It originally referred to death by decapitation, but now applies generally to state sanctioned executions. (Potash and Walker, 1987) In Australia in the nineteenth century as many as 80 persons were hanged per year for crimes such as burglary, sheep stealing, forgery, sexual assaults and even, as well as for murder and manslaughter. (Nakell, Barry and Kenneth A. Hardy The Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty. sydney Temple UP, 1987) Since Federation (1901), only 114 persons have been legally executed in Australia. The first hanging was in February 1788, the last person to be executed in Australia was Ronald Ryan. Ryan was 'hanged by the neck until he was dead' at Pentridge Prison, Victoria in 1967. (Michael Victory, END OF THE LINE 1994) Now the sentence of life imprisonment (in some states penal servitude for life', strict security life imprisonment', or for the term of his natural life') has become the most severe sanction authorized by Australian law.
In most of the industrialized world, capital punishment is not used to punish criminals, yet debate on this topic has not abated. Australia is a world leader in seeking the abolition of capital punishment. "It's one of the bedrocks of Australian foreign policy," says a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "We universally and consistently oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances. Bulletin EdDesk Article Vol. 121 No. 5 by Eric Ellis.
The following table gives the date of abolition of capital punishment in each state in Australia. .
(Australian Institute of Criminology report in crime and criminal justice 1993).
Queensland was one of the first jurisdictions anywhere to abolish the death penalty in 1922, and Western Australia is generally regarded as the last State to abolish capital punishment in Australia (in 1984), New South Wales did in fact retain some residual offences relating to piracy and treason, which continued to carry the death penalty.
