Horrifying tourist attacks in Australia

(Corrects information in last entry about English woman)

Australia is a magnet for young backpackers and tourists, but for some the dream of sun and sand has turned into a nightmare.

IVAN MILAT

The bodies of seven people, including five backpackers, are found in the Belanglo State Forest in NSW in 1992 and 1993.

Serial killer Ivan Milat is arrested over the murders, which took place between December 1989 and April 1992, and convicted in 1996.

MICHIKO OKUYAMA

Japanese tourist Michiko Okuyama, 22, drowns in her own blood inside a sound-proof vault at a disused Cairns warehouse in September, 1997. Her head was repeatedly slammed into a wall as she was held captive.

The 16-year-old boy who murdered her uses a wheelie bin to cart her body through the city's streets before dumping it near a school. He is serving a life sentence.

PETER FALCONIO

British backpacker Peter Falconio is murdered on a remote stretch of highway in the Northern Territory in July 2001, while his partner Joanne Lees miraculously escapes.

Bradley John Murdoch is convicted over the murder in 2005.

SOPHIE COLLOMBET

The brutal slaying and rape of French student Sophie Collombet, whose naked body is found in an inner-city rotunda in Brisbane in March 2014.

Benjamin James Milward pleads guilty to the murder in October 2016.

SALT CREEK

Two female backpackers are attacked at a remote beach southeast of Adelaide in February 2016. A 60-year-old man is charged over the alleged sex attack at Salt Creek in the Coorong National Park.

The charges include attempted murder and indecent assault. He is due to face court in March 2017.

MIA AYLIFFE-CHUNG

British backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung is stabbed to death at a hostel in Home Hill south of Townsville in September, 2016.

Fellow backpacker Tom Jackson tries to save her life but dies from stab wounds in hospital days later.

Frenchman, 29-year-old Smail Ayad, is charged over the murders.

POLISH AU PAIR

A 24-year-old Polish au pair is brutally bashed and raped north of Brisbane in November, 2016.

She tragically passes away in a car accident in her homeland days before her alleged attacker, a 28-year-old man is charged over the attack.

QUEENSLAND ROAD TRIP

A young British backpacker is rescued after police pulled her over for driving off without paying for petrol at an outback Queensland town in March, 2017.

The woman tells police she's been held captive and repeatedly raped on a road trip through the state for approximately two weeks.

A 22-year-old man is facing more than 20 charges, including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault, four of strangulation, and two of deprivation of liberty.