|
Disaster |
Location |
Deaths |
Date |
Notes |
|
Epidemic |
Australia-wide |
12,000+ |
1918–1919 |
1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic Approximate
death toll. Sydney was the worst affected
area. |
|
Epidemic |
Australia-wide |
1013 |
1946–1955 |
Polio epidemic |
|
Sea battle |
Indian Ocean, near Shark Bay |
645 |
19-Nov-1941 |
Sinking of HMAS Sydney - Sunk with all hands
after a battle with German auxiliary cruiser
Kormoran |
|
Epidemic |
Australia-wide |
550 |
1900–1910 |
Bubonic plague |
|
Heat wave |
Victoria |
438 |
Dec 1938-Feb 1939 |
Heatwave killed 438 and sparked the Black
Friday bushfires (see below) |
|
Heat wave |
South-eastern Australia |
437 |
1895–1896 |
Widespread heatwave killed 437, including 47
in Bourke, New South Wales |
|
Cyclone |
Bathurst Bay, Queensland |
410 |
March 1889 |
Cyclone Mahina. Estimated toll |
|
Shipwreck |
King Island, Tasmania |
406 |
1845 |
Cataraqui. Australia's worst maritime civil
disaster incident |
|
Heatwave |
South-eastern Australia |
374 |
January 25 to February 9, 2009 |
2009 Southeastern Australia heat wave. Nine
day heatwave with Adelaide recording a
record six consecutive days over 40 °C
(104 °F) and a record high of 45.7 °C
(114.3 °F) with a record overnight minimum
of 33.9 °C (93 °F) on January 28. Sparked
the 2009 Victorian bushfires (see below).
Health authorities attiribute 374 deaths to
the Heatwave |
|
Shipwreck |
coast near Murchison River, Western
Australia |
286 |
April 1712 |
Zuytdorp. There has been speculation that
there were some survivors, helped by local
Aborigines. |
|
Sinking |
Off North Stradbroke IslandQueensland |
268 |
14-May-1943 |
Sinking of AHS Centaur. Hospital ship
torpedoed by a Japanese submarine |
|
Heat wave |
Southern states |
246 |
December 1907 January 1908 |
|
|
Air raid |
Darwin, Northern Territory |
243 |
19-Feb-1942 |
Bombing of Darwin. The first Japanese air
raid against Australia. The toll may have
been higher, itinerants and Aboriginal
persons may be under-represented in the
official count. |
|
Prison break |
Cowra, New South Wales |
235-238 |
05-Aug-1944 |
Cowra breakout. Escape by Japanese POWs |
|
Shipwreck |
King Island, Tasmania |
224 |
13 May 1835 |
Neva |
|
Shipwreck |
Perth, Western Australia |
186 |
April 1656 |
Vergulde Draeck |
|
Bushfires |
Victoria |
173 |
01-Feb-2009 |
2009 Victorian bushfires |
|
Cyclone/Sinking |
Western Australia |
149 |
01-Mar-1912 |
SS Koombana |
|
Heatwaves |
Australia-wide |
147 |
1920–1921 |
|
|
Heatwaves |
Australia-wide |
143+ |
1911–1912 |
|
|
Cyclone |
Broome, Western Australia |
141 |
March 1935 |
Pearling fleet devastated |
|
Cyclone |
Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia |
140 |
1884 |
Pearling fleet sunk |
|
Shipwreck |
D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania |
133 |
12/04/1835 |
George III |
|
Shipwreck |
Cape York, Queensland |
133 |
28/2/1890 |
Quetta |
|
Heatwave |
Southern states |
130 |
1926–1927 |
|
|
Shipwreck/Massacre |
Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia |
125+ |
June-July 1629 |
Batavia. Mutineers murdered 125 other
passengers. The death toll of 125 does not
include the mutineers, of whom 7 were
immediately hanged and 2 were cast away when
Captain Pelsaert returned. Most of the
remaining mutineers were later executed. |
|
Heatwave |
Australia-wide |
122+ |
1913–1914 |
|
|
Cyclone/Sinking |
North-eastern Queensland |
122 |
16-Mar-1911 |
SS Yongala |
|
Shipwreck |
Sydney, New South Wales |
121 |
20 August 1857 |
Dunbar. 1 survivor. |
|
Heatwave |
Australia-wide |
112 |
1939–1940 |
|
|
Heatwave |
Australia-wide |
109 |
1909–1910 |
|
|
Heatwave |
Southern regions, Australia |
105+ |
1959 |
One source puts death toll at 145 |
|
Cyclone/sinking |
Ayr, Queensland |
102-112 |
24 February 1875 |
SS Gothenburg. Records of passengers vary |
|
Heatwave |
Southern regions Australia |
99 |
December 1972 to February 1973 |
|
|
Cyclone |
Northern Queensland |
99 |
March 1934 |
Cyclone and 9.1 m storm surge |
|
Explosion |
Mount Kembla, New South Wales |
96 |
31-Jul-1902 |
Mount Kembla Colliery gas explosion. Coal
mine gas explosion |
|
Shipwreck |
Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia |
93 |
23 April 1622 |
Tryall. Earliest recorded Australian
shipwreck |
|
Flood |
Gundagai, New South Wales |
89 |
24 June 1852 |
|
|
Shipwreck |
near Carpenter Rocks, in South East South
Australia |
89 |
6 August 1859 |
SS Admella. South Australia's worst loss of
life |
|
Air raid |
Broome, Western Australia |
88 |
03-Mar-1942 |
Air raid on Broome. Japanese fighter planes
strafed the town. Official toll; may not
include some refugees from the Dutch East
Indies. |
|
Rail accident |
Sydney, New South Wales |
83 |
18-Jan-1977 |
Granville railway disaster. Derailment
followed by bridge collapse |
|
Sinking |
twenty miles south-east of Jervis Bay, New
South Wales |
82 |
10-Feb-1964 |
Melbourne-Voyager collision - HMAS Voyager
sank after collision with HMAS Melbourne |
|
Explosion |
Bulli, New South Wales |
81 |
23 March 1887 |
Bulli Colliery coal mine gas explosion |
|
Shipwreck |
King Island, Tasmania |
79 |
23 May 1874 |
British Admiral |
|
Cyclone |
Queensland coast, particularly Innisfail |
77+ |
10-Mar-1918 |
Cyclone and storm surge with death toll
estimated between 77 and 100. |
|
Storms |
New South Wales between Port Stephens and
Sydney |
77 |
12 July 1866 |
60 lives lost on SS Cawarra alone. |
|
Explosion |
Mount Mulligan, Queensland |
76 |
16-Sep-1921 |
Mount Mulligan coal dust explosion |
|
Bushfire |
Victoria and South Australia |
75 |
16-Feb-1983 |
Ash Wednesday fires |
|
Shipwreck |
Green Cape |
71 |
31 May 1886 |
Ly-Ee-Moon |
|
Bushfire |
Victoria |
71 |
13-Jan-1939 |
Black Friday bushfires |
|
Cyclone |
Darwin |
71 |
24-Dec-1974 |
Cyclone Tracy destroys the city of Darwin.
On 17 March 2005, a Northern Territory
Coroner's Inquest outcome increased the
official death toll from 65 to 71. |
|
Flood |
Clermont, Queensland |
65 |
27-Dec-1916 |
|
|
Bushfire |
Tasmania |
62 |
20-May-1905 |
1967 Tasmanian fires |
|
Cyclone |
near Roebourne and Geraldton, Western
Australia |
61-71 |
08-Mar-1905 |
Estimated toll includes those lost at sea
and those killed in flooding at Geraldton |
|
Shipwreck |
Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia |
60 |
22-Sep-1904 |
Zeewyk. Approximate death toll |
|
Shipwreck |
Newcastle, New South Wales |
60 |
12 July 1866 |
SS Cawarra;; sank during storm in Newcastle
Harbour. |
|
Bushfire |
Victoria |
60 |
February-March 1926 |
|
|
Cyclone |
Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia |
59-69 |
1875–1876 |
Most casualties were at sea |
|
Shipwreck |
Mutton Bird Island, off the Shipwreck Coast
of Victoria |
53 |
1 June 1878 |
Loch Ard. Sources vary on exact death toll
(2 survivors). |
|
Bushfire |
Victoria |
51 |
1943–1944 |
|
|
Shipwreck |
Brisbane, Queensland |
50 |
February 1896 |
Pearl |
|
Cyclone |
Around Broome, Western Australia |
50 |
22-Mar-1905 |
|
|
Cyclonic effects |
North coast, New South Wales |
46 |
06-Apr-1905 |
|
|
Rail accident |
Sunshine, Victoria |
44 |
22-Mar-1905 |
Sunshine train disaster. Rear end collision |
|
Air Disaster |
near Mackay, Queensland |
40 |
14-Jun-1943 |
Bakers Creek air crash. USAAF B-17 Flying
Fortress crashes shortly after take-off. |
|
Fire |
Queenstown, Tasmania |
42+ |
26-Mar-1905 |
1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster. Mine fire.
True toll may be higher due to subsequent
deaths from the effects of the fire |
|
Shipwreck |
near Edithburgh, South Australia |
40 |
31-Jan-1909 |
Clan Ranald |
|
Sinking |
Sydney |
40-42 |
03-Nov-1927 |
Sydney ferry disaster |
|
Shipwreck |
Cardwell, Queensland |
36 |
14-Feb-1905 |
Shipwreck Maria. Some of the survivors were
killed by Aborigines although others were
helped |
|
Flood |
Melbourne suburbs and Southern Victoria |
35 |
29 November to 1 December 1934 |
Torrential rainfall of up to 350 mm. Yarra
River becomes raging torrent. Extensive
damage with 35 dead, 250 injured, and 3,000
homeless. |
|
Massacre |
Port Arthur, Tasmania |
35 |
28-Apr-1996 |
Port Arthur massacre. Shooting massacre |
|
Shipwreck |
Jervis Bay, New South Wales, |
35 |
1 September 1876 |
The steamer Dandenong lost during severe
storm. |
|
Shipwreck |
Cheviot Beach, Victoria |
35 |
20 October 1887 |
SS Cheviot |
|
Bridge collapse |
Melbourne |
35 |
15-Oct-1970 |
West Gate Bridge. 35 construction workers
died due to a collapse during construction |
|
Road accident |
Kempsey, New South Wales |
35 |
22-Dec-1989 |
Kempsey bus crash . Two tourist coaches
collided head-on |
|
Cyclone |
Queensland coast, particularly Mackay |
30 |
01-Jan-1918 |
Mackay Cyclone |
|
Shipwreck |
near Southend, south east South Australia |
31 |
14 June 1876 |
Geltwood. Wreck not found for two weeks. No
survivors. |
|
Shipwreck |
off Wilsons Promontory in Bass Strait |
31 |
01-Dec-1935 |
SS Paringa Sunk during storm while towing
another vessel. All officers and crew lost. |
|
Fire |
Melbourne |
30 |
13-Aug-1966 |
William Booth Memorial Hostel fire.
Convalescent home for men |
|
Air disaster |
Mackay |
29 |
10-Jun-1960 |
TAA Fokker Friendship disaster. Crashed into
sea |
|
Cyclone/sinking. |
Western Australia |
29 |
01-Apr-1991 |
Cyclone Fife. 27 lost in shipwreck of
Mineral Diamond |
|
Riot and insurrection |
Ballarat, Victoria |
28 |
3 December 1854 |
Eureka Stockade. Exact death toll remains
unknown. |
|
Massacre |
Myall Creek, near Inverell, New South Wales |
28 |
9 June 1838 |
Myall Creek massacre. 28 Aboriginal people
killed by white stockmen |
|
Cyclone |
Darwin, Northern Territory |
28 |
January 1897 |
|
|
Air accident |
York near Perth |
28 |
26-Jun-1950 |
ANA Skymaster Amana crash. 1 survivor |
|
Shipwreck |
Kangaroo Island, South Australia |
27 |
01-Sep-1905 |
Loch Vennachar |
|
Shipwreck/Massacre |
Coorong, South Australia |
26 |
13-Jan-1905 |
Maria. Survivors murdered. Exactly what took
place remains controversial. |
|
Air accident |
Cleveland Bay, Townsville, Queensland |
27 |
07-Aug-1943 |
C-47 Dakota plane crash. Plane crashed after
takeoff. |
|
Cyclone |
Gold Coast and northern New South Wales |
26 |
01-Feb-1954 |
|
|
Air accident |
Port Hedland, Western Australia |
26 |
31-Dec-1968 |
Port Hedland plane crash. In-flight break up |
|
Explosion |
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales |
26 |
21-May-1945 |
Kapooka Army Base soldiers received
instruction of demolition work in a bunker
which was 3 metres (9.8 ft) below the ground
when an explosion took place which resulted
in Australia's largest military funeral. |
|
Flood |
Hunter Valley, New South Wales |
25 |
01-Feb-1955 |
1955 Hunter Valley floods. Most deaths were
around Singleton and Maitland, but most
other river systems in the state were also
in flood. |
|
Rail accident |
Wodonga, Victoria |
25 |
26-Apr-1905 |
Train hit bus carrying army personnel |
|
Air accident |
Seven Mile Beach, near Hobart |
25 |
01-Mar-1946 |
Australian National Airways plane |
|
Air accident |
Winton, Queensland |
24 |
22-Sep-1966 |
Ansett-ANA Viscount disaster. VH-RMI enroute
Mount Isa - Longreach |
|
Shipwreck |
Gosford |
24 |
6 May 1898 |
Maitland |
|
Air accident |
Kudjeru Gap, in the Australian territory of
Papua New Guinea |
24 |
01-Aug-1972 |
RAAF Caribou aircraft crashes in rugged
mountainous country enroute from Lae to Port
Moresby, killing 24 of the 28 people on
board. |
|
Bushfire |
Southern regions of Victoria |
23 |
01-Jan-1969 |
280 fires. 17 casualties at Lara |
|
Mine disaster |
Creswick, Central Victoria |
22 |
12 December 12 1882 |
New Australasia gold mine. 44 miners trapped
when a flooded mine shaft is breached. 22
men drown. |
|
Flood |
Northern Tasmania |
22 |
01-Apr-1929 |
Eight drowned when truck ploughed into river
and 14 died when dam collapsed and wall
swept into town |
|
Heatwave |
South-east Queensland |
22 |
01-Jan-2000 |
|
|
Road accident |
Grafton, New South Wales |
21 |
20-Oct-1989 |
Grafton bus crash. A head-on collision
between a tourist coach and a truck. |
|
Air accident |
Coolangatta, Queensland |
21 |
10-Mar-1949 |
Queensland Airlines Lockheed Lodestar
crashes shortly after take-off due to
imbalanced load. |
|
Shipwreck |
Trial Bay, New South Wales |
19-21 |
September 1816 |
|
|
Shipwreck |
Smokey Cape, New South Wales |
21 |
25-Aug-1969 |
Noongah sank |
|
Shipwreck |
off Gabo Island, Bass Strait |
21 |
01-Mar-1901 |
SS Federal vanished without trace. All
crewmembers lost. |
|
Air accident |
Mossman, Queensland |
20 |
07-Sep-1944 |
Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force
Douglas C-47 Dakota crashes en-route between
Merauke, Dutch East Indies and Cairns. |
|
Fire |
Kings Cross, New South Wales |
19 |
25-Aug-1981 |
Rembrant Hotel. |
|
Shipwreck |
Adelaide, South Australia |
18+ |
13 July 1888 |
Star of Greece. Exact number of lives lost
uncertain. |
|
Road accident |
Tumut Pond, New South Wales |
18 |
01-Sep-1973 |
Brake failure caused bus to plummet into
reservoir |
|
Air accident |
Townsville, Queensland |
18 |
12-Jun-1996 |
Two Army Blackhawk helicopters collided |
|
Landslide |
Thredbo, New South Wales |
18 |
19-Jun-1905 |
1997 Thredbo landslide |
|
Air accident |
Dandenongs, Victoria |
18 |
21-Apr-1905 |
1938 Kyeema Crash |
|
Rail accident |
Brooklyn, New South Wales |
17 |
27-Apr-1905 |
Train ploughed into bus at Hawksbury River
station |
|
Rail accident |
Wasleys Crossing, near Gawler, South
Australia |
17 |
12-Apr-1970 |
Wasleys Crossing (Gawler) disaster. Bus
collided with a passenger train |
|
Explosion |
Ipswich, Queensland |
17 |
31-Jul-1972 |
Mine gas explosion in the Box Flat Colliery |
|
Heatwave |
South-Eastern regions, Australia |
17 |
01-Feb-1993 |
Possibility of additional unreported deaths |
|
Shipwreck |
Bass Strait Victorian coast |
16 |
29-Nov-1934 |
SS Coramba left Warrnambool for Melbourne
and was never seen again. Believed lost
during storm. |
|
Rail accident |
Camp Mountain, Queensland |
16 |
05-May-1947 |
Camp Mountain train disaster. A crowded
picnic train derailed on bend |
|
Fire |
Sylvania Heights, New South Wales |
16 |
29-Apr-1981 |
Pacific Nursing Home fire. |
|
Air accident |
Botany Bay, New South Wales |
15 |
30-Nov-1961 |
Ansett-ANA Viscount plane crash. All
occupants (11 passengers and 4 crew) died. |
|
Fire |
Kings Cross, New South Wales |
15 |
25-Dec-1975 |
Savoy Hotel Fire. Arson |
|
Shipwreck |
near Cape Schanck, Victoria |
15 |
28 December 1893 |
SS Alert |
|
Fire |
Fortitude Valley, Queensland |
15 |
08-Mar-1973 |
Whiskey Au Go Go fire. Arson |
|
Cyclone/Sinking |
near Carnarvon, Western Australia |
15 |
01-Jun-1905 |
Cyclone Hazel |
|
Heatwave |
South-eastern regions of Australia |
15 |
01-Feb-1981 |
|
|
Air accident |
Lockhart River, Queensland |
15 |
07-May-2005 |
Lockhart River plane crash |
|
Fire |
Childers, Queensland |
15 |
01-Jun-2000 |
Robert Long received a life sentence for
starting the fire at Childers Palace
backpackers hostel |
|
Bushfire |
Dandenong Ranges and Lara, Victoria |
14* |
January 14 - January 16, 1962 |
Casualty numbers vary between 9, 14, and 32. |
|
Bushfires |
Sydney, Blue Mountains and Illawarra, New
South Wales |
14* |
01-Jan-1968 |
*Sources vary on death toll but most say 14. |
|
Cyclone |
Whitsunday Islands, Queensland |
14 |
01-Jan-1970 |
Cyclone Ada |
|
Cyclone |
Brisbane, Queensland |
14 |
27-Jan-1974 |
1974 Brisbane flood. Cyclone Wanda |
|
Explosion |
Appin, New South Wales |
14 |
24-Jul-1979 |
Appin Colliery Gas Explosion during a
pre-planned ventilation change. |
|
Explosion |
Wonthaggi, Victoria |
13 |
15-Feb-1937 |
Dalyson Colliery |
|
Air accident |
Tamworth, New South Wales |
13 |
01-Jan-1960 |
|
|
Explosion |
Kianga, near Moura, Queensland |
13 |
20-Sep-1975 |
Kianga Mine explosion |
|
Air accident |
Sydney Airport |
13 |
21-Feb-1980 |
Light aircraft suffers engine failure |
|
Air accident |
near Alice Springs, Northern Territory |
13 |
13-Aug-1989 |
Collision between 2 hot air balloons |
|
Earthquake |
Newcastle, New South Wales |
13 |
28-Dec-1989 |
1989 Newcastle earthquake |
|
Flood |
Windsor, New South Wales |
12 |
21 June 1867 |
12 members of the Eather family swept away
in flood. |
|
Bushfire |
Gippsland, Victoria |
12 |
1 February 1898 |
"Red Tuesday" bushfires. 2,600 km² burnt, 12
people killed, 2,000 buildings destroyed. |
|
Bushfire |
Victoria – Portland, Plenty Ranges,
Westernport, Wimmera and Dandenong districts |
12* |
6 February 1851 |
"Black Thursday" bushfires. *Approximately
12 fatalities, one million sheep, thousands
of cattle, 50,000 km² burnt. |
|
Shipwreck |
Calgardup Bay, Western Australia |
12 |
1 December 1876 |
SS Georgette |
|
Bridge collapse |
Hobart, Tasmania |
12 |
05-Jan-1975 |
Tasman Bridge disaster. The bulk ore carrier
Lake Illawarra collided with the bridge,
causing a section to fall onto the vessel. 7
crewmen died as the ship sank. 5 people
perished as their cars plummeted off the
edge. |
|
Explosion |
Moura, Queensland |
12 |
16-Jul-1986 |
Explosion in Moura No 4 Mine |
|
Fire |
Dungog, New South Wales |
12 |
02-Aug-1991 |
Palm Grove Hostel fire |
|
Rail accident |
Near Kerang, Victoria |
11 |
05-Jun-2007 |
Kerang train crash. A V/Line train collides
with a truck at a level crossing. |
|
Road accident |
Boondall, Queensland |
12 |
01-Oct-1994 |
Boondall bus crash |
|
Rail accident |
Near Horsham, Victoria |
11 |
24-Feb-1951 |
A train collides with a bus at a level
crossing. |
|
Serial killing |
Remains discovered in Snowtown, South
Australia |
11 |
21-Jun-1905 |
Snowtown murders. |
|
Air accident |
Mount Emerald, Queensland |
11 |
11-May-1990 |
|
|
Bushfire |
Victoria |
10 |
01-Jan-1965 |
|
|
Air Accident |
Canberra |
10 |
13-Aug-1940 |
Senior War Cabinet Ministers, Chief of Staff
and others killed when their plane crashed
in fine weather. |
|
Storm/Flood |
Hunter and Central Coast regions, NSW |
10 |
8 - 11 June 2007 |
Storm and flooding |
|
Rail accident |
Near Traveston railway station, Queensland |
10 |
09-Jun-1925 |
10 died and 48 injured when a passenger
carrige and luggage van of the Rockhampton
Mail plunged off a high trestle bridge. |
|
Heatwave |
Eastern and Southern regions Australia |
10+ |
January-February 1997 |
Strong likelihood of additional unreported
deaths |
|
Rail accident |
Violet Town, Victoria |
9 |
07-Feb-1969 |
Violet Town railway disaster. Head on
collision after driver died at controls. |
|
Landslide |
Gracetown, Western Australia |
9 |
27-Sep-1996 |
5 adults and 4 children died when a cliff
face collapsed at Cowaramup Bay near
Gracetown (Margaret River) |
|
Air accident |
Williamtown, NSW-Lord Howe Island |
9 |
02-Oct-1994 |
Seaview Air Aero Commander 690 crashes
between Williamtown, NSW and Lord Howe
Island. |
|
Bushfire |
Eyre Peninsula, South Australia |
9 |
11-Jan-2005 |
Eyre Peninsula Bushfire. |
|
Massacre |
Melbourne |
9 |
08-Dec-1987 |
Queen Street massacre. Shooting massacre |
|
Air accident |
Snowy Mountains, New South Wales |
8 |
21-Mar-1931 |
Southern Cloud |
|
Bushfire |
Wandillo, South Australia |
8 |
01-Apr-1958 |
8 firefighters died Template:Ciation needed |
|
Bushfire |
Western Victoria |
8 |
01-Feb-1977 |
Around Streatham was the worst affected
area. |
|
Air accident |
Off Whyalla, South Australia |
8 |
22-Jun-1905 |
Whyalla Airlines Disaster. All on board
drowned, Chris Schuppan's body was never
recovered |
|
Explosion |
Off Dampier, Western Australia |
8 |
18-Nov-2001 |
Nigo Kim cargo ship explosion. |
|
Flood |
Canberra |
7 |
26-Jan-1971 |
1971 Canberra flood. Seven motorists were
killed when their cars were swept into a
creek. |
|
Fire |
Sydney |
7 |
09-Jun-1979 |
Fire engulfs the Ghost Train ride at Luna
Park Sydney. May have been arson. |
|
Serial killing |
Near Berrima, New South Wales |
7+ |
1989-1994 |
Backpacker Murders. Remains of seven
Backpackers found in the Belanglo State
Forest. The killer remains the Prime suspect
for another 16 still unsolved murders and is
a Person of interest for another 14. There
is evidence he may not have acted alone. |
|
Serial killing |
Near Truro, South Australia |
7 |
1976-1977 |
Truro murders. Remains of seven young women
found in bushland. |
|
Massacre |
Milperra, New South Wales |
7 |
06-Jun-1905 |
Milperra massacre. Shooting massacre |
|
Massacre |
Clifton Hill, Victoria |
7 |
09-Jun-1905 |
Hoddle Street massacre. Shooting massacre |
|
Massacre |
Central Sydney |
7 |
14-Jun-1905 |
Central Coast Massacre. Shooting massacre |
|
Flood |
Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria |
7 |
12-Jun-1905 |
Nyngan and Charleville Flood. More than a
million square kilometres of flooding. |
|
Massacre |
Strathfield, New South Wales |
7 |
13-Jun-1905 |
Strathfield Massacre |
|
Cyclone |
Around Cairns, Queensland |
7 |
01-Mar-1997 |
Cyclone Justin. 1 death from landslide.
There were also 26 deaths from the same
cyclone in Papua New Guinea. |
|
Rail accident |
Glenbrook, New South Wales |
7 |
01-Dec-1999 |
Glenbrook train disaster. Collision by a
CityRail Intercity train into the rear wagon
of an Indian Pacific train after "Stop and
Proceed". |
|
Heatwave |
around Adelaide, South Australia |
7 |
01-Feb-2000 |
|
|
Rail accident |
Waterfall, New South Wales |
7 |
01-Jan-2003 |
Waterfall train disaster. Excessive speed
resulting in derailment after driver died at
the controls and 'dead man' safety device
failed to function. |
|
Serial killing |
Tynong North and Frankston, Victoria |
6 |
01-Dec-1980 |
Remains found in bushland. Investigation
still open. |
|
Industrial accident |
Spotswood, Victoria |
6 |
09-Mar-1905 |
Spotswood Sewer Disaster. The drilling of an
underground sewer in Melbourne went too
close to the Yarra River. |
|
Landslide |
Between Blackwood, South Australia and
Belair, South Australia |
6 |
31-Jan-1928 |
Hills Railway line disaster. Railway
embankment collapsed during tunnel
demolition. |
|
Flood |
Sydney and Penrith, New South Wales |
6 |
February to March 1978 |
|
|
Flood |
Hawkesbury, New South Wales |
6 |
01-Aug-1986 |
Hawkesbury and Georges River Flood. |
|
Air accident |
Essendon, Victoria |
6 |
10-Jul-1978 |
Aircraft with a crew of two and one
passenger crashed into houses shortly after
take off from Essendon Airport. 6 members of
one family were killed. |
|
Air accident |
Essendon, Victoria |
6 |
03-Sep-1986 |
Air Ambulance Cessna (call signal RED)
crashed on take off from Essendon Airport
after single engine failure. |
|
Flood/cyclone |
Southern Queensland and northern New South
Wales |
6 |
01-Feb-1990 |
Drowning deaths caused by Cyclone Nancy |
|
Rail accident |
Brooklyn, New South Wales |
6 |
06-May-1990 |
Commuter train crashed into a stalled
chartered steam train. |
|
Maritime accident |
Tasman Sea |
6 |
20-Jun-1905 |
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. 5 boats
sank and 6 people died. |
|
Battle |
Broken Hill, New South Wales |
6 |
01-Jan-1915 |
Battle of Broken Hill. Two Turkish
immigrants open fire on a train carrying
picnickers. |
|
Road accident |
Cardross, near Mildura, Victoria |
6 |
18-Feb-2006 |
Cardross road accident. Car ploughs into
group of teenagers, driver flees |
|
Fire |
Kings Cross, New South Wales |
6 |
17-Sep-1989 |
Downunder Hostel Fire. Arson attack. |
|
Sinking |
Sydney Harbour |
6 |
01-May-2008 |
6 killed and 9 injured when two boats
collided. |
|
Air accident |
Willowbank, Queensland |
5 |
02-Jan-2006 |
Skydiving Cessna 206 plane crash. |
|
Mass Murder |
Inland Hotel in Yulara, Northern Territory |
5 |
18-Aug-1983 |
Douglas Crabbe rammed his 25-ton Mack truck
through a hotel wall |
|
Sinking |
North of Bermagui, New South Wales |
5 |
9 October 1890 |
Mystery Bay disappearance. Crew of a small
boat disappears off the NSW south coast. |
|
Landslide |
Cairns, Queensland |
5 |
31-May-1900 |
Riverstone landslide. Tramway cutting caves
in on workers |
|
Rail accident |
Sydenham, New South Wales |
5 |
06-May-1905 |
Sydenham Rail Disaster. Wrong side failure
causes rear end collision of two trains |
|
Heatwave |
Southern South Australia and northern
Victoria |
5+ |
01-Jan-1990 |
Likelihood of additional unreported deaths. |
