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This page provides statistics on worker fatalities by the state or territory where the death occurred.

Both the number and rate of fatalities decreased in 2018 for all states and territories (based on the location where the fatality occurred), except for the Australian Capital Territory which remained steady at 1 fatality and a rate of 0.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Please note that worker fatalities which occurred in a state or territory may not fall within the jurisdictional responsibility of that state or territory (see Table 4 for a breakdown by jurisdiction).

Table 1: Worker fatalities: number by state/territory of death, 2017, 2018 and five year average (2014 to 2018)
State/Territory 2017 2018 5yr average (2014-2018)
New South Wales 61 47 56
Queensland 44 39 46
Victoria 36 32 37
Western Australia 21 13 24
South Australia 14 8 13
Northern Territory 7 3 4
Tasmania 5 1 5
Australian Capital Territory 1 1 1
Total 189 144 186

Table 2: Worker fatalities: fatality rate by state/territory of death, 2017, 18 and five year average (2014 to 2018)

Based on the location of where the fatality occurred, over the five years from 2014 to 2018, the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry accounted for the highest number of worker fatalities in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. The Transport, postal and warehousing industry accounted for the highest number of worker fatalities in the other states and territories.
State/Territory 2017 2018 5yr average (2014-2018)
New South Wales 1.6 1.2 1.5
Queensland 1.8 1.6 1.9
Victoria 1.1 1.0 1.2
Western Australia 1.8 1.6 1.9
South Australia 1.7 0.9 1.5
Northern Territory 5.1 2.2 3.0
Tasmania 2.0 0.4 2.2
Australian Capital Territory 0.4 0.4 0.3
Total 1.5 1.1 1.5

Table 3: Worker fatalities: number by state/territory of death and industries with the highest number of fatalities, 2014 to 2018 combined
Industry New South Wales Queensland Victoria Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Northern Territory National total* (2014-2018)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 61 61 63 23 16 8 5 237
Transport, postal and warehousing 67 57 38 30 20 6 8 226
Construction 58 36 33 18 9 1 .. 156
Manufacturing 24 14 6 11 1 3 .. 59
Mining 7 10 2 16 2 1 2 40
Arts and recreation services 7 12 5 4 2 .. 1 32
Administrative and support services 4 10 6 4 2 1 .. 27
Public administration and safety 9 4 4 4 3 1 1 26
Other services 4 5 3 5 3 1 .. 22
Electricity, gas, water & waste services 4 4 7 4 2 .. .. 21
All other industries 37 16 17 2 3 4 3 82
5 year total (2014–2018) 282 229 184 121 63 26 20 928

Note: The Australian Capital Territory was not included separately due to the low number of fatalities, however, the total includes the Australian Capital Territory.

Table 4: Worker fatalities: number by jurisdiction and public road status, 2018
Jurisdiction* Not on a public road On a public road Total
New South Wales 37 9 46
Queensland 27 11 38
Victoria 23 6 29
Western Australia 11 1 12
South Australia 6 1 7
Commonwealth .. 4 4
Northern Territory 2 .. 2
Australian Capital Territory 1 .. .1
Tasmania .. .. ..
Aircraft incidents** 5 .. 5
2018 total 112 32 144

* Jurisdictions may include a number of different regulatory authorities. 

** Worker fatalities involving aircraft incidents are not tabulated against jurisdictions.

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Last modified on Thursday 19 March 2020 [189|397]