Australia
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal parliamentary democracy
- CONSTITUTION
- July 9, 1900, in effect from January 1, 1901
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Senate and House of Representatives
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- High Court, judges appointed by the Governor-General High Court of Australia, each of the 6 states and 2 territories and Norfolk Island have a Supreme Court. The High Court is the final court of appeal for territorial courts.
RELIGIONS
26% Catholics; 21% Anglicans; 21% other Christians; 1% minorities (including Aboriginals)
From the country
- JULY 1, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Labor Party remained opposed to the death penalty...
The Labor Party remained opposed to the death penalty in Australia but would not protest if it was imposed on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Australia's Opposition Leader Mark Latham said
- APRIL 21, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australia was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the...
Australia was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 12, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
- MARCH 24, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's...
The following is an editorial entitled " Singapore's Grim Parade Of Death" published in the Australian pubilcation 'The Age'
- MARCH 23, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian Coalition Against the Death Penalty...
The Australian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (ACADP) received hundreds of messages from Australians offering support for Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a Melbourne man sentenced to death in Singapore after being found guilty of smuggling almost 400 grams of
- MARCH 21, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
"I want my son to come home or to go to jail, please...
"I want my son to come home or to go to jail, please don't hang him, please," Kim Nguyen sobbed moments after a High Court judge in Singapore ordered the execution of 23-year-old Nguyen Tuong Van
- MARCH 20, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne,...
Nguyen Tuong Van, 23, a sales executive from Melbourne, Australia, was sentenced to death after the Singapore High Court found him guilty of smuggling almost 400 grams of heroin
- DECEMBER 29, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied...
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied suggestions that asylum seekers sent home had been killed, and threatened legal action against those making such claims
- DECEMBER 15, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that he...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that he supported a possible death penalty for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
- DECEMBER 9, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
A Bangladeshi gay couple seeking to stay in Australia...
A Bangladeshi gay couple seeking to stay in Australia because they fear death at home won a landmark appeal in the High Court and a refugee tribunal was told to re-evalutate their claim
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British...
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British national wanted in Singapore over a double murder, would not face the death penalty if he was extradited from Australia was not legally enforceable, the Australian Federal Court was told
- NOVEMBER 25, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australian officials said that the United States promised...
Australian officials said that the United States promised not to seek the death penalty against two Australian citizens being held at a detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with others captured during the war on terrorism