Who was the last person in Australia to receive the death penalty?

Although it has been 55 years since the last person in Australia was killed by capital punishment, the practice is on the rise around the world according to a new report from Amnesty International.

Victoria's Pentridge Prison was the site of the last execution in Australia in 1967. It has now been decommissioned. Source: AAP / Supplied

Key Points

• Ronald Ryan was hanged in 1967.
• Capital punishment has since been abolished in Australia.
• A total of 883 people were executed in 20 countries in 2022, the highest figure since 2017.

On 3 February 1967, Ronald Ryan was the last person to receive the death penalty in Australia, before the practice was eventually abolished nationwide.

While it has been some 55 years since Australia enacted capital punishment, it is on the rise around the world according to a new report from Amnesty International.

In 2022 a total of 883 people were executed in 20 countries, the highest figure since 2017, according to the report.

“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life," Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General said.

"Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” she said.

Who was Ronald Ryan, the last Australian to be executed?

Ronald Ryan was sentenced to death for shooting a prison warder during a botched escape in 1965.

After serving an initial prison term for gang-related crime, he was put in jail again in 1964 for robbery.

On the evening of a December Christmas party for the prison guards, Mr Ryan escaped with Peter Walker, there was a skirmish, and warder George Hodson was shot dead.

The pair were on the run for 17 days before being caught.

Mr Ryan was convicted of murder in 1966 and sentenced to death under Victoria’s mandatory sentencing legislation.

Mr Ryan's family had not been allowed to see him before his death, and nor were they allowed to visit his grave at the prison. Source: AAP / Supplied

The judge presiding over Mr Ryan’s hanging at Pentridge Prison, Sir John Starke, was opposed to capital punishment and would have preferred to commute the death sentence, as was common practice at the time.

But he said that the then Victorian premier, Sir Henry Bolte, insisted that the sentence be carried out.

Mr Ryan's family had not been allowed to see him prior to his death, and nor were they allowed to visit his grave at the prison.

The case brought on widespread community opposition to the death penalty and it was eventually abolished in 1975 in Victoria.

NSW was the last state or territory to end the practice, in 1985.

How many people died by capital punishment around the world in 2022?

Amnesty International said the figure of 883 known executions was an increase of 53 per cent compared to 2021.

The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021.

"Drug-related executions are in violation of international human rights law which states that executions should only be carried out for the ‘most serious crimes’ - crimes that involve intentional killing," Amnesty International said.

The spike in killings was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021, to 825 in 2022.

The organisation said 81 people had been executed in a single day in Saudi Arabia.

Thousands more are believed to have been killed in China according to the organisation but reliable data is not available.

Executions are also shrouded in secrecy in Vietnam and North Korea.

Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022 and Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number in 30 years, with 196 deaths.