Between 1791 and April 2018 it was reported that there have been 1,068 shark attacks in Australia with 237 of them being fatal.
Four species of sharks account for the vast majority of fatal attacks on humans: the bull shark, tiger shark, oceanic whitetip shark and the great white shark.
In 2021 Australian authorities pushed to rebrand shark attacks as "negative encounters" or "interactions" to boost conservation efforts and alter perceptions of sharks as vicious.
Precautions against attacks The Australian Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts states precautions which can be taken to reduce the risk of shark attacks.Sharks in Australian waters Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts These include avoiding swimming far from the shore, at the mouth of a river or on drop-offs to deeper water; avoiding swimming in dirty water, alone or with domestic animals, near people fishing, or at dusk or night; and to leave the water if schools of fish behave erratically or group in large numbers. The Australian Institute of Marine Science also states many of these and other precautions including not wearing jewelry or reflective clothing while swimming, and not swimming with any bleeding wounds.Dangerous marine animals, Sharks Australian Institute of Marine Science
Non-fatal attacks
Name, ageDateSpeciesLocation; CommentsLeah Stewart, 3513 June 2026Great white sharkSwimming with friends 100 feet offshore of off Sydney's Coogee Beach when she was attacked. An off-duty lifeguard pulled her onto his paddleboard. She suffered 12-inch wide bites exposing bone on her thigh and arm; she was airlifted to St. Vincent's Hospital.Lauren O'Neill, 2929 January 2024Bull sharkLocal resident Lauren O'Neill was swimming at dusk close to the shore at Elizabeth Bay in Sydney Harbour, when a bull shark was believed to have bitten her on the leg below the knee. Residents of the nearby waterfront apartment building heard her cries for help and assisted in stemming blood flow until medics arrived. O'Neill was taken to nearby St Vincent's Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.Joe Hoffman, 255 July 2021Great white sharkHoffman, a surfer, was mauled by a white shark while surfing at Crescent Head on the NSW Mid North Coast. He suffered severe injuries to his right arm but surgeons expected it would be saved.Unnamed, 2523 June 2021A surfer was attacked by an unidentified species off the coast of Leeman. Jackson Bartlett, 1011 June 2021Bronze whalerSnorkeling at Five Finger Reef near Coral Bay.Lucas Arnott, 1017 July 2020Great white sharkFive km offshore from Stanley, Tasmania, a ten-year-old boy was grabbed by a shark and pulled into the water from a 6 m fishing boat. The boy's father jumped into the water and retrieved the child, who suffered lacerations to his arm and cuts to his head and chest. Appears the child's lifejacket protected the boy, which was shredded.Wil Schroeter, 5917 January 2020Wil Schroeter, a 59-year-old father of two from Albion Park, bitten around the foot while surfing at Windang Beach.Chris Blowes, 2625 April 2015Great white sharkBlowes and friends were surfing at Fishery Bay, 35 km from Port Lincoln in South Australia when a 6 m great white attacked. Blowes' life was saved when his friends wrapped a leg rope as a tourniquet until he was air lifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He lost his left leg and was clinically dead (his heart stopped for 90 minutes following the attack) but has made a remarkable recovery.Paddy Trumbull, 6013 February 2010Trumbull, a 60-year-old grandmother from Sydney, survived a shark attack off north-eastern Australia. She suffered severe lacerations to her buttocks and lost several pints of blood in the attack, which took place on the afternoon of Saturday, 13 February 2010, while she and her husband were snorkeling off Dent Island in Queensland.Grandmother, 60, Shares Shark Attack StoryPaul de Gelder, 3111 February 2009Bull sharkAn Australian navy diver was attacked by a shark whilst training near Garden Island in Sydney Harbour. He lost an arm and a leg in the attack.Dirk Avery, 52,November 2000Great white sharkDirk Avery, a friend of Ken Crew, was badly wounded by his legs when he tried to defend him from the shark. Crew lost his leg and died.Rodney Fox, 23December 1963Great white sharkAttacked while spearfishing and badly bitten around the chest and arm and survived.Albert Pride, 20February 1951Lake Illawarra, fought off an attacking shark with a penknife.Fought Off Shark with Penknife Canberra Times, 5 February 1951 Oates, youthDecember 1929Currumbin, punched and kicked shark and fought it off.Fight with shark, Youth beats off monster Canberra Times, Dec 1929
Fatal attacks
Mitigation Measures have been implemented in Australia to help reduce the severity or risk of shark attacks in Australia.
Shark netting
Since shark netting began in 1937, the number of deaths from sharks on beaches in New South Wales has decreased, with only one fatal attack recorded at a netted beach during that period. In Queensland, there have been no fatal attacks on netted beaches since nets were introduced in the 1960s.Sharks Rampage in Australia Time magazine. 12 January 2009
Shark nets have been installed at numerous beaches to help reduce shark encounters near designated swimming areas, but have been criticized for marine bycatch. These nets are typically lifted every 24 to 48 hours for servicing and to remove sharks and other marine life that have become entangled in them. Sharks caught in the nets often die by drowning, as they need to swim to force water over their gills to breathe.
According to Humane World for Animals, the majority of animals caught in shark nets are not target shark species and include "Critically Endangered wildlife". Additionally, 40% of sharks that have become entangled in the nets were caught on the beach side of the net, suggesting that these sharks were able to easily swim around the net. Due to the environmental concerns and questions on their effectiveness, the use of shark nets remains a subject of debate.
Shark bite trauma kits
Shark bite trauma kits are containers that contain emergency bleeding-control equipment, such as tourniquets, wound dressings, thermal blanket, whistle, gloves and first aid instructions. The kit is intended for immediate use to help reduce blood loss following shark bite incidents before first responders arrive. In 2026, Surf Life Saving NSW announced that publicly accessible shark bite trauma kits would be installed at all 129 surf clubs in New South Wales.
Drone monitoring
In New South Wales, the UAV shark surveillance program deploys UAVs to monitor coastal waters for sharks. When target sharks are detected by UAVs, sirens are sounded to warn nearby swimmers. The program first started in 2017 and is delivered by the Australian UAV Service (AUAVS), which is a part of the SLSNSW. As of 2026, there are over 300 UAVs patrolling 80 beaches across NSW on a daily basis.
See also Shark attack Shark attack prevention Shark attacks in South Australia List of fatal shark attacks in Australia
References
Shark Bait-Shark Bite, The Courier-Mail 16 December 1933
External links Shark research institute Australia stats