A new study has put to bed the notion that helmets can make cycling injuries worse or prevent people from riding, researchers say.

The University of NSW study presented to an injury prevention conference in Finland this week showed helmets reduced fatal head injuries by about 65 per cent.

Statistician Jake Olivier presented the findings and told 774 ABC Melbourne's Libbi Gorr the results were overwhelming.

"We collected data from 40 different studies using data from over 64,000 injured cyclists," he said.

"We found that helmet use was associated with about a 50 per cent reduction in head injuries of any severity, about a 70 per cent reduction in serious head injuries and those are usually skull fractures and inter-cranial injury or bleeding in the brain."

There was no association between helmet use and neck injuries, Dr Olivier said.

"Most specialists, we've known for a long time that bicycle helmets are effective. Usually the arguments against come from groups that are on the fringe."

Helmet laws 'don't stop people riding'

Australia and New Zealand are among the few countries in the world with mandatory helmet laws.

Austria has recently introduced mandatory helmet laws for children under 12 and had found there was a significant reduction in head injuries in that age group.

Helmets are not mandatory in many countries throughout Europe and Asia. ( Joe Castro: AAP )

But the weight of opposition against the laws meant the Austrian Government felt it could not enforce helmet wearing for adults.

Many who argue against the laws say helmets prevented people from cycling, particularly commuters.

Dr Olivier said there was no credence to the idea.

"We published a study right before this one in the Medical Journal of Australia where we looked back at some really good high-quality studies ... before and after helmet laws, and we found there was no change in the number of people cycling," he said.