of Fire | 5 | May 1982 | ||
| 32. | The Dream of the Blue Turtles | 1 | April 1986 | ||
| 33. | Tango in the Night | 5 | November 1987 | ||
| 34. | Scarecrow | 2 | July 1986 | ||
| 35. | Sirocco | 1 | August 1981 | ||
| 36. | True Blue | 1 | August 1986 | ||
| 37. | Dirty Dancing | 1 | October 1986 | ||
| 38. | ...ish | 1 | May 1989 | ||
| 39. | Invisible Touch | 3 | July 1986 | ||
| 40. | Volume One | 1 | February 1989 | ||
| 41. | Glass Houses | 2 | May 1980 | ||
| 42. | Double Fantasy | 1 | Dec 1980 | ||
| 43. | The Bridge | 2 | Oct 1986 | ||
| 44. | Be Yourself Tonight | 1 | Jul 1985 | ||
| 45. | The Boys Light Up | 4 | Sep 1980 | ||
| 46. | Diesel and Dust | 1 | Aug 1987 | ||
| 47. | Reckless | 2 | Oct 1985 | ||
| 48. | Heavy Nova | 2 | Feb 1989 | ||
| 49. | Tattoo You | 1 | Sep 1981 | ||
| 50. | True Colours | 1 | Apr 1980 | ||
| 51. | Listen Like Thieves | 1 | Oct 1985 | ||
| 52. | Introducing the Hardline According to Terrence Trent D'Arby | 1 | May 1988 | ||
| 53. | Age of Reason | 1 | Aug 1988 | ||
| 54. | Let's Dance | 1 | Apr 1983 | ||
| 55. | Rattle and Hum | 1 | Oct 1988 | ||
| 56. | Icehouse | 4 | Nov 1980 | ||
| 57. | Avalon | 1 | Jul 1982 | ||
| 58. | Zenyatta Mondatta | 1 | Mar 1981 | ||
| 59. | Under a Blood Red Sky | 2 | Feb 1984 | ||
| 60. | Appetite For Destruction | 7 | Oct 1988 | ||
| 61. | Making Movies | 6 | Mar 1981 | ||
| 62. | Days of Innocence | 1 | Mar 1982 | ||
| 63. | Synchronicity | 1 | Jul 1983 | ||
| 64. | Off The Wall | 1 | Mar 1980 | ||
| 65. | Greatest Hits Vols. I & II | 2 | Aug 1985 | ||
| 66. | Kev's Back | 8 | Oct 1986 | ||
| 67. | Whenever You Need Somebody | 1 | Apr 1988 | ||
| 68. | Stardust | 5 | Aug 1980 | ||
| 69. | Private Dancer | 7 | Sep 1984 | ||
| 70. | Hotter Than July | 3 | Dec 1980 | ||
| 71. | Guilty | 1 | Nov 1980 | ||
| 72. | Dare | 3 | Apr 1982 | ||
| 73. | Open Up and Say...Ahh! | 11 | Sep 1988 | ||
| 74. | A Momentary Lapse of Reason | 4 | Nov 1987 | ||
| 75. | Faith | 3 | Mar 1988 | ||
| 76. | Push | 4 | Aug 1988 | ||
| 77. | Songs From the Big Chair | 5 | May 1985 | ||
| 78. | Flashdance | 1 | Aug 1983 | ||
| 79. | Freight Train Heart | 1 | Dec 1987 | ||
| 80. | Hysteria | 4 | Jul 1989 | ||
| 81. | The Raw and the Cooked | 2 | May 1989 | ||
| 82. | Melissa Etheridge | 2 | Mar 1989 | ||
| 83. | Stop Making Sense | 9 | Nov 1985 | ||
| 84. | Dancing on the Ceiling | 2 | Sep 1986 | ||
| 85. | Whitney | 1 | Jun 1987 | ||
| 86. | Like a Prayer | 2 | Apr 1989 | ||
| 87. | Face Value | 2 | Jun 1981 | ||
| 88. | The Rose | 3 | May 1980 | ||
| 89. | Edge | 1 | May 1989 | ||
| 90. | Bad Habits | 1 | Jul 1981 | ||
| 91. | Christopher Cross | 6 | May 1981 | ||
| 92. | Union | 7 | Nov 1988 | ||
| 93. | Spirit of Place | 2 | Jan 1983 | ||
| 94. | Madonna | 10 | Aug 1984 | ||
| 95. | Rock a Little | 5 | June 1986 | ||
| 96. | Can't Stop the Music | 1 | June 1980 | ||
| 97. | Red Sails in the Sunset | 1 | November 1984 | ||
| 98. | Bad | 2 | September 1987 | ||
| 99. | 1100 Bel Air Place | 2 | October 1984 | ||
| 100. | Circus Animals | 1 | May 1982 |