Aust snake bite victims mostly men: study

Middle aged men die from snake bites more than any other group in Australia, a new report has found.

An audit of the National Coronial Information Service from the year 2000 to 2016 found 35 people died of snake bites, 23 of those killed by the brown snake.

The median age of people bitten was 46.5 and 75 per cent were men, the University of Melbourne study published in the Journal Toxicon says.

One fifth of fatal victims were also reported to have been bitten while trying to pick up a snake.

Researcher Dr Ronelle Welton said it was a misconception that most bites happened in rural areas.

"We found that nearly half the incidents occurred in an urban environment and more than half of the bites occurred in or near home," Dr Welton said on Wednesday.

Mortality rates, while low, have remained steady for over 30 years despite improved access to health care and contemporary clinical research, the study says.