I emigrated to Australia in 1968.
We did our bit capturing funnelwebs (Atrax Robustus) from our Sydney garden to be milked for venom.
"Oh, it still has all its legs!" I remember one biologist saying. Many who contributed were none too careful about what condition the arachnid was in when they were turned in.
The antivenom was finally completed in 1981, and since then, no deaths have been recorded from funnelweb bites.
Probably the most danger I was ever in was when snorkelling off the heads between Newport and Bungan beach, came up after a 1.5 minute stay at 5 metres, and heard sirens. Shark alarm. Then put my head underwater and saw a school of bull sharks heading my way. A lifesaver inflateable boat chased them off while I slowly swam back to shore, trying very hard not to splash around like an injured fish, and ready to punch one in the sensitive nose if it got too close.
The last encounter I had was about 3 weeks ago, cleaning a table from outside. A nest of redbacks. Chemical weapons were employed.
Since 1968, I've had maybe one encounter per year on average. One nasty spider bite (a bird eater, bled a lot), one experience sharing my trousers with a scorpion (not dangerous, just as painful as hornet stings) on an exercise. Numerous bullant stings when clearing out nests, no worse than bee stings. Front end bites and draws blood, rear end stings like a wasp - which they are ancestral to.
The US has bears, gila monsters, mountain lions, alligators, porcupines, rattlesnakes etc too remember?