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 4, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. RALLY FOR CORBY DEATH SENTENCE
about 40 people picketed in Jakarta, Indonesia, to demand the death sentence for Australian woman Schapelle Corby, in jail for drug trafficking in Bali.
- MAY 27, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. BALI COURT SENTENCES AUSTRALIA'S CORBY FOR 20 YRS
an Indonesian court sentenced Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby to 20 years in jail for trying to smuggle 4.1 kg (9 lb) of marijuana into Bali.
- APRIL 28, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT SAID IT WOULD APPEAL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR BALI DRUG SUSPECTS
Australia's prime minister, John Howard, said the government would appeal any death sentence which might be handed down to nine Australians accused of drug trafficking in Indonesia.
- APRIL 22, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. PROSECUTORS DEMAND LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR CORBY
a distraught Schapelle Corby screamed and cried after Balinese prosecutors asked an Indonesian court to convict her and jail her for life.
- APRIL 22, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL GIVEN DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Nguyen Van Chinh, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin, was sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking.
- APRIL 20, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australia was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
Australia was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 19, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF EXPORTING DEATH PENALTY OVER DRUG ARRESTS IN BALI
the Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL) challenged the Canberra government to say whether it was "exporting the death penalty" after Australian police aided in the arrest of nine young Australian drug suspects in Indonesia, where they could face
- APRIL 13, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. DEATH THREAT AGAINST INDONESIAN CONSUL STAFF OVER DEATH PENALTY CASE
Australian police were investigating a threat to kill staff at Perth's Indonesian consulate unless Schapelle Corby, an Australian woman on trial for drug trafficking in Bali, was released immediately.
- APRIL 3, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. PM TO FIGHT EXECUTION IF CORBY FOUND GUILTY
the Australian Federal Government will "go into overdrive" to stop...
- MARCH 4, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT TO INTERVENE FOR CORBY IN BALI DRUG CASE
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would personally intervene in the case of Australian woman Schapelle Corby
- MARCH 2, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. CORBY COULD DIE IN INDONESIAN JAIL, SAYS FRIEND
accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was being railroaded through an Indonesian court without a fair trial while the Australian government did nothing to stop it, businessman Ron Bakir said
- FEBRUARY 25, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. MORE HELP NEEDED FOR CORBY FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, DEMOCRATS
the federal government should be doing more to ensure Schapelle Corby gets a fair trial in Bali, Indonesia, the Australian Democrats said.
- FEBRUARY 17, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
a small but rowdy group of demonstrators protested at the trial of Schapelle Leigh Corby...
a small but rowdy group of demonstrators protested at the trial of Schapelle Leigh Corby, an Australian accused of smuggling marijuana into Indonesia's Bali resort, demanding that she be sentenced to death.
- FEBRUARY 1, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Singapore's premier said he would consider a bid for clemency from Australia
Singapore's premier said he would consider a bid for clemency from Australia
- JANUARY 1, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
The death penalty was formally abolished in Australia in 1985.
- NOVEMBER 7, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Tran Van Thanh, a 39 year old Australian man of Vietnamese...
Tran Van Thanh, a 39 year old Australian man of Vietnamese origin, was sentenced to death by firing squad by the Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court in Vietnam after being convicted of drug trafficking
- NOVEMBER 7, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian government said it would seek clemency...
The Australian government said it would seek clemency for Tran Van Thanh, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin who was facing the firing squad in Vietnam on drug charges
- OCTOBER 21, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International and the Australian government...
Amnesty International and the Australian government urged Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man sentenced to hang for heroin trafficking
- OCTOBER 20, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old...
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin found guilty of smuggling 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit at the island's main airport
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian Government rejected claims it would...
The Australian Government rejected claims it would extradite terror suspects to the US where they could face the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian Government rejected claims it would...
The Australian Government rejected claims it would extradite terror suspects to the US where they could face the death penalty
- JULY 26, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van made a brief appearance...
Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van made a brief appearance in a Singapore court as his lawyer appealed against a mandatory death sentence handed to him for trafficking in heroin
- JULY 25, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Murderers and terrorists should be sentenced to death,...
Murderers and terrorists should be sentenced to death, according to an overwhelming majority of people who responded to the Sunday Mail law and order survey
- JULY 2, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said executing...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said executing Saddam Hussein won't make him a martyr and backed the death penalty for the former dictator - if that's what the Iraqi people wanted
- 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