A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly district of Dubbo on 20 November 2004.
On 15 September 2004, the independent sitting member Tony McGrane for Dubbo died after a battle with liver cancer.
The by-election presented the National with an opportunity to regain the seat they had held for 18 years from 1981 before losing it to McGrane in 1999.
However, the seat was won instead by another independent, Dubbo deputy mayor Dawn Fardell.
Nor was it contested by the opposition Liberal, who deferred to their junior coalition partner the National Party, as is typical in regional districts.