Key Points
- The attacks in Bali on 12 October 2002 claimed the lives of 88 Australians.
- As the 20th anniversary is marked, this is a full list of the names of the people who died and the countries they were from.
It was a Saturday night just after 11pm when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb inside the busy nightclub Paddy's Bar, in Kuta on the island of Bali on 12 October 2002.
A second explosion followed, caused by a homemade bomb in a vehicle outside the Sari Club. About 10km away another bomb placed in front of the US consulate in Denpasar was detonated remotely.
People around the world were shocked by the brutal act in an area popular with tourists, and it re-shaped how some Australians felt about their safety at home and abroad.
A total of 202 people died in the attacks, including 88 Australians. It was the single largest loss of Australian life due to an act of terror.
Source: SBS News
"I'd already done September 11 the year before, among other things, so I kind of had some sense of what was to come, but it was pandemonium," he told SBS News.
He said one thing that made a difference was that it had become quite common for young travellers to carry mobile phones overseas.
"It was still new, but it was becoming increasingly common so we were dealing with a complete live-time situation," he said.
"We were dealing with a situation where these largely young people were literally ringing us amid the screaming, from the scene, not being able to find their sister, husband, brother - carnage all around - not knowing what to do.
Young people were literally ringing us amid the screaming, from the scene, not being able to find their sister, husband, brotherIan Kemish
"We had our consul trying to make sense of it and we had our vice-consul David spending the first couple of hours holding the hands of the dying, mopping the blood from the floor of the Bali International Medical Centre ... and passing his phone over so people could make their final calls to their families back in Australia before they die. That's the kind of night it was."
At least 66 seriously injured people were flown to Darwin for treatment, in the largest aero-medical evacuation since the Vietnam War, according to the National Museum of Australia.
Professor Kemish, who has written a book which detailis Australia's response to the bombings, said one thing many people didn't realise was that everyone injured in the attack was medically evacuated to Australia.
A tribute to the Australian victims of the Bali bombings, photographed in 2014. Source: Getty / Agung Parameswara
"I look back with a mixture of kind of great sadness about it all, but also some pride in what people did. Because, you know, Australia pulled off an amazing medical evacuation."
The attacks were carried out by terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, a southeast Asian group inspired by and linked to al-Qaeda. Three men linked to the group were later executed for the bombings.
Professor Kemish said the nightclubs in Bali were seen as a convenient, soft target frequented by a lot of Westerners, although there was debate over whether the attacks were directed at Australia or just the West in general.
Kuta Beach in Bali is a popular spot for tourists. Source: Getty / Matt Hunt/SOPA Images/LightRocket
But Professor Kemish noted that any question around whether Australia was seen as a target for Jemaah Islamiyah was removed when the group set off a bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta almost two years later.
He said al-Qaeda's founder Osama bin Laden had also made comments in November 2001 that referred to Australia as an enemy, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
More than 30 people were eventually arrested in connection with the Bali attacks. They included bomb maker Umar Patek, who was convicted in 2012 after years on the run. Although Patek was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Indonesia, in 2022 he was declared eligible for early release after receiving a second reduction to his jail time. Authorities said he had undergone a deradicalisation program while in prison. The decision .
The family of bombing victims pay their respects during the memorial service to mark the anniversary of the 2002 bombings at the Bomb Memorial at Kuta on 12 October 2005 in Kuta, Indonesia. Source: Getty / Jason Childs
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the decision would have a devastating impact on families.
"The Australian government will be conveying diplomatically very clearly our view of this."
On 28 September, Mr Albanese acknowledged the 20th anniversary of the bombings early with a motion in Parliament because the House of Representatives is not due to sit on 12 October.
Mr Albanese said the youngest Australian to die was just 13 years old, and they were one of four teenagers who were killed before they got to experience adulthood.
"We think of all the futures that were stolen that night," Mr Albanese said in parliament. "It was such a youthful crowd: young adults just starting out on the next stage of life's grand adventure, fiances about to know the happiness of marriage, couples about to know the joy of parenthood.
"We think of all the dreams that were never fulfilled: every life milestone that was never reached, never celebrated; every conversation never had; every moment of love never known."
We think of all the futures that were stolen that night. It was such a youthful crowd: young adults just starting out on the next stage of life's grand adventurePrime Minister Anthony Albanese
Mr Albanese said the anniversary would be a difficult day for many Australians, Indonesians and others around the world, and also recognised the bravery of first responders and others who assisted.
"What the architects of this slaughter achieved was to make us reflect on what we most truly value and to hold it more tightly than ever before. No terrorist can ever take this from us," Mr Albanese said.
After the bombings, a memorial to the victims was built on the site of Paddy's Bar, which has become the site of regular remembrance events.
A full list of the names of those who died, according to the memorial, is below:
AUSTRALIA: 88 DEAD
Gayle Airlie
Belinda Allen
Renae Anderson
Peter Basioli
Christina Betmilik
Matthew Bolwerk
Abbey Borgia
Debbie Borgia
Gerardine Buchan
Steve Buchan
Chloe Byron
Anthony Cachia
Rebecca Cartledge
Bronwyn Cartwright
Jodie Cearns
Jane Corteen
Jenny Corteen
Paul Cronin
Donna Croxford
Kristen Curnow
Francoise Dahan
Sylvia Dalais
Joshua Deegan
Andrew Dobson
Michelle Dunlop
Craig Dunn
Shane Foley
Dean Gallagher
Angela Golotta
Angela Gray
Byron Hancock
Simone Hanley
James Hardman
Billy Hardy
Nicole Harrison
Tim Hawkins
Andrea Hore
Adam Howard
Paul Hussey
Josh Iliffe
Carol Johnstone
David Kent
Dimmy Kotronakis
Elizabeth Kotronakis
Aaron Lee
Justin Lee
Stacey Lee
Danny Lewis
Scott Lysaght
Linda Makawana
Sue Maloney
Robert Marshall
David Mavroudis
Lynette McKeon
Marissa McKeon
Jenny Murphy
Amber O'Donnell
Jessica O'Donnell
Sue Ogier
Jodie O'Shea
Corey Paltridge
Charles van Renen
Brad Ridley
Ben Roberts
Bronwyn Ross
David Ross
Kathy Salvatori
Greg Sanderson
Cathy Seelin
Lee Sexton
Tom Singer
Anthony Stewart
Julie Stevenson
Jason Stokes
Behic Sumer
Nathan Swaine
Tracy Thomas
Clint Thompson
Robert Thwaites
Jonathan Wade
Vanessa Walder
Jodie Wallace
Shane Walsh-Till
Robyn Webster
Marlene Whiteley
Charmaine Whitton
Gerard Yeo
Luiza Zervos
INDONESIA: 38 DEAD
I Wayan Yustara
R Destria Bimo Adhi Wibowo
Ni Kadek Alit Margarini
Gusti Ayu Made Artini
Arsoyo Rahmat
I Made Wija
I Ketut Nana Wijaya
I Nyoman Mawa
Elly Susanti Suharto
I Wayan Sukadana
I Ketut Cindra
Ati Savitri
I Ketut Sumarawat
I Gede Badrawan
Hanny
I Made Wijaya
I Komang Candra
Tata Duka
Lilis Puspita
Jonathan Simanjuntak
I Made Mertana
I Made Sujana
Salwindar Singh
Juniardi
I Kadek Ngartina
I Wayan Tamba
Rudy Armansyah
Mochamad Khotib
Imawan Sardjono
Endang
Mugianto
Widayati
Faturrahman
Achmad Suharto
Arismanandar
Agus Suheri
Kadek Sukerna
I Kadek Beni Prima
UNITED KINGDOM: 23 DEAD
Timothy John Arnold
Neil Bowler
Daniel Braden
Christopher Bradford
Jonathon Ellwood
Lucy S.O. Empson
Ian Findley
Emma Louise Fox
Laura France
Marc Gajardo
Tom Holmes
Paul Martin Hussey
Christopher John Kays
Annika Kerstin Linden
Dan (Nathaniel) Miller
Natalie Perkins
Peter Record
Christian Redman
Stevie Speirs
Michael Standring
Ed Waller
Clive John Walton
Douglas Warner
UNITED STATES: 7 DEAD
Megan Eileen Heffernan
Deborah Lea Snodgrass
Karri Jane Casner
George Hamilton Milligan
Robert Alan McCormick II
Steven Brooks Webster
Jacob Cardwell Young
SWEDEN: 5 DEAD
Linda Cronqvist
Ulrika Gustafsson
Maria Johansson
Johanna Bergander
Carina Rafling
GERMANY: 6 DEAD
Marie Cecile Wendt
Angelika Helene Kohnke
Caludia Dietlinde Thiele
Bettina Christina Brandes
Alexandra Koppke
Udo Paul Hauke
FRANCE: 4 DEAD
Guillaume Breant
Lionel Erisey
Manuel Mordelet
Anthony Underwood
NETHERLANDS: 4 DEAD
Norbet Edgar Freriks
Sander Harskamp
Mark Antonio Schippers
Marjanne Van Lijen Noomen
DENMARK: 3 DEAD
Lise Tanghus Knudsen
Laerke Cecile Bodker
Anette Overgaard Jensen
SWITZERLAND: 3 DEAD
Serina Leish
Michale Pascal Dolf
Andrea Gian Rupp
BRAZIL: 2 DEAD
Alexandre Moraes Watake
Sargento Marco Antonio Farias
CANADA: 2 DEAD
Richard Gleason
Mervin Popadynec
JAPAN: 2 DEAD
Kosuke Suzuki
Yuka Suzuki
NEW ZEALAND: 2 DEAD
Mark Parker
Jamie Wellington
SOUTH AFRICA: 2 DEAD
Godfrey Fitz
Craig Russel Harty
SOUTH KOREA: 2 DEAD
Moon Eun-Young
Moon Eun-Jung
ECUADOR: 1 DEAD
Ana Cecilia Aviles
GREECE: 1 DEAD
Dimitris N Panagoulas
ITALY: 1 DEAD
Antonio Roberto Sbironi
POLAND: 1 DEAD
Daneta Beata Pawlak
PORTUGAL: 1 DEAD
Diogo Miguel dantas Riberinho
TAIWAN: 1 DEAD
Miss Hui-Min Kuo
