Chair's Foreword

In our modern world, there is no place for the death penalty as it sits at odds with our human rights obligations. Despite global progress being made towards the abolition of the death penalty since the subcommittee’s 2016 report into the issue, A world without the death penalty, Australia’s advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty, it is still a practice that is carried out in many countries. Concerningly, the death penalty is not only applied to the most serious of crimes. We see it being used against specific groups, such as the LGBTQI+ community, on religious grounds, to supress dissenting voices and, seemingly, without fair trials in some cases.

Australia has a role to play globally in advocating for the abolition of the death penalty through every avenue possible. More specifically, in our Asia-Pacific region, Australia must continue to advocate for neighbours and allies to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

Australia’s strategies for advocating for the abolition of the death penalty need to be reevaluated and revamped to continue to be effective in a contemporary human rights environment. The strategies should consider what has worked well, not just for the Australian Government, but also for civil society organisations, as well as lessons learnt from strategies that have not been as effective as planned.

Most stakeholders to the inquiry were positive but cautious about the steps towards global abolition. In a challenging geopolitical environment, Australia cannot be complacent and assume that with time, and using the same approach, global abolition will occur. Sustained, nuanced and targeted advocacy by Australia and other abolitionist countries is essential to ensuring steady progress towards abolition.

Incremental progress is still progress. However, Australia and other abolitionist countries must remain vigilant against any backsliding or complacency on the issue of the death penalty and more broadly on human rights violations that impact on the right to life. Some of Australia’s closest allies maintain and apply the death penalty. Therefore, Australia must be seen to actively advocate to our allies against the death penalty at every available opportunity. Failure to advocate consistently may undermine Australia’s international human rights reputation and it may be construed that Australia’s advocacy is situational.

While recognising the risks to Australia that could arise because of its advocacy, it is important for Australia to be principled and steadfast in its approach to advocacy and to continue to promote a consistently strong message on Australia’s opposition to the death penalty.

The Subcommittee has made seven recommendations that address the need for continued advocacy in relation to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. While Australia takes a bipartisan approach in its opposition of the death penalty, there are still improvements that can be made as to how Australia advocates internationally, regionally and domestically. The recommendations also recognise the critical function of civil society organisations in this space, and the need for the Australian Government to support these organisations and the important work they undertake.

I extend my thanks to the those who provided evidence to the Subcommittee and note the progress against recommendations that were made in the 2016 report.

Ms Maria Vamvakinou MP

Chair

Human Rights Subcommittee