Reef Tour Operator Fined After Fatal Incident on Great Barrier Reef

A Queensland-based reef tourism operator has been penalised following the death of a snorkeller during a 2022 Great Barrier Reef tour. According to ABC News, Hostel Reef Trips Pty Ltd accepted responsibility for a breach of workplace safety requirements and was ordered to pay AUD 60,000 plus court costs.

Incident Overview

In October 2022, a 25-year-old British tourist went missing during a snorkelling excursion at Saxon Reef, located northeast of Cairns. The tour had included an introductory dive before participants moved on to snorkelling in an area monitored by staff.

When the snorkeller failed to return with the group, his fellow tourists alerted crew members multiple times. However, no search was launched immediately, and it was later established that the missing person had been found floating nearby by another vessel. Authorities determined that the cause of death was natural.

Legal Findings & Penalty

Hostel Reef Trips pleaded guilty to a category-2 violation under workplace health and safety legislation, specifically relating to its failure to initiate a search immediately after the person was reported missing. The prosecution clarified that the charge did not assert that the company caused the death itself.

The court accepted that the operator had since updated its safety procedures to include clearer triggers for initiating a search for missing snorkellers. The $60,000 fine was imposed primarily as a general deterrent to other operators in the reef tourism sector; additional costs of around $1,500 and court fees were also ordered.