Australia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Australia abolished the death penalty for ordinary...
- News items in the archive
- 297
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Australia is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 297 news items on Australia, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JUNE 14, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. SINGAPORE PM STANDS FIRM ON DEATH PENALTY
the prime ministers of Singapore and Australia discussed their differences over Singapore's use of the death penalty.
- APRIL 27, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. FIVE AUSTRALIAN DRUG CONVICTS GET REDUCED SENTENCES, DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR RINGLEADERS
five young Australians jailed for life in Indonesia after being caught smuggling heroin from Bali have had their sentences cut to 20 years, but an appeal court upheld the death penalty on two ringleaders. The five were members of the so-called "Bali Nine"
- APRIL 27, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. LASRY REPEATS CALL FOR BLANKET APPROACH TO DEATH PENALTY
prominent Australian lawyer Lex Lasry, QC, called on the Australian government not to be selective in its opposition to the death penalty in its response to court cases overseas.
- APRIL 19, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL
an appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, upheld a death sentence for Trinh Huu, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin convicted of heroin trafficking.
- APRIL 3, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVT LOBBIES CHINESE PREMIER ON DEATH PENALTY
the Australian Federal Government raised with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the case of a man facing the death penalty in China over the murder of a Canberra university student.
- MARCH 30, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. PRIME MINISTER URGED TO OPPOSE DEATH PENALTY
Australia should publicly oppose the death penalty for terrorists if it expects to be taken seriously in its efforts to save Australians from death row, senior defence lawyer Lex Lasry said.
- MARCH 27, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. AFP BOSS OPPOSED TO DEATH PENALTY
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty said he was personally opposed to the death penalty, despite his agency's role in the Bali Nine drug case. The AFP had faced continued criticism over allegations its officers could have arrested the
- MARCH 16, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. BALI NINE DUO APPEAL DEATH SENTENCES
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two members of the Bali nine who had been sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, lodged their appeals with the Denpasar District Court.
- MARCH 5, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT MP BACKS DEATH PENALTY
independent MP Peter Lewis called for the death penalty in Australia for people who committed murder to cover up their crimes, who murdered to "achieve their political ends" or for people who killed police officers.
- FEBRUARY 20, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. BALI NINE APPEAL AGAINST DEATH SENTENCES
Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24, sentenced to death for trafficking heroin in the Indonesian resort island of Bali and seven others given life imprisonment for their involvement in the smuggling ring filed appeals in the Indonesian justice syste
- FEBRUARY 19, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. AFP UNDER FIRE OVER VIETNAM DRUG ARREST
Australian Federal Police were facing fresh controversy over their policy of giving information to foreign police in cases that could end in the death penalty.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. PRESIDENT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF TWO AUSTRALIANS
Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the death sentences imposed on two convicted Australian heroin traffickers to life imprisonment, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
- FEBRUARY 15, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. LAST AUSTRALIANS JAILED FOR LIFE IN BALI DRUG TRIAL
three Australians were jailed for life for their roles in a heroin smuggling ring on Indonesia's Bali island, the last in a series of tough verdicts against a group of nine young Australians.
- FEBRUARY 15, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. INDONESIA DEFENDS DEATH PENALTY AGAINST AUSTRALIANS
Indonesia said the death penalty rendered on two Australian drug mules was taken under the country's judiciary system that others must respect.
- FEBRUARY 15, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. DOWNER CONFIDENT OF SAVING BALI NINE
Australia remains confident Indonesia will grant clemency to two members of the Bali Nine sentenced to death, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
- FEBRUARY 15, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. PM WARNS AGAINST BALI NINE CLEMENCY HOPE
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his close relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not necessarily give the Bali Nine ringleaders an easy route out of death row.
- FEBRUARY 14, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. TWO AUSTRALIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BALI DRUGS TRIAL
an Indonesian court sentenced two young Australian men to die by firing squad for attempting to smuggle heroin from the resort island of Bali, verdicts that could strain ties with Canberra.
- FEBRUARY 14, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA ASKED INDONESIA TO SPARE BALI NINE DEATH PENALTY – FOREIGN MINISTER
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australia's parliament he wrote to the Indonesian government asking that the death sentence not be imposed on the "Bali Nine" heroin smugglers.
- FEBRUARY 14, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. HOWARD TO LOBBY OVER DEATH PENALTY
death sentences imposed by an Indonesian court on two Australians found guilty of heroin trafficking triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity in Australia, with Prime Minister John Howard promising to lobby Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
- JANUARY 30, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. FALUN GONG COMPLAINS AGAINST BAN ON PROTESTS OUTSIDE CHINESE EMBASSY
human rights lawyer Bernard Collaery told the Supreme Court in the Australian Capital Territory that a ban on Falun Gong demonstrations was threatening the right of ordinary Australians to protest against the death penalty.
- JANUARY 26, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT FOR BALI NINE 'RINGLEADER'
Prosecutors in Bali asked judges in Denpasar District Court to sentence Australian national Andrew Chan to death if they found him guilty of organising the so-called Bali nine heroin trafficking conspiracy.
- JANUARY 25, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. UN OFFICIAL URGES MORE ACTION ON DEATH PENALTY
UN official Philip Alston criticised the Australian Federal Government over what he said was its failure to stop the death penalty being imposed against Australians overseas. Alston made the comment as Indonesian prosecutors recommended that at least one
- JANUARY 25, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. DEATH SOUGHT FOR ALLEGED ‘BALI 9’ RINGLEADER
Indonesian prosecutors demanded the death sentence for Myuran Sukumaran, a 25 year old Australian accused of organizing the "Bali 9" drug smuggling ring.
- JANUARY 1, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
- DECEMBER 24, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIANS SUPPORT ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
many adults in Australia disagreed with the implementation of the death penalty for specific crimes, according to a poll by Roy Morgan International.
- DECEMBER 21, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. AMNESTY URGES GOVERNMENT TO HELP NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW IN VIETNAM
Amnesty International said the Federal Government must do all it could for Trinh Huu, an Australian man sentenced to death for trafficking heroin in Vietnam.
- DECEMBER 20, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Trinh Huu, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin, was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin in southern Vietnam, a court official said. Huu, 53, was found guilty of trafficking about two kilograms of heroin following a trial in Tay Ninh province bord
- DECEMBER 7, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. BUTT OUT ON DEATH PENALTY: BALI 9 JUDGE
the judges hearing the Bali Nine trials in Indonesia warned Australians not to interfere in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment, insisting they would not allow their independence to be compromised.
- DECEMBER 2, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. SINGAPORE HANGS AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL NGUYEN, THOUSANDS MOURN
Singapore executed Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van just before dawn despite repeated pleas by Australia's government for clemency.
- DECEMBER 2, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. MALAYSIA BACKS SINGAPORE DECISION TO EXECUTE AUSTRALIAN
Malaysia's Foreign Minister supported Singapore's decision to execute Australian heroin trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, saying the death penalty was a necessary legal deterrent.