Australia has pledged tangible action to protect humanitarian aid workers as those who dedicate themselves to helping people in war are killed in record numbers.

More than 380 humanitarian workers were killed in conflict zones in 2024, marking the deadliest year on record and a 31 per cent jump from the previous year, according to Aid Worker Security Database statistics released on Tuesday.

But there are dire warnings this could be surpassed in 2025 with more than 200 people killed.

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For Matthew Maury, this was more than just a tally as he reflected on the death of a former colleague during a wreath-laying ceremony in Canberra on World Humanitarian Day.

The Australian Council for International Development CEO reflected on his former colleague John Amahoro, who was killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when their convoy was ambushed by rebels.

“Without the efforts and sacrifices of humanitarian workers like John, the lives of civilians in conflicts and disaster zones would be far more precarious and life-threatening,” Maury said at the Australian Overseas Aid Volunteer Memorial.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is spearheading a pledge to protect humanitarian personnel after convening a ministerial group with several other nations at a United Nations conference in September 2024.

It will be launched on the margins of the United Nations meeting in New York during the final week of September, International Development Minister Anne Aly confirmed.

“The declaration will be an important demonstration of our collective commitment to upholding international humanitarian law,” she said.

“It will also include practical steps that will increase aid worker safety.”

The text hasn’t been released, but a spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Department told AAP it called for “political commitment at the highest possible level to protect aid workers and enable safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict zones”.

Gaza remains the deadliest place on earth for humanitarian workers and journalists, with at least 520 aid workers killed since the start of the conflict, according to data from the United Nations.

The highest numbers of deaths in 2024 were recorded in Gaza at 181, followed by 60 in Sudan.

Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six other World Central Kitchen workers were killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza in April 2024, which its defence force blamed on a mistake.