Joint submission: Inquiry into Australia's efforts to advocate for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty
On 3 July 2024, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade of the Parliament of Australia resolved to conduct an inquiry into Australia's efforts to advocate for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.
You can find out more about the inquiry here, including access to published submissions and information about public hearings.
Background to the current inquiry
This follows on from an inquiry held across 2015-16, which resulted in the report A world without the death penalty, released in May 2016.
In June 2018, the Australian Government published Australia’s Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty which clearly sets out Australia’s opposition to the death penalty – a policy that maintains strong bipartisan support.
The current inquiry is examining progress against the recommendations made by the previous inquiry, Australia's international engagement to promote abolition of the death penalty, as well as opportunities and risks for Australia to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty internationally.
Our submission
CPJP, together with our partners Eleos Justice, Julian Wagner Memorial Fund, Australians Against Capital Punishment and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network made a submission to the inquiry.
Our joint submission reviews the Australian Government’s progress against the recommendations of the previous inquiry and highlights opportunities for improvement to ensure Australia’s consistency as an abolitionist nation and leader in global efforts to end capital punishment.
We made five recommendations that seek to:
ensure that Australia’s commitment to abolition is reflected in the actions of all levels of government, including in the rules that determine how they act;
improve the assistance provided to Australians exposed to the risk of the death penalty in foreign jurisdictions; and
boost the amount of dedicated, ongoing funding that is available as grants for civil society organisations, scholarships, training, research and/or capacity building projects aimed at the abolition of the death penalty.
