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Wollongong Landslides: Hazard Modelling and Risk Assessment

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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Landslide in Australia, for the most part, is not seen as a major threat to our urban communities. However, this general belief is far from the reality of the situation. Our history of landsliding is highlighted with devastating events such: Thredbo landslide, July 1997; 18 people killed Gracetown cliff collapse, September 1996; 9 people killed.

In Australia, there have been 37 recorded fatal landslides since 1842, which have been responsible for the deaths of 83 people. It is almost certain that these statistics are incomplete and that the number of fatalities is much higher. The city of Wollongong is on Australia's east coast, approximately 80 km south of Sydney. Today, Wollongong has one of the highest population growth rates in NSW. Since 1887, 478 landslides have been recorded at Wollongong, at least two people have been killed, more than 200 buildings destroyed or damaged and there is constant disruption to infrastructure and services. It is estimated that between 1989 and 1996, the cost of landsliding to railway infrastructure alone in Wollongong was A$25 million annually. Extensive areas of the Wollongong hinterland are prone to landsliding from heavy rainfall events, as demonstrated by the August 1998 storms. During this event, 148 landslides were reported and access to the city was cut by landslides and floodwaters for up to 24 hours. It is estimated that up to A$100 million dollars damage resulted.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Wollongong Landslides: Hazard Modelling and Risk Assessment
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/44f2591f-def7-47a0-8dbf-30010ba9d9db
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage Australia
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Wollongong Landslides: Hazard Modelling and Risk Assessment". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/wollongong-landslides-hazard-modelling-and-risk-assessment