List of fatal shark attacks in Australia

For non-fatal attacks and general information, see Shark attacks in Australia.

This is a list of fatal shark attacks in Australia. The Australian Shark-Incident Database has recorded that between 1791 and April 2018 there were 237 fatal shark attacks in Australia.^[1] In the two years of 2020 and 2021 there were 11 fatal shark attacks in Australia.^[2]

New South Wales

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1791		Port Jackson		Aboriginal woman	Female		Fatal. "bitten in two"	3:00 AM	Unknown shark	[3]
1837	17 January	Macleay River	Washing his feet	Alfred Australia Howe	Male	12	Initially injured non-fatally. Later died later due to tetanus	Evening	Unknown shark	[4] [5]
1840	December	Off The Domain, Sydney Harbour	Swimming		Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[6]
1841	27 March	Cockatoo Island, Sydney	Bathing	Andrew Goggin	Male		Fatal	14:00	Unknown shark	[7]
1845	26 December	Newcastle	Fishing	John Williams	Male		Fatal		Unknown Shark	[8]
1849	1 December	Woolloomooloo, Sydney Harbour (Estuary)	Bathing	Sailor from the steamship Eagle	Male		Fatal	Afternoon	Unknown shark	[9]
1849	9 December	Sydney Harbour			Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[10]
1852	9 October (reported)	Coalcliff	Fell overboard	James Rogers	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[11]
1863	10 January	"Bellynahinch" on the Manning River	Bathing	James Brown	Male	17	Fatal	Evening	Unknown shark	[12]
1871		Manning River			Male		Fatal. "Caught by legs"		Unknown shark	[13]
1876		Sydney		Unnamed boy	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[14]
1876	14 May	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	Frederick Brown	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[15]
1877	12 December	Near Sydney	Washed overboard from the barque Mary Eady	2 males	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[16]
1878		Balmain, Sydney (Estuary)	Bathing in 2 feet of water		Male	11	Fatal. Leg severed		Unknown shark.	[17]
1882	23 January (reported)	Darling Harbour, Sydney	Bathing	George Sinclair	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[18]
1882	15 April	Lake Macquarie	Fishing		Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[19]
1883	21 January	Iron Cove, Sydney	Bathing	John Eaton	Male	37	Fatal	05:30	Unknown shark	[20]
1883	19 December	Parramatta River	Swimming	Cuthbert Vere Lysaght	Male	21	Fatal	12:00	Unknown shark	[21]
1887	4 December	Ryde, Sydney (Estuary)		Thomas Cochrane (William Charles Corkhill)	Male		Fatal	11:30	12 to 15 foot shark	[22]
1888	December	Hawkesbury Bridge, Sydney	Working on the bridge when he fell into the river	Mr. Ryland	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[23]
1888	9 December	Iron Cove Bridge, Sydney (Estuary)	Swimming	Stephen Carter	Male	11	Fatal.	13:00	Unknown shark.	[24]
1895	27 February	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	James Edward Clifton Donald	Male	14	Fatal		Unknown shark	[25]
1895	16 November	Jervis Bay	Fishing	Edward Bailey	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[26]
1895	9 December	West Balmain, Sydney	Bathing	Thomas John Terrill	Male	14	Fatal		Unknown shark	[27]
1896	11 January	Johnstons Bay, Sydney	Bathing	William Ready	Male	11	Fatal	Afternoon	Unknown shark	[28]
1898	26 July (reported)	Sydney	Swimming after their boat capsized	Martin Gunner	Male	20	Reported fatal, but this is a questionable incident			[29]
1900	27 December	Middle Harbour, Sydney	Bathing	Thomas Houstan	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[30]
1902	25 January (reported)	Kerosene Bay	Dangling feet in the water	John Ogier	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[31]
1903	10 January	Lane Cove River, Sydney Harbour (Estuary)		Sydney James	Male		Fatal		Unknown	[32]
1903	21 June	Georges River	Boat capsized in the water	William Price	Male				Cause of death was actually drowning: the coroner ruled William's death a drowning by asphyxia, dismissing reports of a shark attack	[33] [34]
Before 1906 circa		New South Wales	Swimming inside string of cedar logs	Arab boy	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark. Reported a Grey Nurse that leaped out of the water but identification is questionable as there have been no known fatalities caused by this species.	[35]
1906	28 January	Georges River, Near Lugarno	Bathing	William Joseph Dobson	Male	31 or 33	Fatal	14:10	A large shark	[36]
1907	23 December	Middle Harbour, Sugarloaf Bay, Sydney (Estuary)	Bathing	Henry Jones	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark, possibly a bull shark	[37]
1909	15 December	20 miles off Sydney	Fell overboard	Mr. Witt	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark
1910	26 January	Newcastle Harbour		Alfred Victor Clulow	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[38]
1912	26 January	Fig Tree Bridge, Lane Cove River, near Sydney	Swimming	James Edward Morgan	Male	21	Fatal	15:00	2.8 m [9'3"] Presumed whaler type shark possibly a bull shark	[39] [40]
1915	1 January	Sirius Cove, Sydney Harbour	Bathing about 100 yards from shore	Warren Tooze	Male	17	Fatal. Upper leg injury		Unknown shark	[41]
1916?	25 April? (reported)	Manly Beach	Swimming	Thomas Harrington	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[42]
1916	8 December	Seven Shillings Beach, Middle Harbour, Sydney (Estuary)	Taking wife to beach & about 1 m from the shore	Walter C. German	Male	41	Fatal. Right arm severed, chest punctured	09:00	Unknown shark	[43]
1919	9 January	Sirius Cove, Sydney Harbour	Wading	Richard Simpson	Male		Fatal. Right thigh bitten		12 feet shark	[44]
1919	7 December	Pelican Island, Macleay River	Swimming	James Ridley	Male	47	Fatal. Left leg & calf bitten, leg surgically amputated	05:30	Unknown shark	[45]
1920	15 January	Throsby Creek, Newcastle	Swimming	David Miller	Male		Fatal. Leg bitten	10:00	Unknown shark	[46]
1922	4 January	Stockton Beach, Newcastle	Surfing	John Manning Rowe	Male	26	Fatal. Disappeared, then his shark-bitten remains washed ashore	Evening	Thought to be a shark	[47]
1922	4 February	Coogee, Sydney	Swimming	Milton Coughlan	Male	18	Fatal. Both arms & shoulder bitten	15:30	Thought to be a Great White shark	[48]
1922	2 March	Coogee, Sydney	Bathing in knee-deep water	Mervyn Gannon	Male	21	Right hand severed, lacerations on left thigh & left hand, died in hospital of gas gangrene.	11:00	8-foot (2.4m) Great White Shark	[49]
1922	26 April	Hawkesbury River	Swimming	William A. Munro	Male		Fatal		Unknown shark	[50]
1923	16 June	Bellambi Reef, Wollongong	Attempting to swim ashore after rowing skiff was holed by shark	J. Rigby	Male		Fatal. Taken by shark. Two other men drowned, only 1 man survived		White shark	[51]
1923	2 November	Bellinger Heads	Fishing		Male		Shark involvement suspected but not confirmed		Great White	[52]
1923	2 December	Urunga, Bellinger Heads	Fishing, standing in waist-deep water	James Elton	Male		Disappeared, thought to have been taken by a shark		Great White	[53]
1924	9 January	Near Asbestos Works, Camellia, Sydney, Parramatta River	Had just dived into water & was swimming	Charles Brown	Male	16	Fatal. Right thigh severely bitten, left arm lacerated	16:00	3 m [10'] shark	[54]
1924	25 April	Kiama	Fishing, fell in water and swimming to shore	Ernest Conroy	Male	20	Fatal. Partial remains recovered	Afternoon	Unknown shark	[55]
1925	12 March	Newcastle Beach	Swimming	Jack Canning	Male	16	Fatal. Right forearm severed, lacerations from buttocks to heel	15:15	Unknown shark.	[56]
1927		15 miles up the Cataract River	Swimming		Male	10	Fatal. Shoulder bitten			[57]
1927	3 January	Grays Point, Port Hacking, Sydney	Swimming	Mervwyn Allum	Male	15	Fatal. Leg bitten from thigh to ankle	11:30	Large 3.7 m (12 ft) shark	[58]
1928	4 April	Cooks Hill, Newcastle	Standing in waist-deep water	Edward Arthur Lane	Male	28	Fatal. Right hand severed, large lacerations on thigh	18:00	Unknown shark	[59]
1929	12 January	Bondi	Body surfing	Colin Stewart	Male	14	Leg injuries	18:10	Great White	[60]
1929	8 February	Bondi	Swimming	John Gibson	Male	39	Leg injuries	16:00	Great White	[61]
1929	18 February	Maroubra Beach	Swimming	Allan Butcher	Male	20	Multiple Injuries	15:30	Great White	[62]
1929	26 December	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	William Oakley	Male	16	Multiple injuries		Unknown	[63]
1930	December	Parramatta River			Male		Fatal		Unknown
1930	13 December	Sydney Harbour	Fell overboard	Frank Kenny	Male		Fatal		Unknown	[64]
1934	12 March	Dee Why	Swimming	Frank Athol Riley	Male	17	Leg removed	15:00	Great White	[65]
1934	1 April	North Steyne	Swimming	Leon Hermes	Male	15	Right leg injures	12:30	Great White	[66] [67]
1934	23 December	Woy Woy	Swimming	Roy Inman	Male	14	Fatal	13:00	Unknown	[68]
1934	31 December	Georges River Moorebank	Swimming	Richard Soden	Male	19	Fatal. Left leg bitten	16:30	Unkown	[69]
1935	2 March	North Narrabeen	Standing	Herbert McFarlane	Male	22	Fatal. Thigh bitten	17:30	Great White	[70]
1935	9 March	Maroubra Beach	Swimming	Ernest MacDonald	Male	27	Multiple injuries	12:30	Great White	[71]
1936	4 February	South Steyne, Manly	Swimming	David Paton	Male	14	Body not recovered	15:00	Great White	[72]
1936	12 December	Throsby Creek, Newcastle	Swimming	George Lundberg	Male	15	Leg severed	11:30	Unknown	[73]
1937	13 February	Bar Beach Newcastle	Swimming	John Welsh	Male	32	Multiple injuries	15:20	Great White	[74]
1938	27 December	Botany bay	Swimming	Daniel Graham	Male	19	Not recovered		Unknown	[75]
1940	23 January	Botany bay	Swimming	Maxwell Farrin	Male	13	Fatal. Left leg severed	10:40	Unknown	[76]
1940	4 February	Botany bay	Wading	John William Eke	Male	55	Injuries to both arms	14:00	Unknown	[77]
1940	28 December	Stockton Beach	Swimming	Clarence Hammond	Male	23	Injuries to torso	09:00	Great White	[78] [79]
1942	4 January	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	Zita Steadman	Female	28	Fatal. Bitten in two	15:00	Unknown	[80]
1942	26 December	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	Denise Burch	Female	15	Fatal. Legs bitten	10:50	Unknown	[81]
1946	5 January	Como	Swimming	Valma Tegel	Female	14	Both legs severed		Unknown	[82] [83]
1947	8 November	Port Macquarie	Swimming	Edwin Elford	Male	12	Leg Severed	16:00	Great White	[84] [85]
1948	12 February	Stockton Beach	Swimming	Ronald Johnson	Male	16	Legs mauled		Great White	[86] [87]
1949	23 January	Bar Beach, Newcastle	Swimming	Ray Land	Male	20	Fatal	15:00	Great White	[88]
1951	6 December	Merewether Beach	Swimming	Frank Olkulich	Male	21	Fatal	16:00	Great White	[89]
1954	27 February	The Entrance	Swimming	Reg Fabrizius	Male	23	Fatal. Right thigh bitten	17:15	Great White	[90] [91]
1955	18 January	Balmoral Beach	Spear fishing	John Willis	Male	13	Fatal	14:30	Unknown	[92] [93]
1955	5 February	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	Bruno Rautenberg	Male	25	Legs Mauled	14:35	Unknown
1955	9 March	Wamberal	Swimming	Noel Langford	Male	22	Fatal	18:00	Great White	[94]
1960	16 January	Sydney Harbour	Diving	Kenneth Murray	Male	13	Leg removed	15:30	Unknown	[95] [96]
1963	28 January	Sydney Harbour	Swimming	Marcia Hathaway	Female	32	Leg mauled	13:30	Unknown	[97]
1966	20 May	Jervis Bay	Shipwreck	Kor Van Helden	Male	40	Fatal	Night	Great White	[98] [99]
1966	20 May	Jervis Bay	Shipwreck	Daniel mangel	Male	38	Body Missing	Dark	Great White	[100] [101]
1982	7 March	Byron Bay	Surfing	Martin Ford	Male	20	Legs Attacked	12:00	Great White	[102] [103]
1993	9 June	Byron Bay	Diving	John Ford	Male	31	Eaten whole	09:30	Great White	[104]
2008	8 April	Ballina	Surfing	Peter Edmonds	Male	16	Fatal	08:05	Great White	[105] [106] [107]
2013	30 November	Campbells Beach	Surfing	Zac Young	Male	19	Fatal	14:00	Unknown	[108] [109] [110]
2014	3 April	Tathra Beach	Swimming	Christine Armstrong	Female	63	Totally consumed	08:50	Great White	[111]
2014	9 September	Clarkes Beach, Byron Bay	Swimming	Paul Wilcox	Male	50	Leg taken off	10:40	Great White	[112] [113]
2015	9 February	Shelly Beach, Ballina	Surfing	Tadashi Nakahara	Male	41	Legs removed	9:55	Great White	[114] [115]
2020	7 June	Kingscliff	Surfing	Rob Pedretti	Male	60	Legs mauled	10:00	Great White	[116][117]
2020	11 July	Wooli Beach	Surfing	Mani Hart-Deville	Male	15	Boths legs injured	14:30	Great White	[118][119]
2021	18 May	Tuncurry Beach	Surfing	Mark Sanguinetti	Male	59	Fatal leg injury		Great White	[120] [121] [122]
2021	5 September	Shelly Beach, Emerald Beach	Surfing	Timothy Thompson	Male	31	Arm taken off	11:45	Great White	[123] [124]
2022	16 February	Little Bay	Swimming	Simon Nellist	Male	35	Fatal, body partially recovered.	16:35	Great White	[125][126]

Northern Territory

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1883	25 February (reported)	Pearling beds	Diving		Male					[127]
1934	9 October	Redcliff, Cobourg Peninsula	Bathing	Aboriginal woman	Female	38				[128]
1937	16 July (reported)	Elcho Island	Pearl diving	Japanese hard hat diver	Male					[129]

Queensland

Includes Torres Strait

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1853		Moreton Bay	Fell into the water	James Hexton, pilot	Male					[130]
1862	19 December (reported)	Brisbane River	Trying to catch a wounded bird		Male					[131]
1863	April	Caloundra Heads	Launching a boat	Mr. Barnsfield	Male				2 sharks	[132]
1872	26 February	Bramble Reef	Wreck of the 150-ton brig Maria				Some were taken by sharks			[133]
1880	25 November	Petrie Bight, Brisbane River	Swimming	Alexey Drury	Male	12	Feet bitten, surgically amputated	Afternoon		[134]
1886	17 June	Off Bribie Heads	Swimming after being washed overboard	Lacoon	Male	18				[135]
1890	30 December	Moreton Bay	Swimming to shore after boat capsized by a squall	C. Gregory			but death may have been due to drowning			[136]
1892		Badu Island	Dress diving	Mr. A. Rotaman	Male		Bitten in two by shark that he molested with a knife. Buried at Batu Island. PROVOKED INCIDENT			[137]
1898	28 December (reported)	The Narrows	Fell overboard	James Waters	Male					[138]
1901	30 January	Brisbane	Bathing	John Thompson	Male		Thigh bitten			[139]
1903	12 March	Logan River	Swimming	William Bartlett	Male				Unknown	[140]
1904	7 February	Brisbane	Swimming after his hat	George Grant	Male					[141]
1906	14 April	Lizard Island	Diving for beche-de-mer	Charley	Male	17				[142]
1906	5 September (reported)	Mabiuag	Swimming	Smith	Male					[143]
1907	3 February	Ross Creek	Bathing	William Williams	Male	18		Morning		[144]
1907	18 October (reported)	Near Thursday Island	Bathing	male from the lugger Teazer	Male					[145]
1908	21 September	Thursday Island	Fell from the jetty	Kong Choong Ting	Male				Remains recovered from 3 sharks	[146]
pre–1909		Moreton Bay	Fell into the water	Lieutenant Hexton	Male					[147]
1909	18 June	Middleton Reef, 300 nm from Brisbane	1446-ton Norwegian barque Errol, bound from Peru to Newcastle with 22 on board wrecked. Survivors sheltered on the wreck of the Annasona. Subsequently, the Master, his wife & 4 children perished along with several crew. Survivors (5) were rescued 7/12/1909	Master of the Errol	Male		only his legs, still in sea-boots, were recovered			[148]
1912	1 January	Ross Creek	Bathing	Samuel Tristing	Male			Morning		[149]
1916	9 November	Kissing Point Camp, Townsville	Bathing	Robert Alexander Poultney	Male	27		Evening		[150]
1916	10 November	Townsville	Swimming	Walter Gregson	Male			06:00		[151]
1918	19 September	Townsville	Bathing	Joseph Bartlett	Male	22				[152]
1919	5 January	Ross River, Townsville	Wading (shrimping)	Jack Hoey	Male	38	Thigh bitten, leg amputated	10:00		[153]
1920	24 January (reported)	Arlington Reef	Free diving	Japanese diver	Male					[154]
1920–1923		Great Barrier Reef		3 Japanese divers	Male					[155]
1921	4 October	Barrier Reef	Diving for beche-de-mer	Yoichi Schamok	Male	22	Left thigh bitten	Afternoon		[156]
1921	27 November	Gay's Corner, Bulimba Reach of Brisbane River	Fell from his father's back into the water	George Jack	Male	8	Disappeared, body not recovered	Morning		[157]
1922	15 January	Ross River, Townsville	Swimming	Robert Milroy	Male	54		17:30		[158]
1922	5 December	Pialba Beach near Maryborough	Bathing in 3' to 4' of water	Alfred Gassman	Male	19	Severe injuries to torso		2.7 m [9'] "blue" shark	[159]
1923	22 May	Great Barrier Reef	Diving?	Keizo Masoyo	Male			Midday		[160]
1926	2 December (reported)	Palm Island	Diving for trochus	Norman Skeen	Male					[161]
1927	9 May (reported)	Off Cairns	Walking	Quassa, a Torres Strait Islander	Male					[162]
1928	27 January	Deliverance Island	Retrieving meat from a cage in the water	Harry Envoldt	Male	78				[163]
1928	20 February	Near Barrow Point, Queensland	Pearl diving	Wanewa, a Torres Strait Islander	Male					[164]
1928	28 March (reported)			Bob	Male					[165]
1929	27 January	Alma Bay, Magnetic Island, Townsville	Swimming	Harry Weatherall	Male	18	Right buttock lacerated, left arm severed above elbow, right forearm severed by shark, both arms surgically amputated	17:30		[166]
1929	12 March	Near Dauan Island	Bathing	Torres Strait Islander schoolboy	Male					[167]
1929	4 April	Badu Island	Swimming between boats	Ned Luffman, a Torres Strait Islander	Male					[168]
1929	9 April	Badu Island			Male					[169]
1929	1 September	Ross River, Townsville	Fell from wharf into water & attacked immediately	Edward William Hobbs	Male	42	Severe injuries to both legs			[170]
1929	3 December (reported)	Townsville			Male	50s				[171]
1930	4 June	Near Mabuiag Island		Ibigan, a Torres Strait islander	Male					[172]
1931	22 March	Ross River, Townsville	Fishing with a cast net	Arthur Tomida	Male	19	Left thigh severely bitten			[173]
1931	1 August	Port Douglas	Fell overboard?	Llewellyn Roberts	Male					[174]
1932	12 May	Near Warrior Reefs	Pearl diving	Henry Solomon, Cape York native	Male					[175]
1933	4 January	Strand Beach, Kissing Point, Townsville	Swimming	Stanley Victor Locksley	Male	38	Severe abdominal wounds (Note: 14 days earlier a dog was bitten in two by a large shark)	17:30		[176]
1933	20 November	Near Boydong Cay	Free diving for trochus	Bili, a Papuan	Male		Right buttock & thigh bitten		3.4 m [11'] tiger shark	[177]
1934	26 August	Off Eva Island 20 miles from Cardwell	Dived into sea from launch & bitten immediately	Robert Steele	Male		Body was not recovered			[178]
1934	22 October	Warrior Reefs	Freediving for trochus shell (submerged)	David Younger, Torres Strait Islander	Male		Forearm lacerated & surgically amputated, but died of gas gangrene 13 days afterwards			[179]
1935	13 August	Near Warrior Reefs, Queensland	Diving for beche-de-mer from lugger	Barani, a Papuan	Male		Right buttock & thigh bitten			[180]
1935	26 August	At Flat Top, near Mackay	Fell overboard, hanging onto lifebuoy	Patrick Quinn	Male	38	His body was not recovered, but about 3 weeks later 2 sharks were caught with human remains, thought to be those of Quinn	Night	3.7 m [12'] shark	[181]
1936	26 June	Nepean Island	Diving for trochus, but swimming on surface	Willie, an aborigine	Male	16			2.4 m [8'] tiger shark	[182]
1937	15 May	Ross River, Townsville	Refused permission to cross on the ferry, he was swimming across the river	William Tennant	Male	33	Left arm severed at elbow, right arm bitten, right leg severed at knee	Night	2 days later a 600-lb shark was caught 100 yards from the site	[183]
1937	27 October	Kirra Beach, Coolangatta	Swimming	Norman Girvan	Male	18		17:30	A 3.6 m [11 ft 10 in], 850-kg [1874-lb] female tiger contained Girvan's remains	[184]
1937	27 October	Kirra Beach, Coolangatta	Swimming	Jack Brinkley	Male	25		17:30	Tiger shark	[185]
1937	11 November	Ota Reef	Diving for trochus	Nelan Kris	Male	17			12' shark	[186]
1938	12 July	Off Bathurst Island	Hardhat diving from Japanese pearling lugger, Reiyo Maru	Okada	Male	25	Dragged out of diving helmet			[187]
1939	14 December	Rubbish Dump Creek, Mackay	Swimming	Frank Gurran	Male	20	Left foot & right leg bitten, later surgically amputated	12:15	2.6 m [8.5'] shark landed 2 hours later	[188]
1943	14 May	Off Brisbane	Hospital Ship Centaur torpedoed & sunk by the Japanese submarine I-177		Male			After 04:00		[189]
1945	15 June	Trinity Beach, Cairns	Swimming	E. J. McHugh	Male			16:00		[190]
1946	19 April	Trinity Beach, Cairns	Swimming	Robert McAuliffe	Male	17		13:30		[191]
1946	18 August	Ellis Beach, 20 miles from Cairns	Swimming after a tennis ball	Phillip South Collin	Male	30	Body not recovered	15:20	4.3 m [14'] shark	[192]
1946	20 November	40 miles off Thursday Island	Pearl diving from lugger	Esrona Johnson, Torres Strait islander	Male	30	Right arm severed			[193]
1947	November	Moreton Bay		D. Smith		78				[194]
1948	26 December	King's Beach, Caloundra	Treading water, waiting for a wave	Eric Keys	Male	28	Left hand severed, left leg arm bitten, tissue removed hip to knee	11:30		[195]
1949	17 April	Ellis Beach, 20 miles from Cairns	Bathing in water 0.9 m deep	Richard Joseph Maguire	Male	13	Left leg severed	13:30	3.3 m [10 ft 10 in] shark	[196]
1949	28 August	Yorkeys Knob	Swimming	James Howard	Male	34	Right leg, thigh & fingers lacerated	13:20		[197]
1950	9 April	Cooper's Point	Sea Disaster, sinking of the fishing launch Mavis	John McDonald	Male	50				[198]
1950	16 December	Palm Beach North, 5 miles north of Burleigh Heads, Brisbane	Treading water	Desmond Quinlan, lifesaver	Male	20	Lower abdomen severely bitten, left leg severed	16:15		[199]
1951	4 September (reported)	Fitzroy River, near Rockhampton	Body found on deserted luxury yacht, 38' Christine	Dr. E. Al Joske	Male	56	Abdominal wounds & right leg severed at the hip			[200]
1951	22 October	Ocean baths, Kissing Point Beach	Swimming	Arthur James Kenealey	Male	42	Leg severed, shark dragged him through hole in protective net	19:10		[201]
1954	4 September	Darnley Island, Torres Strait	Spearfishing, hunting crayfish	Kapua Gutchen	Male	35	After being bitten by shark, he was picked up by 85' trochus vessel Toorah that wrecked. His wounds reopened & he died		9' shark	[202]
1954	14 September (reported)	Darnley Island, Torres Strait	Spear fishing	male	Male					[203]
1956	26 February	Pioneer River, near Mackay	Diving into water	Barry Keith Antonini	Male	15	Large amount of tissue removed from leg, artery severed	11:00	1.8 m [6'] shark	[204]
1958	23 November	Surfers Paradise	Swimming	Peter Gerard Spronk	Male	21		15:15	12' shark	[205]
1959	19 December	Off Wynnum in Moreton Bay, near Brisbane	Dived from dinghy to retrieve oar in heavy seas	Stanley Arthur Mullen	Male	29		06:00		[206]
1961	18 December	Noosa Heads	Surfing, pushing board ashore	John Grayson Andrews	Male	22	Right wrist and hand bitten, left leg severed above knee	06:15	Next morning a 3 m [10'] shark was caught that had Andrews' leg in its gut	[207]
1961	28 December	Lambert's Beach, Mackay	Standing	Margaret Hobbs	Female	18	Right arm severed at shoulder, left hand severed, right thigh bitten & surgically amputated. Died day after the attack	16:15	3 m [10'] shark	[208]
1964	18 November	Fingal Beach, near Tweed Heads	Swimming out to rescue swimmers in difficulty	Glenthorne Prior	Male	29		13:30		[209]
1965	21 November	Near Brisbane	Fishing from 34' boat when pulled overboard by hooked shark	Gordon Hobrook	Male	43			4.6 m [15'] shark	[210]
1971	5 December	Gladstone		Gregory Carroll	Male	20				[211]
1974	1 September	Junpinpin, off Stradbroke Island	His and Peter Hodgeson's 3.3 m boat sank and were drifting in the current	Adrian Treveluwe	Male	30				[212]
1977	13 March	Near Moreton Island in Moreton Bay	Their 9 m launch was run down by a 25,000-ton Japanese freighter on the night of 3-11-1977 & they drifted, clinging to an icebox for 2 days	John Hayes	Male	45				[213]
1977	13 March	Near Moreton Island in Moreton Bay	Their 9 m launch was run down by a 25,000-ton Japanese freighter on the night of 3-11-1977 & they drifted, clinging to an icebox for 2 days	Victor Beaver	Male	74				[214]
1977	23 August	Buddina Beach, south of Noosa	Floating on an inflatable raft	George Walter	Male	25	Left arm severed, legs bitten		Great White Shark	[215]
1983	25 July	Off Lodestone Reef, Great Barrier Reef, north of Townsville	Swimming from the New Venture	Dennis Patrick Murphy	Male	24	Shark bit leg, then dragged him underwater	Night	5 m [16.5'] tiger shark	[216]
1983	26 July	Off Lodestone Reef, Great Barrier Reef, north of Townsville	Swimming from the New Venture	Linda Ann Horton	Female	21	Shark seized her by the chest and took her underwater	04:00	5 m [16.5'] tiger shark	[217]
1984	30 November	1 km off Black's Beach	Sailing on catamaran & fell into the water	Nicholas Bos	Male	16		12:33		[218]
1988	7 November	Off North Keppel Island, off Yeppoon	The Christie V sank on 11/6/1988, survivors were adrift on a dinghy	Cedric Coucom	Male	62		Nightfall		[219]
1988	8 November	Off North Keppel Island, off Yeppoon	The Christie V sank on 11/6/1988, survivors were adrift on a dinghy	Bruce Coucom	Male	17	When James Coucom, the lone survivor, was rescued, "2 sharks were pounding on the dinghy"	Early morning		[220]
1990	8 April	Dingo Reef	Free diving for trochus	Robert Bullen	Male	37	Presumed fatal			[221]
1992	1 October	Moreton Island	Surfing	Michael Docherty	Male	28		14:30	Great White	[222]
2002	16 December	Lake Heron, Miami Lakes	Swimming	Beau Martin	Male	23		02:30	Bull shark	[223]
2003	8 February	Gold Coast	Swimming	Bob Purcell	Male	84		Morning	Bull shark	[224]
2004	11 December	Opal Reef	Diving	Mark Thompson	Male	38	Fatal Injuries	13:00	Unknown	[225]
2006	7 January	Stradbroke Island	Swimming	Sarah Whiley	Female	21	Fatal Injuries	17:15	Multiple sharks
2014	15 December	Port Douglas	Diving	Daniel Smith	Male	18	Fatal injuries	11:30	Great White
2016	16 Feb	Kennedy Shoal	Diving	Steven Foster	Male	54	Body not recovered		Great White	[226]
2018	5th Nov	Whitsunday Islands	Swimming	Daniel Christidis	Male	33		17:30	Great White	[227][228]
2020	6 April	North West Island	Swimming	Zachary Robba	Male	23			Great White	[229]
2020	4 July	Fraser Island	Diving	Matthew Tratt	Male	36	Fatal Injuries	14:00	Great White	[230]
2020	8th Sept	Coolongatta	Surfing	Nick Slater	Male	46	Fatal injuries	17:00	Great White	[231][232]
2024	28th Dec	Keppel Islands	Diving	Luke Walford	Male	40	Fatal injuries	16:37	Unknown	[233]
2025	3rd Feb	Bribie Island	Swimming	Charlize Zmuda	Female	17	Fatal injuries	16:45	Unknown	[234]

South Australia

Year	Date	Area	Marine Waters	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1855	28 March	Port Wakefield	Gulf St. Vincent	Fell overboard	Master Coleman	Male					[235]
1884	14 January	Port Pirie	Spencer Gulf	Fell overboard	Miss Warren	Female				2 sharks	[236]
1926	17 March	West Beach	Gulf St. Vincent	Swimming	Primrose Whyte	Female			15:45	Great white	[237]
1936	22 January	West Beach	Gulf St. Vincent	Swimmer	Ray Bennett	Male	13		18:00	Great White	[238]
1962	9 December	Carrickalinga Headland	Gulf St. Vincent	Diving	Geoffrey Corner	Male	16	Right leg attacked	14:30	Great White	[239]
1971	5 September	Adelaide	Gulf St. Vincent	Fishing	Leslie Harris	Male	51	Heart Attack			[240]
1974	9 January	Streaky Bay	Australian Bight	Diving	Terry Manuel	Male	26	Right leg severed		Great White	[241]
1975	19 January	Coffin bay	Australian Bight	Surfing	David Barrowman	Male	17	Body not recovered		Great White	[242]
1975	10 February	Point Sinclair	Australian Bight	Diving	Wade Shipard	Male	12	Right leg severed	18:00	Great White	[243]
1985	3 March	Port Lincoln	Spencer Gulf	Diving	Shirley Durdin	Female	33	Fully consumed	12:30	Great White	[244]
1987	18 September	Marino Rocks	Gulf St. Vincent	Diving	Terrance Gibson	Male	47			Great White	[245]
1989	9 March	Waitpinga Beach	Southern Ocean	Surfing	Matthew Foale	Male	27	Thigh bitten	20:15	White Shark	[246]
1991	8 September	Aldinga Beach	Gulf St. Vincent	Diving	Jonathon Lee	Male	19		15:00	Great White	[247]
1998	28 June	Neptune Islands	Australian Bight	Diving	Doug Chesher	Male	26	Legs injuries	14:00	Great White	[248]
1999	29 May	Yorke Peninsula	Spencer Gulf	Windsurfing	Tony Donoghue	Male	22	Body not recovered	14:30	Great White	[249]
2000	24 September	Cactus beach	Australian Bight	Surfing	Cameron Bayes	Male	25	fully consumed	07:30	Great White	[250]
2000	25 September	Eyre Peninsula	Australian Bight	Surfing	Jevan Wright	Male	17	fully consumed	13:00	White Shark	[251][252][253]
2002	30 April	Ceduna	Australian Bight	Diving	Paul Buckland	Male	23		12:40	White Shark	[254]
2004	16 December	West Beach, Adelaide	Gulf St. Vincent	Scurfing	Nick Peterson	Male	18	Fully consumed	15:15	2 Great Whites	[255]
2005	24 August	Glenelg	Gulf St. Vincent	Diving	Jarrod Stehbens	Male	23		16:10	Great White	[256]
2011	17 February	Coffin Bay	Australian Bight	Diving	Peter Clarkson	Male	49		18:20	2 White Sharks	[257]
2014	8 February	Yorke Peninsula	Gulf St. Vincent	Diving	Sam Kellett	Male	28	Body never recovered.	12:00	Great White	[258][259]
2023	13 May	Eyre Peninsula	Australian Bight	Surfing	Simon Baccanello	Male	46	Body never recovered		White Shark	[260][261]
2023	31 October	Streaky Bay	Australian Bight	Surfing	Tod Gendle	Male	55	Eaten whole	10:20	Great White	[262]
2023	28 December	Ethel Beach	Spencer Gulf	Surfing	Khai Cowley	Male	15	Body recovered	13:30	Great White	[263][264]
2025	2 January	Westall	Australian Bight	Surfing	Lance Appleby	Male	26			Great White	[265]

Tasmania

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1820s	circa	Sweet Water Point, Pittwater		"Amphibious Jack"	Male					[266]
1831	22 January (reported)	Hobart	Boat capsized, clinging to line	Robert Dudlow	Male					[267]
1870	late	Derwent River	Canoeing	Sub Lieut. Bowyer of H.M.S. Chile	Male		Shark bit canoe in half & bit man. Note: There is an earlier story of shark attack in same river			[268]
1880		St George's Bay			Male					[269]
1843-1844	Circa. Reported on 14 September 1883.	Between Port Arthur Penal Colony & Forestier Peninsula	Swimming / escaping imprisonment	Owen	Male					[270]
1893	4 April	Chimney Point, George's Bay	Boat capsized, swimming ashore	Joseph Meredith	Male			16:30		[271]
1905	25 March	Bridport	Bathing	Charles Taylor						[272]
1959	17 January	Safety Cove	In deep water about 100 yards from his ship	Brian Derry, a Naval Rating	Male	22		16:30	Multiple White Sharks	[273]
1975	30 July	Adventure Bay, Bruny Island	Scuba diving for abalone	Robert Slack	Male	37		Afternoon	Great White Shark	[274]
1982	28 February	South Cape Bay	Skindiving, but swimming on the surface	Geert Talen	Male	32	Body not recovered		Great White Shark	[275]
1993	5 June	Tenth Island	Scuba diving at seal colony	Therese Cartwright	Female	35		10:55	Great White Shark	[276]
2015	25 July	Lachlan Point, Maria Island	Scuba diving, collecting scallops	Damian Johnson	Male	46	Body not recovered - Attacked while surfacing as his daughter watched.	7:00	Great White Shark	[277]

Victoria

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
1839	7 August	Sealer's Cove, Wilson's Promontory	Swimming from capsized whale boat	Captain Wishart of the whaler Wallaby	Male	39	'...two wounds made by a shark, one about the middle of the right thigh, and the other, rather above the calf of the left leg.'			[278]
1849	19 September	Warrnambool	Swimming	a sailor from the schooner Brother	Male					[279]
1855	11 November	Melbourne	Swimming	Seaman from whaling brig Curlew	Male					[280]
1858	14 March	Hobson Bay	Bathing	Adolphe Bollander	Male	22		15:00		[281]
1864		Corio Bay, Port Phillip	Swimming	Mr. Warren, Jr.	Male		Presumed but shark involvement not confirmed			[282]
1876	6 February	Albert Park in Port Phillip Bay	Bathing	Peter Rooney	Male	18	Rescued by man on horseback, but died on the beach			[283]
1877	28 January	Emerald Hill	Bathing	William Marks	Male	30	"The flesh on each leg, from the knee upwards, was entirely torn out, and there were bite marks of the two jaws of a large fish on one breast, and also on the back."			[284]
1889	8 July	Port Phillip	Fell into the water		Male					[285]
1914	10 June	Sandringham	Bathing	Mr. Croxford	Male	43		Afternoon		[286]
1916	3 April	Carrum	Clinging to overturned rowing boat	Monte Robinson & Andrew McNeill	Male	17				[287]
1930	15 February	Middle Brighton, Port Phillip	Diving off pier & treading water	Norman Clark	Male	18		16:30	White Shark	[288]
1936		Port Phillip Bay, Port Melbourne	Swimming		Male					[289]
1936	1 December	Mordialloc	Fishing	Charles Frederick Swann, a returned soldier	Male	46	Swann's 2.4 m dinghy was found with 2' x 3' hole in its side & tooth fragments embedded in the planking		Presumably a Great White Shark	[290]
1949	12 November	Port Phillip Bay	No details	John W. Smith	Male					[291]
1954	11 December	Point Lonsdale	Swimming	Lawrence David Burns	Male	23		11:00		[292]
1956	4 March	Portsea Beach, near entrance to Port Phillip Bay	Swimming, attacked at surf carnival	John Patrick Wishart	Male	26		16:45	Likely great white	[293]
1987		Mornington Peninsula	Boarding				Major lacerations		Great White Shark	[294]

Western Australia

Year	Date	Area	Activity	Victim	Sex	Age	Injury	Time	Species	Reference
pre–1903			Pearl diving	Ahmun	Male					[295]
pre–1903		Roebuck Bay	Diving		Male					[296]
mid–1870s	Circa	Shark Bay	Sitting on gunwale of boat	Andrew Farmer	Male					[297]
1882	7 February (reported)		Pearl diving	Native diver	Male		Thigh bitten			[298]
1882	12 May (reported)		Pearl diving	Malay diver	Male		Torso bitten			[299]
1895	3 June (reported)	Barrow Passage, Barrow Island	Pearl diving	Japanese diver	Male					[300]
1896	1 November	Esperance	Boat swamped	Louis	Male					[301]
1896	29 November	Albany	Swimming	Davies	Male					[302]
1910	23 December (reported)	Fremantle	Shipwrecked pearling schooner	Theodore Anderson's captain & rest of crew taken by sharks	Male					[303]
1923	27 January	Swan River, Freshwater Bay, Claremont	Swimming	Charles Topsail Robertson	Male	13	Back of thigh bitten			[304]
1923	23 November	Condon, 88 km NE of Port Hedland	Dry shelling	Selim and Dea Opre, Koepang Islanders	Male		Disappeared, partial remains of Selim was found, there was no trace of Dea Opre			[305]
1925	22 November	Cottesloe Beach	Floating on his back	Simeon (Samuel) Ettelton	Male	55	Thigh & torso bitten, then shark charged rescue boat	15:15	4 m [13'] female tiger shark	[306]
1948	27 December	Lancelin Island	Swimming	Arthur Strahan	Male	17	Disappeared while swimming		His hand was found in a 2.4 m [8'] tiger shark caught 1/5/1949	[307]
1967	19 August	Jurien Bay	Spearfishing, dived to pick up a float line	Robert Bartle	Male	23	"bitten in two"	11:00	Great White shark	[308]
1993	21 November	A pearl farm in Roebuck Bay	Hookah diving	Richard Peter Bisley	Male	27		15:15	Tiger shark caught 6 days later with diver's remains in its gut	[309]
1995	11 September	Honeymoon Island, near Hopetoun	Abalone diving using Hookah (near calving whales)	David Alan Weir	Male	29	Head, shoulder and arm severed, remains recovered at Munglinup Beach on 13/09/1995	15:00	Great White Shark	[310]
1997	20 January	Geraldton	Windsurfing	Werner Schonhofer	Male	41	Eaten whole	18:00	White shark	[311][312]
2000	6 November	Cottesloe Beach	Swimming	Ken Crew	Male	49	Torso attacked leg torn off.	06:30	Great White	[313]
2004	10 July	Margaret River	Surfing	Bradley Smith	Male	30	Stomach and legs attacked	14:10	2 Great Whites	[314]
2005	19 March	Abrolhos Islands	Diving	Geoffrey Brazier	Male	26		14:00	Great White	[315]
2008	27 December	Port Kennedy	Diving	Brian Guest	Male	51		07:00	Great White	[316]
2010	17 August	Cowaramup Bay	Surfing	Nicholas Edwards	Male	31	Leg severed	08:05	Great White	[317]
2011	4 September	Bunker Bay	Surfing	Kyle James Burden	Male	21	Eaten in half	13:26	Great White	[318]
2011	9 October	Cottesloe Beach	Swimming	Bryn Martin	Male	64	Eaten whole	08:10	Great White	[319]
2011	22 October	Rottnest Island	Diving	George Wainwright	Male	32		13:25	Great White	[320]
2012	31 March	Stratham Beach	Diving	Peter Kurmann	Male	33		09:30	Great White	[321]
2012	14 July	Off Wedge Island	Surfing	Ben Linden	Male	24	Eaten Whole	09:05	Great White	[322]
2013	23 November	Gracetown	Surfing	Chris Boyd	Male	35	Leg Removed	09:00	Great White	[323]
2014	30 December	Cheynes Beach	Diving	Jay Muscat	Male	17	Attacked at the leg-torso	Midday	Great White	[324]
2016	31 May	Mandurah	Surfing	Ben Gerring	Male	29	Leg removed	Dusk	Great White	[325]
2016	5 June	Mindarie	Diving	Doreen Collyer [326]	Female	60	3 limbs removed	Late morning	Great White	[327]
2017	17 April	Wylie Bay	Surfing	Laeticia Brouwer	Female	17	Leg ripped off	16:00	Great White	[328]
2020	5 January	Esperance	Diving	Gary Johnson[329]	Male	57	Mauled while scuba diving	13:00	Great White	[330]
2020	9 October	Wylie Bay	Surfing	Andrew Sharpe	Male	52	Body never recovered	16:00	Great White	[331][332]
2020	22 November	Cable Beach	Surfing	Charles Cernobori	Male	55	Multiple Sharks	08:45	Great white	[333][334]
2021	6 November	Fremantle	Swimming	Paul Millachip	Male	57	Eaten whole	10:00	Great White	[335]
2023	4 February	Fremantle	Swimming	Stella Berry	Female	16	Injury to legs	15:00	Bull Shark	[336][337]
2025	10 March	Esperance	Surfing	Steven Payne	Male	30's	Fully consumed	12:10	Great White	[338][339]

See also

• List of fatal, unprovoked shark attacks in the United States
• List of fatal shark attacks in California
• List of shark attacks in South Africa
• List of fatal shark attacks in South Africa
• Western Australian shark cull