List of massacres in Australia
Updated: 12/16/2025, 8:48:57 PM Wikipedia source
This is a list of massacres and mass murders that have occurred in Australia and its predecessor colonies (some historical numbers may be approximate). Many of the massacres not listed here may instead be found in the list of massacres of Indigenous Australians. There is no uniform, global standard for what constitutes a mass murder. For the purposes of this list, the Australian Institute of Criminology definition of mass murder as having a "threshold of four or more fatalities" is used.
Tables
· Massacres and mass murders
Batavia massacre
Batavia massacre
Incident
Batavia massacre
Year
1629
Location
Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia
Deaths
110+
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Massacre of survivors after the sinking of Dutch merchant ship Batavia following a mutiny.
Shipwreck survivors of the Maria massacred
Shipwreck survivors of the Maria massacred
Incident
Shipwreck survivors of the Maria massacred
Year
1840
Location
Coorong, South Australia
Deaths
25
Injuries
0
Notes
Ship travelling from Port Adelaide to Hobart was shipwrecked on the SE coast of South Australia, with all surviving the wreck. The survivors were being guided to safety by the local Narrindjeri people, but were massacred by them.
Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Incident
Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Year
17 October 1861
Location
Central Queensland
Deaths
19
Injuries
0
Notes
Massacre of newly arrived white settlers by Indigenous Australians.
Response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Incident
Response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre
Year
October 1861
Location
Central Queensland
Deaths
60-70~
Injuries
unknown
Notes
In response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre, "sixty or seventy" Aboriginals were massacred by a vigilante party of eleven heavily armed white settlers accompanied by two Aboriginal trackers.
Cavanagh murders
Cavanagh murders
Incident
Cavanagh murders
Year
11 October 1896
Location
Peterborough, South Australia
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Joseph Thyer, a sheep farmer, murdered his wife and five children before hanging himself.
Murder of the Glover family
Murder of the Glover family
Incident
Murder of the Glover family
Year
1 March 1898
Location
Triabunna, Tasmania
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
A mother murdered her six children and then committed suicide.
Breelong murders
Breelong murders
Incident
Breelong murders
Year
July 1900
Location
Breelong, New South Wales
Deaths
9 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Jimmy Governor and Jack Underwood murdered four members of the Mawbrey family and a school-teacher at Breelong near Gilgandra. Underwood was captured soon afterwards, but the Governor brothers took to the bush. During the period they were at large, ranging over a large area of north-central New South Wales, the brothers committed further murders and multiple robberies.
Bradshaw massacre
Bradshaw massacre
Incident
Bradshaw massacre
Year
26 November 1905 (approx)
Location
Victoria River, Northern Territory
Deaths
7
Injuries
0
Notes
Four white men and three Aboriginal boys massacred with tomahawks by Aboriginal prisoners being transported by boat to Palmerston to stand trial for the earlier murder of two white men. One Aboriginal boy survived and reported the incident.
Ching family murders
Ching family murders
Incident
Ching family murders
Year
16 November 1911
Location
Alligator Creek, Mackay, Queensland
Deaths
6
Injuries
0
Notes
George David Silva murdered six members of the Ching family by shooting and bashing. Silva was hanged at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane on 10 June 1912.
Battle of Broken Hill
Battle of Broken Hill
Incident
Battle of Broken Hill
Year
1 January 1915
Location
Broken Hill, New South Wales
Deaths
4 (plus 2 perpetrators)
Injuries
7
Notes
Spree shooting by two Ghans gunmen
Botanic garden massacre
Botanic garden massacre
Incident
Botanic garden massacre
Year
1924
Location
Melbourne
Deaths
4 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
2
Notes
Mass shooting; perpetrator committed suicide.
Murder of the Archur family
Murder of the Archur family
Incident
Murder of the Archur family
Year
26 February 1929
Location
Devonport, Tasmania
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Andrew Thomas Edgar Archur murdered his five children and his wife and then set fire to their house. He killed himself after the attack.
Murder of the Davies family
Murder of the Davies family
Incident
Murder of the Davies family
Year
21 August 1931
Location
Perth
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Roderick A. Davies, a 36-year-old carpenter, shot his wife and five children dead before taking his own life.
Boulder bombings
Boulder bombings
Incident
Boulder bombings
Year
1 February 1942
Location
Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia
Deaths
14 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
15
Notes
Bombing of a boarding house containing 30 people in Boulder, Western Australia by 45-year-old Pero Raecivich.
Glen Innes shooting
Glen Innes shooting
Incident
Glen Innes shooting
Year
2 July 1948
Location
Glen Innes, New South Wales
Deaths
6
Injuries
0
Notes
Frederick Charles Hall, a 48-year-old labourer shot his six children to death He was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
Murder of the Armanasco family
Murder of the Armanasco family
Incident
Murder of the Armanasco family
Year
12 October 1950
Location
Collie, Western Australia
Deaths
6
Injuries
0
Notes
40-year-old Raymond Armanasco killed his wife and five of his children in Collie near Perth. Armanasco was later sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
Narella Street massacre
Narella Street massacre
Incident
Narella Street massacre
Year
18 February 1957
Location
Brisbane, Queensland
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
1
Notes
Marian Ryszard Majka killed six and injured a baby in two houses on Narella Street in Brisbane before taking his own life.
Warwick Farm gassing
Warwick Farm gassing
Incident
Warwick Farm gassing
Year
5–6 May 1964
Location
Warwick Farm, New South Wales
Deaths
7
Injuries
0
Notes
An entire family was found gassed to death in their Warwick Farm home. The victims were Herbert Darnley, his wife, Joyce, and their five children. A note was found on the front door of the scene, indicating a murder-suicide, although no perpetrator was reported as identified.
Crawford family murders
Crawford family murders
Incident
Crawford family murders
Year
1 July 1970
Location
Glenroy, Victoria
Deaths
4
Injuries
0
Notes
Elmer Crawford electrocuted and bludgeoned his pregnant wife and three children at their home, before putting the bodies into his car and pushing the car over a cliff at Loch Ard Gorge.
Hope Forest shooting
Hope Forest shooting
Incident
Hope Forest shooting
Year
6 September 1971
Location
Hope Forest, South Australia
Deaths
10
Injuries
0
Notes
Rampage killing by Clifford Bartholomew, who shot dead ten members of his family. It is the deadliest familicide in Australian history.
Whiskey Au Go Go fire
Whiskey Au Go Go fire
Incident
Whiskey Au Go Go fire
Year
8 March 1973
Location
Fortitude Valley, Queensland
Deaths
15
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Arson attack that killed fifteen and injured many more at a nightclub.
Savoy Hotel fire
Savoy Hotel fire
Incident
Savoy Hotel fire
Year
5 December 1975
Location
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Deaths
15
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Reginald John Lyttle set fire to newspapers in a hotel. Fourteen died from carbon monoxide poisoning and one from burns as a result of the fire.
Connellan air disaster
Connellan air disaster
Incident
Connellan air disaster
Year
5 January 1977
Location
Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory
Deaths
4 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
5
Notes
Suicide attack on Alice Springs Airport.
Weir family massacre
Weir family massacre
Incident
Weir family massacre
Year
18 January 1977
Location
Echuca, Victoria
Deaths
5 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Roger Bruce Weir, 32, shot and killed his five children at their home in Echuca with a .22 calibre single shot rifle before using the weapon to commit suicide.
Campsie murders
Campsie murders
Incident
Campsie murders
Year
24 September 1981
Location
Campsie, New South Wales
Deaths
5 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Rampage killing by Fouad Daoud, who shot dead five members of his family before killing himself.
Inland Motel murders
Inland Motel murders
Incident
Inland Motel murders
Year
18 August 1983
Location
Uluru, Northern Territory
Deaths
5
Injuries
16
Notes
Vehicular attack by Douglas Crabbe, who drove a truck into the bar of the Inland Motel after being refused service.
Wahroonga murders
Wahroonga murders
Incident
Wahroonga murders
Year
1 June 1984
Location
Wahroonga, New South Wales
Deaths
5 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Rampage killing by John Brandon, who shot dead five members of his family before killing himself.
Milperra massacre
Milperra massacre
Incident
Milperra massacre
Year
2 September 1984
Location
Milperra, New South Wales
Deaths
7
Injuries
28
Notes
Shootout between two rival motorcycle gangs. One bystander was among those killed in the incident.
Pymble shooting
Pymble shooting
Incident
Pymble shooting
Year
23 January 1987
Location
Pymble, New South Wales
Deaths
4
Injuries
0
Notes
Richard Maddrell went to the family home of his former girlfriend, shot her and three others.
Top End shootings
Top End shootings
Incident
Top End shootings
Year
June 1987
Location
Top End, Northern Territory
Deaths
5 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Spree killing by Joseph Schwab over a five-day period. Shot dead by police.
Hoddle Street massacre
Hoddle Street massacre
Incident
Hoddle Street massacre
Year
9 August 1987
Location
Clifton Hill, Victoria
Deaths
7
Injuries
19
Notes
A spree shooting by Julian Knight.
Huynh family murders
Huynh family murders
Incident
Huynh family murders
Year
10 October 1987
Location
Canley Vale, New South Wales
Deaths
5
Injuries
0
Notes
Rampage killing by John Tran, who shot dead five members of a family.
Queen Street massacre
Queen Street massacre
Incident
Queen Street massacre
Year
8 December 1987
Location
Melbourne
Deaths
8 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
5
Notes
A spree shooting/murder–suicide by Frank Vitkovic.
Oenpelli shootings
Oenpelli shootings
Incident
Oenpelli shootings
Year
25 September 1988
Location
Gunbalanya, Northern Territory
Deaths
5
Injuries
0
Notes
Rampage killing by Dennis Rostron, shooting five members of his family at Molgawo, a remote Arnhem Land outstation near Gunbalanya (formerly known as Oenpelli).
Surry Hills shootings
Surry Hills shootings
Incident
Surry Hills shootings
Year
30 August 1990
Location
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Deaths
5
Injuries
7
Notes
A spree shooting by Paul Anthony Evers who killed five people and injured seven with a 12 gauge pump-action shotgun at a public housing precinct in Surry Hills before surrendering to police.
Strathfield massacre
Strathfield massacre
Incident
Strathfield massacre
Year
17 August 1991
Location
Strathfield, New South Wales
Deaths
7 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
6
Notes
A spree shooting/murder–suicide by Wade Frankum.
Central Coast massacre
Central Coast massacre
Incident
Central Coast massacre
Year
27 October 1992
Location
Terrigal, New South Wales
Deaths
6
Injuries
1
Notes
A spree shooting by Malcolm George Baker.
Greenough Family Massacre
Greenough Family Massacre
Incident
Greenough Family Massacre
Year
21 February 1993
Location
Greenough, Western Australia
Deaths
4
Injuries
0
Notes
William Mitchell murdered and sexually assaulted Karen MacKenzie, also murdering her three children with an axe at their remote rural property in Greenough, Western Australia. Mitchell was later convicted of the massacre and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years and has been denied parole in 2013 and 2016, and in 2019 was banned from applying for parole for six years.
1993 Cangai siege
1993 Cangai siege
Incident
1993 Cangai siege
Year
March 1993
Location
Cangai, New South Wales
Deaths
5
Injuries
0
Notes
Leonard Leabeater, Robert Steele and Raymond Bassett went on a nine-day rampage resulting in their taking hostages in a siege in a farmhouse at Hanging Rock Station in Cangai.
Wollongong Knife Murders
Wollongong Knife Murders
Incident
Wollongong Knife Murders
Year
1994
Location
Wollongong, New South Wales
Deaths
4
Injuries
0
Notes
Ljube Velevski, used a knife to kill his wife and three children in their Berkeley home near Wollongong in 1994.
Hillcrest murders
Hillcrest murders
Incident
Hillcrest murders
Year
25 January 1996
Location
Hillcrest, Queensland
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Mass shooting. Peter May shot dead six members of his family before killing himself.
Port Arthur massacre
Port Arthur massacre
Incident
Port Arthur massacre
Year
28 April 1996
Location
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Deaths
35
Injuries
24
Notes
A spree shooting by Martin Bryant. The deadliest mass shooting in Australia. Led to the National Firearms Agreement between Australia's states, territories and federal government, mandating licenses and registration for gun owners and users, and banning semi-automatic long guns in most cases. See Gun laws in Australia.
Shoobridge family murders
Shoobridge family murders
Incident
Shoobridge family murders
Year
28 June 1997
Location
Richmond, Tasmania
Deaths
4 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Peter Shoobridge cut the throats of his four daughters whilst they slept then took his own life with a rifle after cutting off one of his hands with an axe.
Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire
Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire
Incident
Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire
Year
23 June 2000
Location
Childers, Queensland
Deaths
15
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Arson attack by Robert Paul Long, which killed fifteen international backpackers.
Churchill Fire
Churchill Fire
Incident
Churchill Fire
Year
7 February 2009
Location
Churchill, Victoria
Deaths
10
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Arson attack by Brendan Sokaluk that killed ten people, during the Black Saturday bushfires period.
Lin family murders
Lin family murders
Incident
Lin family murders
Year
18 July 2009
Location
North Epping, New South Wales
Deaths
5
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Blunt instrument attack that killed five members of the Lin family.
Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire
Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire
Incident
Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire
Year
18 November 2011
Location
Quakers Hill, New South Wales
Deaths
11
Injuries
unknown
Notes
Arson attack by Roger Kingsley Dean, a nurse, which killed eleven people.
Hunt family murders
Hunt family murders
Incident
Hunt family murders
Year
9 September 2014
Location
Lockhart, New South Wales
Deaths
4 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Murder–suicide, mass shooting, familicide. Geoff Hunt killed his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself.
Cairns child killings
Cairns child killings
Incident
Cairns child killings
Year
19 December 2014
Location
Cairns, Queensland
Deaths
8
Injuries
1 (self-inflicted by suspect)
Notes
Stabbing attack and Familicide. Eight children aged 18 months to 15 years killed. Thirty-seven-year-old woman also found injured. The woman, Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday, was later charged with the murder of the children, seven of whom were hers, plus her niece.
January 2017 Melbourne car attack
January 2017 Melbourne car attack
Incident
January 2017 Melbourne car attack
Year
20 January 2017
Location
Melbourne, Victoria
Deaths
6
Injuries
27
Notes
Vehicular attack. Dimitrious (James) Gargasoulas drove a Holden Commodore into Bourke St Mall, resulting in the deaths of six people and injuring 27 others. Should not be confused with the December 2017 Melbourne car attack which killed one person.
Osmington shooting
Osmington shooting
Incident
Osmington shooting
Year
11 May 2018
Location
Osmington, Western Australia
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Murder–suicide, mass shooting, familicide. A grandfather shot his four grandchildren at their home, his daughter, his wife, and then himself.
September 2018 Bedford massacre
September 2018 Bedford massacre
Incident
September 2018 Bedford massacre
Year
9 September 2018
Location
Bedford, Western Australia
Deaths
5
Injuries
0
Notes
Stabbing, familicide. Five people were fatally stabbed or bashed in a house in the suburb of Bedford near Perth. The victims were two adult women, one three year old girl, and two girls aged 18 months. In April 2019, 25-year-old Anthony Harvey pleaded guilty to murdering his five family members. Should not be confused with the 1879 Cape Bedford Massacre against aboriginal people.
2019 Darwin shooting
2019 Darwin shooting
Incident
2019 Darwin shooting
Year
4 June 2019
Location
Darwin, Northern Territory
Deaths
4
Injuries
1
Notes
Spree shooting. Four people were killed and one person suffered a critical leg injury in a mass shooting allegedly carried out with a prohibited pump-action (Category C) shotgun. The shooter, 45-year-old Benjamin Glenn Hoffman, was charged with four counts of murder and later pleaded guilty to three counts. The shooter had been released from prison on parole in January 2019 and was wearing a GPS-tracked electronic monitoring bracelet at the time of the offence.
Camp Hill carjacking
Camp Hill carjacking
Incident
Camp Hill carjacking
Year
19 February 2020
Location
Camp Hill, Queensland
Deaths
4 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
0
Notes
Domestic violence incident. Rowan Baxter set fire to his estranged wife's car, killing all four occupants, before committing suicide at the scene.
2024 Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings
2024 Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings
Incident
2024 Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings
Year
13 April 2024
Location
Bondi Junction, New South Wales
Deaths
6 (plus perpetrator)
Injuries
12 hospitalised
Notes
Mass stabbing. Joel Cauchi entered Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre where he stabbed multiple people before being shot by police. Five victims, four women and one man, died at the scene, while a sixth victim, a woman, died in hospital. The injured victims include a young child, whose mother was the sixth victim.
2025 Bondi Beach shooting
2025 Bondi Beach shooting
Incident
2025 Bondi Beach shooting
Year
14 December 2025
Location
Bondi Beach, New South Wales
Deaths
15 (plus 1 perpetrator)
Injuries
42 (plus 1 perpetrator)
Notes
Mass shooting incident. Occurred at Bondi Beach in Sydney during a Hanukkah celebration. According to New South Wales Police 15 people were killed, and 40 were wounded. One of the perpetrators was killed in a shootout with police, while the other was injured and arrested.
| Incident | Year | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Notes |
| Batavia massacre | 1629 | Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia | 110+ | unknown | Massacre of survivors after the sinking of Dutch merchant ship Batavia following a mutiny. |
| Shipwreck survivors of the Maria massacred | 1840 | Coorong, South Australia | 25 | 0 | Ship travelling from Port Adelaide to Hobart was shipwrecked on the SE coast of South Australia, with all surviving the wreck. The survivors were being guided to safety by the local Narrindjeri people, but were massacred by them. |
| Cullin-la-ringo massacre | 17 October 1861 | Central Queensland | 19 | 0 | Massacre of newly arrived white settlers by Indigenous Australians. |
| Response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre | October 1861 | Central Queensland | 60-70~ | unknown | In response to the Cullin-la-ringo massacre, "sixty or seventy" Aboriginals were massacred by a vigilante party of eleven heavily armed white settlers accompanied by two Aboriginal trackers. |
| Cavanagh murders | 11 October 1896 | Peterborough, South Australia | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Joseph Thyer, a sheep farmer, murdered his wife and five children before hanging himself. |
| Murder of the Glover family | 1 March 1898 | Triabunna, Tasmania | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | A mother murdered her six children and then committed suicide. |
| Breelong murders | July 1900 | Breelong, New South Wales | 9 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Jimmy Governor and Jack Underwood murdered four members of the Mawbrey family and a school-teacher at Breelong near Gilgandra. Underwood was captured soon afterwards, but the Governor brothers took to the bush. During the period they were at large, ranging over a large area of north-central New South Wales, the brothers committed further murders and multiple robberies. |
| Bradshaw massacre | 26 November 1905 (approx) | Victoria River, Northern Territory | 7 | 0 | Four white men and three Aboriginal boys massacred with tomahawks by Aboriginal prisoners being transported by boat to Palmerston to stand trial for the earlier murder of two white men. One Aboriginal boy survived and reported the incident. |
| Ching family murders | 16 November 1911 | Alligator Creek, Mackay, Queensland | 6 | 0 | George David Silva murdered six members of the Ching family by shooting and bashing. Silva was hanged at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane on 10 June 1912. |
| Battle of Broken Hill | 1 January 1915 | Broken Hill, New South Wales | 4 (plus 2 perpetrators) | 7 | Spree shooting by two Ghans gunmen |
| Botanic garden massacre | 1924 | Melbourne | 4 (plus perpetrator) | 2 | Mass shooting; perpetrator committed suicide. |
| Murder of the Archur family | 26 February 1929 | Devonport, Tasmania | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Andrew Thomas Edgar Archur murdered his five children and his wife and then set fire to their house. He killed himself after the attack. |
| Murder of the Davies family | 21 August 1931 | Perth | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Roderick A. Davies, a 36-year-old carpenter, shot his wife and five children dead before taking his own life. |
| Boulder bombings | 1 February 1942 | Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia | 14 (plus perpetrator) | 15 | Bombing of a boarding house containing 30 people in Boulder, Western Australia by 45-year-old Pero Raecivich. |
| Glen Innes shooting | 2 July 1948 | Glen Innes, New South Wales | 6 | 0 | Frederick Charles Hall, a 48-year-old labourer shot his six children to death He was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. |
| Murder of the Armanasco family | 12 October 1950 | Collie, Western Australia | 6 | 0 | 40-year-old Raymond Armanasco killed his wife and five of his children in Collie near Perth. Armanasco was later sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. |
| Narella Street massacre | 18 February 1957 | Brisbane, Queensland | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 1 | Marian Ryszard Majka killed six and injured a baby in two houses on Narella Street in Brisbane before taking his own life. |
| Warwick Farm gassing | 5–6 May 1964 | Warwick Farm, New South Wales | 7 | 0 | An entire family was found gassed to death in their Warwick Farm home. The victims were Herbert Darnley, his wife, Joyce, and their five children. A note was found on the front door of the scene, indicating a murder-suicide, although no perpetrator was reported as identified. |
| Crawford family murders | 1 July 1970 | Glenroy, Victoria | 4 | 0 | Elmer Crawford electrocuted and bludgeoned his pregnant wife and three children at their home, before putting the bodies into his car and pushing the car over a cliff at Loch Ard Gorge. |
| Hope Forest shooting | 6 September 1971 | Hope Forest, South Australia | 10 | 0 | Rampage killing by Clifford Bartholomew, who shot dead ten members of his family. It is the deadliest familicide in Australian history. |
| Whiskey Au Go Go fire | 8 March 1973 | Fortitude Valley, Queensland | 15 | unknown | Arson attack that killed fifteen and injured many more at a nightclub. |
| Savoy Hotel fire | 5 December 1975 | Kings Cross, New South Wales | 15 | unknown | Reginald John Lyttle set fire to newspapers in a hotel. Fourteen died from carbon monoxide poisoning and one from burns as a result of the fire. |
| Connellan air disaster | 5 January 1977 | Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory | 4 (plus perpetrator) | 5 | Suicide attack on Alice Springs Airport. |
| Weir family massacre | 18 January 1977 | Echuca, Victoria | 5 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Roger Bruce Weir, 32, shot and killed his five children at their home in Echuca with a calibre single shot rifle before using the weapon to commit suicide. |
| Campsie murders | 24 September 1981 | Campsie, New South Wales | 5 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Rampage killing by Fouad Daoud, who shot dead five members of his family before killing himself. |
| Inland Motel murders | 18 August 1983 | Uluru, Northern Territory | 5 | 16 | Vehicular attack by Douglas Crabbe, who drove a truck into the bar of the Inland Motel after being refused service. |
| Wahroonga murders | 1 June 1984 | Wahroonga, New South Wales | 5 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Rampage killing by John Brandon, who shot dead five members of his family before killing himself. |
| Milperra massacre | 2 September 1984 | Milperra, New South Wales | 7 | 28 | Shootout between two rival motorcycle gangs. One bystander was among those killed in the incident. |
| Pymble shooting | 23 January 1987 | Pymble, New South Wales | 4 | 0 | Richard Maddrell went to the family home of his former girlfriend, shot her and three others. |
| Top End shootings | June 1987 | Top End, Northern Territory | 5 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Spree killing by Joseph Schwab over a five-day period. Shot dead by police. |
| Hoddle Street massacre | 9 August 1987 | Clifton Hill, Victoria | 7 | 19 | A spree shooting by Julian Knight. |
| Huynh family murders | 10 October 1987 | Canley Vale, New South Wales | 5 | 0 | Rampage killing by John Tran, who shot dead five members of a family. |
| Queen Street massacre | 8 December 1987 | Melbourne | 8 (plus perpetrator) | 5 | A spree shooting/murder–suicide by Frank Vitkovic. |
| Oenpelli shootings | 25 September 1988 | Gunbalanya, Northern Territory | 5 | 0 | Rampage killing by Dennis Rostron, shooting five members of his family at Molgawo, a remote Arnhem Land outstation near Gunbalanya (formerly known as Oenpelli). |
| Surry Hills shootings | 30 August 1990 | Surry Hills, New South Wales | 5 | 7 | A spree shooting by Paul Anthony Evers who killed five people and injured seven with a 12 gauge pump-action shotgun at a public housing precinct in Surry Hills before surrendering to police. |
| Strathfield massacre | 17 August 1991 | Strathfield, New South Wales | 7 (plus perpetrator) | 6 | A spree shooting/murder–suicide by Wade Frankum. |
| Central Coast massacre | 27 October 1992 | Terrigal, New South Wales | 6 | 1 | A spree shooting by Malcolm George Baker. |
| Greenough Family Massacre | 21 February 1993 | Greenough, Western Australia | 4 | 0 | William Mitchell murdered and sexually assaulted Karen MacKenzie, also murdering her three children with an axe at their remote rural property in Greenough, Western Australia. Mitchell was later convicted of the massacre and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years and has been denied parole in 2013 and 2016, and in 2019 was banned from applying for parole for six years. |
| 1993 Cangai siege | March 1993 | Cangai, New South Wales | 5 | 0 | Leonard Leabeater, Robert Steele and Raymond Bassett went on a nine-day rampage resulting in their taking hostages in a siege in a farmhouse at Hanging Rock Station in Cangai. |
| Wollongong Knife Murders | 1994 | Wollongong, New South Wales | 4 | 0 | Ljube Velevski, used a knife to kill his wife and three children in their Berkeley home near Wollongong in 1994. |
| Hillcrest murders | 25 January 1996 | Hillcrest, Queensland | 6 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Mass shooting. Peter May shot dead six members of his family before killing himself. |
| Port Arthur massacre | 28 April 1996 | Port Arthur, Tasmania | 35 | 24 | A spree shooting by Martin Bryant. The deadliest mass shooting in Australia. Led to the National Firearms Agreement between Australia's states, territories and federal government, mandating licenses and registration for gun owners and users, and banning semi-automatic long guns in most cases. See Gun laws in Australia. |
| Shoobridge family murders | 28 June 1997 | Richmond, Tasmania | 4 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Peter Shoobridge cut the throats of his four daughters whilst they slept then took his own life with a rifle after cutting off one of his hands with an axe. |
| Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire | 23 June 2000 | Childers, Queensland | 15 | unknown | Arson attack by Robert Paul Long, which killed fifteen international backpackers. |
| Churchill Fire | 7 February 2009 | Churchill, Victoria | 10 | unknown | Arson attack by Brendan Sokaluk that killed ten people, during the Black Saturday bushfires period. |
| Lin family murders | 18 July 2009 | North Epping, New South Wales | 5 | unknown | Blunt instrument attack that killed five members of the Lin family. |
| Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire | 18 November 2011 | Quakers Hill, New South Wales | 11 | unknown | Arson attack by Roger Kingsley Dean, a nurse, which killed eleven people. |
| Hunt family murders | 9 September 2014 | Lockhart, New South Wales | 4 (plus perpetrator) | 0 | Murder–suicide, mass shooting, familicide. Geoff Hunt killed his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself. |
| Cairns child killings | 19 December 2014 | Cairns, Queensland | 8 | 1 (self-inflicted by suspect) | Stabbing attack and Familicide. Eight children aged 18 months to 15 years killed. Thirty-seven-year-old woman also found injured. The woman, Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday, was later charged with the murder of the children, seven of whom were hers, plus her niece. |
References
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