Australian disasters

Historical disaster events that have affected Australia

As the current caretaker, the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience continues to maintain the collection; additional records are added annually for contemporary events in the preceding year. Submissions are encouraged via our contribution process to augment existing records in accordance with the Knowledge Hub content guidelines. 

Important: Click here to go to the ABC Emergency website for information on current emergencies.

The Disaster Mapper provides information on historical Australian disasters. It is not an exhaustive or definitive record. Additional information about disaster impacts is also available from other organisations. 

The information behind the Disaster Mapper is available as a downloadable data set. Download here. 

Note: AIDR takes no responsibility for the quality of external products or services, or any fees they may attract. External organisations are listed for information only. 

Major Incidents Report

Overview of major incidents that have involved the fire and emergency services sector each financial year.

Explore disaster data and statistics

Disaster Inquiries Database

Explore 130 years of data and recommendations from royal commissions, parliamentary inquiries and independent reviews in an interactive database.

Data Hub | Insurance Council of Australia 

A collection of current and historical insurance information for catastrophes dating back to 1967. Download 'Historical Catastrophe Data' under useful links. 

National Coronial Information System

The National Coronial Information System (NCIS) is a data repository containing information about deaths reported to a Coroner in Australia and New Zealand.

Major Incidents Report

A yearly overview of significant incidents that have been of impact or consequence for fire and emergency services, as identified by the sector.

Risk Frontiers

Risk Frontiers is a provider of risk management and catastrophe modelling solutions and maintains PerilAUS, a database of impacts and consequences of natural hazards in Australia.