ADPAN World Congress Against the Death Penalty side event: “A Turning Point for the Asia Pacific?: Indonesia's De Facto Abolition and Regional Trends
Address by the Hon Mark Dreyfus MP: The Role of Abolitionist States in the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Asia Pacific
Let me begin by thanking our civil society partners who have convened this event in the margins of the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty:
- the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network
- Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Bandung [Lerm-bah-gar Bun-too-ahn Hook-oom Bun-doong]
- the Transformative Justice Collective
- Capital Punishment Justice Project, and
- the Coalition Against Death Penalty.
I would also like to thank attendees for their thoughtful questions and our panellists for sharing their expertise with us here today.
Scene setting
Today’s discussions highlight a sobering reality: the Asia-Pacific remains the region with the greatest incidence of executions and the largest number of states that continue to retain the death penalty in practice or in law.
The discussions today have also highlighted that the region is neither moving in a single direction nor standing still. I note, for example, the Pacific is – in a practical sense – a region free of the death penalty.
We gather at a moment of consequence.
It’s why the discussions we are having today matter. They allow us to take stock not only of where the region is, but of what may be possible next.
Australia’s commitment
Australia opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances, and for all people.
This is a longstanding, bipartisan and principled position of successive Australian governments.
We oppose it because it is unjust.
We oppose it because it is irrevocable, meaning that miscarriage of justice cannot be rectified, and it denies any possibility of rehabilitation.
We oppose it because it is unfair.
We oppose it because evidence shows it is disproportionately used against people who are vulnerable or marginalised in society.
And we oppose it because it simply does not work as a deterrent.
Research has shown that the death penalty does not deter crime any more effectively than any other punishment.
Crime figures from countries which have banned the death penalty have not risen on abolition – and in some cases, they have even gone down.
Australia’s actions
Australia has publicly and proudly stated the global abolition of the death penalty is our goal.
For abolitionist countries like Australia, the question is therefore not whether to engage, but how best to advance that goal.
Australia utilises all avenues at its disposal to advocate for global abolition.
Australia’s Strategy for Global Abolition of the Death Penalty guides our approach to our bilateral, regional and multilateral engagement.
In practice this means:
- We engage consistently and respectfully with governments, civil society, educators and advocates.
- We directly advocate for abolition of the death penalty in the vast majority of retentionist countries, sometimes in private, sometimes in public
- this includes those that undertake the largest numbers of executions
- and with our close partners that retain the death penalty in law or in practice.
- We draw on the strength of our bilateral relationships to have frank but respectful dialogues, share our perspectives and, where appropriate, offer our assistance, including on law reform
- Australian ministers and officials raise abolition of the death penalty as a priority human rights issue, when it will be helpful to do so.
- Our diplomacy is sometimes out in the open, through public means, and sometimes it is quiet, behind closed doors.
- We lend our support to global multilateral efforts, including at the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly, where we have consistently opposed the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, for all people, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, religion or political views, or against children.
- And we make strategic use of the Universal Periodic Review process to put forward constructive recommendations to retentionist countries on steps towards abolition of the death penalty, taking care to make those recommendations implementable, and harder to reject.
Central to this engagement is one crucial principle: we recognise that the change we want to see will be affected by local movements informing and influencing attitudes towards the death penalty in all corners of their own societies.
Sustaining Momentum Towards Abolition
Progress is rarely linear, and it is not achieved by governments acting alone.
Civil society organisations, legal practitioners, researchers, community advocates, and families, have long been at the forefront of this work.
Their efforts – your efforts - have documented violations and abuses, supported those at risk, challenged mandatory sentencing frameworks, and kept abolition on the public agenda even in difficult environments. Regional and international partnerships can help reinforce and sustain that work.
In 2024, the UN resolution calling for a global moratorium garnered a record 130 'yes' votes from Member States, with a number of countries shifting their votes for the first time.
This is encouraging progress.
Australia’s own experience shows that abolition is often gradual and sometimes fragmented.
Australia’s last execution took place in February 1967.
The hanging of Ronald Ryan in February 1967 had a profound effect on me, as it did on many other people, young and old, across Australia.
I was 10 years old and just starting to be interested in politics and government. I recall that there were protests across Melbourne, indeed, across Australia, but most notably in Melbourne.
The media had avidly covered the trial of Ronald Ryan, as it had covered his escape from Pentridge Prison and the shooting of the prison guard that led to him being charged with felony murder.
Across Australia, the execution ignited debate and contributed to renewed momentum for the abolition of capital punishment across our country.
Our states abolished the death penalty in different ways and at different times: Queensland was the first, in 1922. Western Australia the last, in 1985.
Yet it was not until April 2010 that the Australian Parliament amended the Death Penalty Prohibition Act to ensure capital punishment could not be reintroduced in Australia.
I have consistently supported the abolition of the death penalty, and strongly endorsed this change at the time.
In 1967, when Australia carried out that last execution, only 12 countries had completely abolished the death penalty.
In the 59 years since, more than 100 countries have completely abolished the death penalty. These are significant gains, even if they are incremental.
Progress is not all or nothing.
Each step away from the death penalty matters: reducing the numbers of offences punishable by death, limiting the scope of to whom the death penalty can be applied, and ending mandatory sentencing, allowing judges the ability to exercise quality discretion in criminal cases.
These are all developments Australia has welcomed, including in our region.
All of us who want to see complete and total abolition must welcome each step, while we hope for more.
Forward-looking conclusion
I want to acknowledge Indonesia’s important progress in reaching ten years without executions this month. This is a welcome and encouraging sign for our region.
It should also prompt a broader reflection. A de facto moratorium is significant, and it is to be welcomed, but it is not the endpoint. The challenge for all of us is to build on that progress.
The future of abolition in this region will be determined by the choices made in the next decade.
At a time of uneven progress, we should resist both complacency and fatalism. The trends across the Asia-Pacific show that change is possible, but it requires persistence, principled advocacy, and collective international action.
And where that progress is taking shape, it falls to all of us to help reinforce it. Across the region, pathways away from capital punishment will not all look the same.
For some states, progress may begin with greater transparency, narrower application, or the ending of mandatory death sentences.
For others, it may take the form of sustained de facto moratoria or legislative reform.
What matters is that these steps are recognised for what they are: practical openings to reduce harm, strengthen justice systems and build confidence in abolition as both achievable and durable.
There is no single model for abolition, but there is a common imperative: to keep creating the political, legal and social conditions in which abolition can take hold and endure.
Australia will continue to stand with all those working to turn progress into permanence, and abolition into reality—across our region and around the world.
