Gary,
While Alison overstates the case about our creepy-crawlies, if you look hard enough in any backyard in Sydney you'll find a few redback spiders which are closely related to the black widow. They are very timid and there is an antivenom. No-one has died from a redback bite since 1956. A much more aggressive spider is the Sydney funnelweb. They are sometimes found in backyard pools & seem to live under water for many hours. They have also been known to come inside & get in people's shoes. They probably have the nastiest venom of any spider in the world. Fortunately there is now an antivenom. Bites are pretty rare & no-one has died for a few years now (that I know of).

Our bush also has its fair share of poisonous snakes, some pretty nasty, but if you walk noisily through the bush you'll never see one. A bloke was killed by a tiger snake a few years ago in the area where I go camping, but he was pretty silly - walking barefoot in the bush on his own.

The blue ringed octopus is sometimes a problem on our beaches, they can finish you off in minutes but I heard of a fatality for years.

OK this sounds bad but it's not really - you're more likely to be struck by lightening.

Cheers,
Alan