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14 November 2025 to 19 April 2026

There were 26 fatal drowning incidents from 14 November 2025 to 19 February 2026. 

• On average 32 fatal drownings have been recorded for this period each year over the past 5-years 2020 to 2025.
• On average 29 fatal drownings have been recorded for this period each year over the past 10-years 2015 to 2025.

Location: 35% occurred in coastal waterways, 38% in inland waterways, and 27% home/other.

Age: The average age was 45 years old.

Sex: Majority of cases were male.

1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026

There were 42 fatal drowning incidents from 1 July 2025 to 20 April 2026. 

• On average 48 fatal drownings have been recorded for this period each year over the past 5-years 2020 to 2025.
• On average 43 fatal drownings have been recorded for this period each year over the past 10-years 2015 to 2025.
• There were 42 fatal drownings recorded for the same period last year.

Of the 34 reported fatal drowning incidents:

Location: 33% occurred in inland waterways, 29% in coastal waterways, and 38% in home/other locations.

Age: The average age was 47 years old.

Sex: 81% male, 19% female.

Culturally and linguistically diverse communities: 26% involved people from multicultural backgrounds*.

* As per Australian Bureau of Statistics, indicators include: Country of birth, main language other than English spoken at home, proficiency in spoken English, and Indigenous status (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity; Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra, Australia, 1999).