List of massacres in Australia

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This is a list of massacres and mass murders that have occurred in Australia and its predecessors (numbers may be approximate).

Many massacres not listed here may instead be found in the list of massacres of indigenous Australians.

For attacks that injured many people but didn't kill very many people, see below.

Massacres

Name	Date	Location	Deaths	Non-fatal 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.
Cape Grim massacre	10 February 1828	Cape Grim, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)	30	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians by four shepherds.
Convincing Ground massacre	1833–1834	Portland, Victoria	60–200	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians after a heated dispute between whalers and Aboriginal tribes.
Pinjarra massacre	28 October 1834	Pinjarra, Western Australia	14–40		Massacre by British colonists led by Governor Stirling against the Pinjarup people.
Waterloo Creek massacre/Slaughterhouse Creek massacre	January 1838	Waterloo Creek, New South Wales	40–70	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians as part of a clash between mounted police and Indigenous Australians.
Myall Creek massacre	10 June 1838	Myall Creek, New South Wales	27-30	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians. The attack was racially motivated, and subsequently the colonists who carried out the attack were hanged.
Murdering Gully massacre	1839	Mount Emu Creek, near Camperdown, Victoria	35–40	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians undertaken by Frederick Taylor apparently in retaliation to Aborigines having killed the colonists' sheep.
Campaspe Plains massacre	June 1839	Campaspe Creek, Central Victoria	up to 40	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians led by commander Charles Hutton as a reprisal raid against Aboriginal resistance to the invasion and occupation of their lands.
Shipwreck survivors of the Maria massacred	1840	Coorong, South Australia	25		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.
Fighting Hills massacre	1840	Wando Vale, Victoria	40 - 80	Unknown	Massacre of indigenous Australians led by the Whyte brothers and servants of Victoria's western district.
Fighting Waterholes massacre	1840	Coleraine, Victoria	up to 60	Unknown	Second massacre of indigenous Australians by the Whyte brothers and servants of Victoria's western district.
Gippsland massacres	1840–1850	Gippsland, Victoria	300-1000	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians, combined with the introduction of diseases by the British Colonists which also contributed to the heavy losses of the Aborigines. The technical superiority of the Europeans' weapons gave the Europeans an absolute advantage over the Aborigines and, as a result, very few white settlers died during the course of the massacres.
Hospital Creek Massacre	1859	Brewarrina, New South Wales	300-400	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians. A stockman at Walcha Hut on the Lawson run was warned by Aborigines to release an Aboriginal woman. He refused, and both he and the woman were killed. In retaliation, the settlers shot a large number of Aboriginal men, women and children in what became known as the Hospital Creek Massacre.
Cullin-la-ringo massacre	17 October 1861	Central Queensland	19	0	Massacre of newly-arrived white settlers by Indigenous Australians. In response, "sixty or seventy" Aborigines were massacred by a vigilante party of eleven heavily armed white settlers accompanied by two Aboriginal trackers.
Flying Foam massacre	February–May 1868	Flying Foam Passage, WA	20–150	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians after a series of confrontations between white settlers and Aboriginal people near the Flying Foam Passage.
Unnamed	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	7	Spree shooting by two Ghans gunmen - Terror attack - by modern definition.
Mowla Bluff massacre	1916	Kimberley, Western Australia	Up to 12	0	Massacre of Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal Men, women and children were rounded up and subsequently shot and their bodies burned.
Botanic garden massacre	1924	Melbourne, Victoria	4	?	Mass shooting
Forrest River massacre	May–July 1926	Kimberley Region of Western Australia	11	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians by law enforcement.
Coniston massacre	14 August – 18 October 1928	Coniston cattle station	60–170	Unknown	Massacre led by Northern Territory police constable William George Murray. The last known officially sanctioned massacre of Indigenous Australians.
Boulder & Kalgoorlie bombings	1 February 1942	Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia	14	15	Bombing of a boarding house containing 30 people in Boulder, Western Australia.
Narella Street massacre	18 February 1957	Brisbane, Queensland	6	1	Marian Ryszard Majka killed 6 & injured a baby in two houses on Narella Street in Brisbane before taking his own life.
Hope Forest massacre	6 September 1971	Hope Forest, South Australia	10	0	Rampage killing by Clifford Bartholomew, who shot dead ten members of his family.
Whiskey Au Go Go fire	8 March 1973	Fortitude Valley, Queensland	15	Unknown	Arson attack that killed 15 people and injured many more at a nightclub.
Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing	13 February 1978	Sydney, New South Wales	5	11	Terrorism, bomb attack on hotel where world leaders were staying. 2 garbage collectors and 1 police officer died.
Campsie murders	24 September 1981	Campsie, New South Wales	5	0	Rampage killing by Fouad Daoud, who shot dead five members of his family before killing himself.
Party Shooting Spree	18 April 1982	Canley Heights, New South Wales	2	8	Peter Sinfield, his brother Derek Sinfield along with friend Adrian John Mills, armed variously but Peter Sinfield with a rifle, gatecrashed a party and fired several shots that killed two people and severely wounding eight others.
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	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		Richard Maddrell went to the family home of his former girlfriend, shot her and 3 others.
Top End Shootings	June 1987	Top End, Northern Territory	5		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.
Canley Vale Huynh family murders	10 October 1987	Canley Vale, New South Wales	5		Rampage killing by John Tran, who shot dead five members of a family.
Queen Street massacre	8 December 1987	Melbourne, Victoria	8	5	A spree shooting/murder–suicide by Frank Vitkovic.
Oenpelli shootings	25 September 1988	Oenpelli, Northern Territory	5	0	Rampage killing by Dennis Rostron, shooting five members of his family at a remote Arnhem Land outstation in 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	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 Patrick Mitchell (Bill Mitchell) murdered Karen MacKenzie and her three children with an axe at their remote rural property in Greenough, Western Australia.
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.
Hillcrest murders	25 January 1996	Hillcrest, Queensland	6	0	Murder-suicide Mass shooting familicide. 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.
Murder suicide	28 June 1997	Richmond, Tasmania	5		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.
Wright St Bikie murders	8 October 1999	Adelaide, Australia	3	2	Hell's Angels feud (mass shooting).
Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire	23 June 2000	Childers, Queensland	15	unknown	Arson attack by Robert Paul Long, which killed 15 international backpackers.
North Ryde triple murder	10 July 2001	North Ryde, New South Wales	3		Sef Gonzales killed both parents and sister by bashing, strangling and stabbing.
Monash University shooting	21 October 2002	Melbourne, Victoria	2	5	Mass shooting attack by Huan Yun "Allen" Xiang. Perpetrator was acquitted due to mental illness, is in permanent psychiatric care.
Singh family murders	22 April 2003	Brisbane, Australia	3		Triple homicide of Singh siblings by the eldest sisters boyfirend, Max Sica.
Poulson family murders	15 September 2003	Wilberforce, New South Wales	4		Four-year-old Marilyn, one-year-old Sebastian and their grandfather Peter were murdered by Phitack Kongsom, who then killed himself.
Oakhampton Heights Shooting	20 March 2005	Hunter Valley, New South Wales	4		Mass shooting attack and familicide. Sally Winter uses a firearm to kill her husband, two children, and herself.
Winchelsea drowning	4 September 2005	Winchelsea, Victoria	3		Robert Farquharson deliberately drove his car into a dam drowning his three sons.
Annerley arson	February 2006	Annerley, Queensland	3		Errol Graham Hayes set fire to the Annerley home shared by former lawyer Theresa Marchetti, their son Joshua and her then partner Mark Christensen killing all three.
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.
2011 Hectorville siege	29 April 2011	Hectorville, South Australia	3	3	Siege shotgun attack where Anthony Carbo murdered three people and injured three more including two police officers.
Quakers Hill nursing home fire	18 November 2011	Sydney, New South Wales	11		Arson attack by Roger Kingsley Dean, a nurse, which killed 11 people.
Rozelle fire murders	4 September 2014	Rozelle, New South Wales	3	2	Arson murder by Adeel Khan which killed three and injured another two.
Hunt family murders	9 September 2014	Lockhart, New South Wales	5	0	Murder-suicide, mass shooting, familicide. Geoff Hunt killed his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself.
Wedderburn shooting	23 October 2014	Wedderburn, Victoria	3	0	Mass shooting, stabbing, siege. Ian Francis Jamieson who shot a husband and wife, after stabbing their son to death then initiated a siege.
2015 Parramatta shooting	2 October 2015	New South Wales	2
2014 Sydney hostage crisis	15–16 December 2014	Sydney, New South Wales	3	1	Siege. A lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage twenty customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place for 16 hours. The NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit shot Monis dead, after he executed a hostage. In the exchange, one person was hit by police bullet fragments, causing accidental death.
Cairns child killings	19 December 2014	Cairns, Queensland	8	1 (self-inflicted by perpetrator)	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.
Port Lincoln murders	4 January 2016	South Australia	3	0	Murder-suicide, familicide. Father shot his two sons, then himself, while driving car into the sea.
Northern Sydney gassing	17 October 2016	Davidson, New South Wales	4		Murder-suicide, familicide. Fernando Manrique used carbon monoxide gas to kill himself, his wife and their two children.
January 2017 Melbourne car attack	20 January 2017	Melbourne, Victoria	6	27	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 only killed one person.
2017 Footscray arson attack	March 2017	Footscray, Victoria	3		Arson attack. Darren Patrick Glover murdered three people by setting fire to a disused factory in Footscray. He killed his former partner Tanya Burmeister, 32, her boyfriend David Griffiths, 39, and Ms Burmeister's 15-year-old daughter Zoe, who were squatting in the old Kinnears rope factory in March 2017.
2017 Brighton siege	5 June 2017	Brighton, Melbourne	2	3	Siege, shooting, lone wolf terrorist attack
Osmington shooting	11 May 2018	Osmington, Western Australia	7	0	Murder-suicide, mass shooting, familicide. A grandfather shot his four grandchildren at their home, his daughter, his wife, and then himself.
Ellenbrook murders	15 July 2018	Ellenbrook, Western Australia	3		Murder of a mother, son and daughter allegedly by Teancum Vernon Petersen-Crofts who was remanded to secure Frankland Centre unit at Graylands Hospital.
September 2018 Bedford massacre	9 September 2018	Bedford, Western Australia	5	0	Stabbing, familicide. Five people were fatally stabbed or bashed in a house in the suburb of Bedford near Perth. The victims were two women, one girl aged 3, and two girls aged 18 months. In April 2019, 25-year-old Anthony Harvey pled guilty to murdering his 5 family members. Should not be confused with the 1879 Cape Bedford Massacre against aboriginal people.
2018 Melbourne stabbing attack	9 November 2018	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Australia	2	2	Stabbing
Melbourne triple shooting	1 March 2019	Melbourne	1	2	Mass shooting. 3 men were shot outside the Melbourne Pavilion in Kensington. As of May 2019, 3 men were arrested in connection with the incident.
2019 Darwin shooting	4 June 2019	Darwin, Northern Territory	4	1	Spree shooting. Four people were killed and one person was critically injured in the leg in a mass shooting allegedly carried out with a prohibited pump-action (Category C) shotgun. The alleged shooter, 45-year-old Benjamin Glenn Hoffman, has been charged with four counts of murder. The alleged shooter had been released from prison on parole in January 2019 and was wearing a GPS-tracked electronic monitoring bracelet as a condition of his parole.
Melbourne nightclub shooting	14 April 2019	Melbourne	2	4	Drive-by shooting. A man sprayed bullets from a car outside Love Machine nightclub. One man arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact.
2019 Sydney stabbing	13 August 2019	Sydney	1	1	Stabbing.

Largest massacres

Name	Date	Location	Deaths	Non-fatal 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.
Convincing Ground massacre	1833–34	Portland, Victoria	60–200	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians after a heated dispute between whalers and Aboriginal tribes.
Pinjarra massacre	28 October 1834	Pinjarra, Western Australia	14–40		Massacre by British colonists led by Governor Stirling against the Pinjarup people.
Port Arthur massacre	28 April 1996	Port Arthur, Tasmania	35	24	A spree shooting by Martin Bryant.
Cape Grim massacre	10 February 1828	Cape Grim, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)	30	Unknown	Massacre of Indigenous Australians by four shepherds.

Attacks causing many injuries but few deaths

Mass violent attacks which caused many injuries but few deaths.

• Sydney Yugoslav General Trade and Tourist Agency bombing - in 1972, 16 people were wounded by a bomb planted at Yugoslav tourism agencies. Nobody was killed.
• Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing - in 1978, a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, injuring 11 people and killing 3.
• Russell Street bombing – in 1986, 23 people were wounded when a car bomb ignited outside a Police Building. One of the wounded, a female police officer, died later of injuries from the explosion.
• 2007 Melbourne CBD shootings - in 2007, a Hell's Angels member shot 3 people, 1 of whom died.
• December 2017 Melbourne car attack - in December 2017, a man drove a car into pedestrians, injuring 18 people (including himself) and killing 1. Should not be confused with the January 2017 Melbourne car attack.

Murders over an extended period of time

Main articles: List of serial killers by country § Australia, List of Australian criminals § Serial killers, and Timeline of major crimes in Australia

See also

Indigenous massacres and conflicts:

• List of massacres of Indigenous Australians
• Australian frontier wars

Terrorism:

• Terrorism in Australia
• List of terrorist incidents in Australia

Crime:

• Crime in Australia
• List of Australian criminals
• Timeline of major crimes in Australia