Aussies face new camping ban at popular tourist spot over 'frightening' issue

The mayor of one of the country's most popular holiday hotspots for families is calling for a ban on children camping in certain sections of the island, after more than a dozen dingo attacks in 2024.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said it's just a matter of time until a child gets seriously injured or worse, as a result of an encounter with a dingo on K'gari, formerly known as Fraser Island. He said children under 12 should be banned from camping in unfenced areas for their own safety, after a four-year-old girl was mauled on the island just a week ago.

She suffered puncture wounds to her chest and was the 16th child under the age of 17 to be attacked by a dingo on the island this year alone. Seymour said the situation had become "frightening" for parents.

Mayor calls for change amid 'frightening' string of dingo attacks

Sometimes, it's simply unwitting tourists who make the mistake.

"This is getting to the stage where it is frightening, whether the next one will be a fatality or not," he told the ABC. "I just don't think that it is an appropriate place for children to be, given the number of attacks, the changing nature of attacks, and the potential for a fatality here."

• Tourist wakes to find 'curious' dingoes camped outside his tent on K'gari

• Dingo bites child on K'gari sparking warning to tourists to 'remain vigilant'

• Dingo's 'cat-and-mouse' attack on Aussie couple prompts urgent warning

Seymour called for families with children under 12 to be restricted to fenced-in zones of the island, writing to the state government in a formal submission to push the proposed rule change.

Queensland's Minister for the Environment Leanne Linard said "the risk is not isolated to camping areas", urging travellers to "remain vigilant on the island at all times."

K'gari is a world heritage-listed sand island along the south-eastern coast of Queensland, approximately 250km north of Brisbane. An estimated 400,000 people tour the island each year, with visitors to the Fraser Coast region spending $730 million in 2022-23, according to data from Queensland Tourism.

While dingoes, known by Indigenous Australians as Wongari, are synonymous with the island and a large part of the appeal among visitors, it's "not a fun experience" having to constantly keep a watchful eye on kids, Seymour argues.

Dingoes part of K'gari appeal, but it's 'not fun' worrying about kids

Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Science urged people on the island to report the dingo incidences to authorities as soon they occur.

"Wongari interaction reports from the public are important as they provide information to rangers about potential high-risk animals," the spokesperson previously said. "Rangers use the information to keep people safe by monitoring high-risk wongari and targeting specific areas to deliver 'Be Dingo-Safe!' messaging."

Seymour argues that he'd rather see families vacation elsewhere than risk their safety.

"When families go over there, they are told that they need to keep children within arm's length of them at all times — now, that doesn't make for a fun experience, either for the children or the parents," he said.

"If there is a reduction, and I think there needs to be a reduction, in the number of people camping [on K'gari], that is a good thing," he said. "My concern is for the safety of children and the preservation of wilderness."

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