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These chronological lists of school shootings in Australia that occurred at primary/secondary public and private schools, as well as at colleges and universities, and on school buses. The list does not include other methods of attack, such as stabbings or beatings with a blunt instrument. Excluded from this list are the following:
18 incidents.
| Date | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Total | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 March 1924 | Hurstville, New South Wales | 0 | 1 | 1 | A 13-year-old brought a gun to school from his home and was showing it to 14-year-old James Eldridge when the gun discharged, seriously wounding Eldridge. [1] |
| 18 July 1930 | Nailsworth, South Australia | 2 [n 1] | 4 | 6 | After four convicts escaped Yatala Labour Prison, they were pursued by police in a running gunfight and eventually crashed opposite the Nailsworth School. Shots were fired between the prisoners and police in the schoolyard. In total, two perpetrators were killed and two officers and two civilians were wounded. [2] [3] |
| 19 November 1931 | Longwarry, Victoria | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8-year-old Clarence Budick was accidentally shot dead by another student who had found a loaded gun at North Longwarry State School. [4] |
| 23 September 1943 | Newtown, New South Wales | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11-year-old Desmond Hoddle was accidentally shot dead at the Newtown State School. [5] |
| 18 October 1945 | Manly, New South Wales | 1 | 0 | 1 | Manly Junior High School student Robert James Alder accidentally shot 14-year-old Colin Boyd to death inside a classroom. [6] |
| 11 April 1946 | Sydney, New South Wales | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14-year-old Graham Winslow was shot in the groin in a classroom at Naremburn Intermediate High School. [7] |
| 27 February 1948 | Gosford, New South Wales | 0 | 1 | 1 | A 13-year-old accidentally shot himself on the grounds of Gosford Primary School. [8] |
| 31 August 1949 | Tardun, Western Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13-year-old Charlie Joseph was accidentally shot at school. [9] |
| 16 September 1949 | Parkside, South Australia | 0 | 2 | 2 | A 10-year-old accidentally discharged a gun at Parkside School, wounding himself and a classmate. [10] |
| 14 September 1951 | Shepparton, Victoria | 0 | 0 | 0 | A person fired a shot into a classroom at Shepparton High School, narrowly missing a teacher. [11] |
| 11 September 1952 | near Barnes, New South Wales | 0 | 1 | 1 | A 19-year-old male fired a shot into a school bus from a passing truck, grazing a girl. [12] |
| 6 October 1954 | Enmore, New South Wales | 1 [n 2] | 1 | 2 | A man shot and wounded his wife before fatally shooting himself in the music room of Enmore Public School. [13] [14] |
| 26 June 1956 | Hobart, Tasmania | 1 | 1 | 2 | Someone fired a rifle at students in the schoolyard of Bothwell Area School, killing 8-year-old Frances Gladys Mann and wounding another student. [15] |
| 20 September 1960 | Dandenong, Victoria | 0 | 0 | 0 | A 19-year-old man broke into Dandenong High School and barricaded himself in a classroom while firing shots during a three-hour standoff with police. The shooter's girlfriend eventually convinced him to surrender his weapon, and he was arrested. [16] |
| 5 July 1967 | Nudgee, Queensland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17-year-old John Francis Treacy was killed by a man at St Joseph's College, Nudgee. The shooter surrendered the following day. [17] |
| 20 March 1968 | Campbelltown, New South Wales | 0 | 1 | 1 | A 14-year-old boy shot and wounded another student outside Campbelltown High School. [18] |
| 19 June 1991 | Coffs Harbour, New South Wales | 0 | 3 | 3 | A Orara High School student fired a rifle at people on a sports field, wounding two teachers and a 12-year-old before being subdued by other students and arrested. [19] |
| 3 August 1999 | Melbourne, Victoria | 1 | 1 | 2 | A 38-year-old man opened fire at a bar on the campus of La Trobe University, killing a man and wounding another person before being subdued and arrested. [20] |
5 incidents.
| Date | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Total | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 October 2002 | Melbourne, Victoria | 2 | 5 | 7 | Monash University shooting: A graduate student at Monash University opened fire in a classroom, killing two students and wounding four students and a lecturer before he was tackled and disarmed. [21] |
| 18 October 2005 | Yiyili Community, Western Australia | 2 [n 2] | 0 | 2 | A 19-year-old shot and killed a 35-year-old man at a school before killing himself. [22] |
| 7 May 2012 | Adelaide, South Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | A teenager took a revolver to Modbury High School and fired a shot, hitting no one. He and his father were arrested. [23] |
| 24 May 2023 | Two Rocks, Western Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | A 15-year-old student armed with two rifles fired three rounds at Atlantis Beach Baptist College, hitting nobody. Police arrested him at the scene. [24] |
| 30 May 2023 | Macquarie Fields, New South Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | A bullet struck a window of an occupied classroom at Macquarie Fields Public School. [25] |