This is a list of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n people who have been

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is consid ...

of serious crimes. See

demography of Australia The population of Australia is estimated to be as of . The population estimate shown is automatically calculated daily at 00:00 UTC and is based on data obtained from the population clock on the date shown in the citation. Australia is the 5 ...

Bank robbers

Australians convicted of bank robbery: *

Brenden Abbott Brenden James Abbott (born 8 May 1962) is a convicted Australian bank robber. He is reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and was dubbed "the postcard bandit" by police seeking media coverage.Nyst, Chris (defence lawyer"The U ...

(born 1962), known as the Postcard Bandit *

Darcy Dugan Darcy Ezekiel Dugan (29 August 192022 August 1991) was an Australian bank robber and New South Wales' most notorious prison escape artist. During his criminal career, he committed numerous armed holdups, robbing banks and even a hospital. How ...

(1920–1991), bank robber and New South Wales' most notorious prison escape artist *

Keith Faure Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He is currently serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role ...

(born 1951), from Victoria, career criminalThree facing charges over Moran killing
www.theage.com, 13 March 2005 . Retrieved 24 April 2008. *

Victor Peirce Victor George Peirce (11 November 1958 – 1 May 2002) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne, Victoria. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, which was headed by matriarch and former Richmond brothel owner Kath Pettingill. Walsh St ...

(1958–2002), from Melbourne, member of the

Pettingill family The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family,Fears of gangland war in ...

* Gregory Roberts (born 1952), former heroin addict and convicted bank robber who escaped and fled to India; author of '' Shantaram''

Child sex offenders

Australians convicted of child sex offences: *

Brett Peter Cowan Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969) is an Australian murderer and child rapist. He was convicted of the murder of Daniel Morcombe, a 13-year old boy who disappeared from the Sunshine Coast on 7 December 2003. His abduction led to an eigh ...

, Australian murderer and child rapist who was convicted of the murder of Daniel Morcombe *

Mr Cruel "Mr Cruel" is an Australian serial child rapist and suspected child murderer who attacked three girls in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the prime suspect in the 1991 abduc ...

, an unidentified Australian serial child rapist who attacked three girls and is suspected of murdering Karmein Chan in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. In 2016, the reward for his arrest increased from $100,000 to $1,000,000. *

Robert 'Dolly' Dunn __NOTOC__ Robert Joseph 'Dolly' Dunn (c. 1941 – 11 July 2009) was an Australian convicted child molester. He was a school teacher by profession, working for the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious order. Robert 'Dolly' Dunn taught science ...

, paedophile, died in 2009 while serving a 20-year sentence *

Dennis Ferguson Dennis Raymond Ferguson (5 February 1948 – c. 30 December 2012) was an Australian sex offender convicted of child sexual abuse. In 1988, he kidnapped and sexually abused three children, and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Ferguson wa ...

, paedophile who has caused controversy in NSW and Queensland found dead in December 2012 *

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

, Australian entertainer convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault while living in the UK involving underage girls * Robert Hughes, actor convicted of ten child sex offences committed against five young girls, including

Hey Dad! ''Hey Dad..!'' is an Australian sitcom produced by Gary Reilly Productions, originally airing from 1987 to 1994 on the Seven Network. Synopsis Architect Martin Kelly singlehandedly raises his children: Simon, Debbie, and Jenny. His wife, Marga ...

co-star

Sarah Monahan Sarah Monahan (born 12 April 1977) is an Australian former child actress. Best known for her role as Jenny Kelly on '' Hey Dad..!'', she also appeared in '' Sons and Daughters'' and ''Home and Away''. Early career Monahan got her start in the ...

between 1985 and 1990, sentenced to 10 years and 9 months with a non-parole period of six years Hughes was released from Long Bay Correctional Centre on 15 June 2022, denouncing his Australian citizenship and deported to the United Kingdom *

Brian Keith Jones Brian Keith Jones (born 1947), formerly known as Brendan John Megson and Whispen, is an Australian sex offender who was convicted of the abduction and sexual assault of six male children between 1979 and 1980. Jones was given the nickname Mr ...

, aka "Mr Baldy", serial paedophile, jailed indefinitely in 2006 for breaches of parole * Brother Bernard McGrath, paedophile, a member of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, McGrath has had five separate criminal trials for his crimes against vulnerable children with mental and physical disabilities in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

. McGrath's offending was so prolific, the true number of his victims will never be known. *

Milton Orkopoulos Milton Orkopoulos (born 22 July 1957) is an Australian former state politician and convicted sex offender. A member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2006, Orkopoulos was appointed Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Mini ...

, NSW state MP and child sex offender * Patrick Power, Crown Prosecutor convicted of possessing child pornography * Father Gerald Francis Ridsdale, paedophile, Australian

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

convicted of sexual abuse against scores of children. The true number of Ridsdale's victims will never be known but by his own admission, is believed to be in the hundreds. * Father Vincent Gerard Ryan, paedophile, Australian

convicted of sexual abuse against 37 children. *

Peter Scully Peter Gerard Scully (born 13 January 1963) is an Australian sex offender imprisoned for life in the Philippines after being convicted of one count of human trafficking and five counts of rape by sexual assault of underage girls. He is pendi ...

, paedophile charged with abduction, human trafficking, rape, torture and murder. Known for creating and selling the

dark web The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on ''darknets'': overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communi ...

video ''

Daisy's Destruction Peter Gerard Scully (born 13 January 1963) is an Australian sex offender life imprisonment, imprisoned for life in the Philippines after being convicted of one count of human trafficking and five counts of Child sexual abuse, rape by sexual as ...

'', which features the torture and rape of three girls including 18-month-old Daisy. Scully and his girlfriend Carme Ann Alvarez, who also abused children in Scully's videos, were sentenced to life imprisonment. * Robert Kingsley Whitehead was convicted of 24 counts of child sexual offences in 2015, dying in prison later that year. Whitehead – who had been convicted of offences against children in 1959 – was involved for decades with the railways, including Puffing Billy, where he gained access to countless innocent volunteers.

Drug traffickers

Australians convicted of

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug productio ...

s both in Australia and overseas: * Dennis Allen (1951–1987) nicknamed "Mr. Death," member of the

Pettingill family The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family,Fears of gangland war in ...

Bali Nine The Bali Nine were nine Australians convicted for attempting to smuggle of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005. The heroin was valued at around 4 million and was bound for Australia. Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were ...

: **

Andrew Chan Andrew Chan (; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. ...

, sentenced to death in Indonesia on 14 February 2006 and executed by firing squad on 29 April 2015 **

Si Yi Chen The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

, sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 16 February 2006Death Sentence for four more Bali Mules
www.smh.com.au, 6 September 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2008 **

Michael Czugaj Michael William Czugaj (born c. 1986) an Australian former glazier from Oxley, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Czugaj was arrested at Ngurah Rai Internationa ...

, sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia on 14 February 2006 **

Renae Lawrence Renae Lawrence (born 11 October 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In April 2005, on her third trip to Bali, Lawrence was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport ...

, sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in IndonesiaLawrence, Rush set to appeal life sentences
, www.abc.net.au, 13 February 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2008 **

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen (; 30 October 1983 – 9 May 2018) was a Vietnamese–Australian citizen. He was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Nguyen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Ku ...

, sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia on 16 February 2006 **

Matthew Norman Matthew James Norman (born 17 September 1986) is an Australian man who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Norman was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. ...

, sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia on 16 February 2006 **

Scott Rush Scott Anthony Rush (born 3 October 1985) is an Australian former labourer, who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, on his first trip to Bali, Rush was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airpor ...

, sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia on 13 February 2006 ** Martin Stephens, sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia on 14 February 2006 **

Myuran Sukumaran Myuran Sukumaran (17 April 1981 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian who was convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with eight others. Poli ...

, sentenced to death in Indonesia on 14 February 2006 and executed by firing squad on 29 April 2015 * Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, sentenced to death on 1 August 1985 and executed by hanging in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 7 July 1986 *

Nola Blake Nola Blake is an Australian woman who in 1987 was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand for drug trafficking and subsequently sentenced to death. Her sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Blake resided in Botany, New South Wales and was aged 35 ...

, sentenced to death in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in 1988; sentence later commuted to life *

Schapelle Corby Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted of drug smuggling, smuggling cannabis into Indonesia. She spent nine years imprisoned on the Indonesian island of Bali in Kerobokan Prison. Since her arrest Corb ...

, served a 9-year prison sentence in

. *

Warren Fellows Warren Fellows (born 13 September 1953) is an Australian former drug courier who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand in 1978 for his role in a heroin trafficking operation that took place from Perth to Bangkok. In his best-selling ...

, drug courier sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand in 1978 *

Jim Krakouer James Gordon Krakouer (born 13 October 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the 1980s and '90s for North Melbourne and St Kilda in the VFL and Claremont in the WAFL. He is the father of former Richmond and Collingwo ...

, star AFL footballer imprisoned for 16 years on amphetamine trafficking charges * Michael McAuliffe, executed in Malaysia * David McMillan, smuggler, escaped from Thailand's notorious Bangkok Prison in 1996 *

Van Tuong Nguyen A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

(1980–2005) Vietnamese Australian executed in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

1958–2002) member of the Pettingill family, murdered in 2001 *

Kath Pettingill Kathleen Pettingill (born 27 March, 1935) is the matriarch of the Melbourne criminal family, the Pettingill family. Family Pettingill's 10 children are: (with Dennis Ryan) * Dennis Bruce Allen (1951–1987) – a drug dealer, jailed for rape i ...

, former

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

worker and owner; criminal

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

of the Pettingill familyVictor Pierce dies the way his mother predicted
www.theage.com.au, 3 May 2002. Retrieved 8 May 2008 *

Roger Rogerson Roger Caleb Rogerson (born 3 January 1941) is a former detective sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force, and a convicted murderer. During Rogerson's career, he was one of the most decorated officers in the police force, having received at l ...

, corrupt former police officer *

Stephen John Sutton Stephen John Sutton (born 1964) is an Australian man who was imprisoned in Argentina. He was arrested on 4 February 2003 after a joint operation by the Australian Federal Police and Argentine Police. He was charged with narcotics offences and wa ...

, imprisoned in Argentina on drug charges *

Robert Trimbole Bruno Robert Trimbole (19 March 1931 – 12 May 1987) was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales, area, which according to popular loose fic ...

(1931–2007) International felon and drug lord * Andrew "Benji" Veniamin, murdered in 2004 * Carl Williams, murdered in 2010

Families

Notable Australian criminal families: *

Moran family The Moran family is an infamous Melbourne, Australia-based criminal family of Irish ancestry,Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

Lewis Moran murdered
www.theage.com.au, 31 March 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2008 **

Lewis Moran Lewis Moran (7 July 1941 – 31 March 2004) was an Australian organized crime figure and patriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Notable for his involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings, Moran was shot de ...

** Mark Moran *

Pettingill family The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family,Fears of gangland war in ...

** Dennis Allen **

* Williams Family ** Carl Williams ** Roberta Williams

Fraudsters

Australians convicted of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

: *

Rodney Adler Rodney Stephen Adler (born 19 August 1959) is an Australian whose family founded the FAI Insurances group, of which he became chief executive in 1989, and which was at one stage Australia's third largest general insurer. Adler became a director of ...

, Sydney-based fraudster imprisoned for his role in transactions to hide true financial status of

FAI Insurance HIH Insurance was Australia's second-largest insurance company before it was placed into provisional liquidation on 15 March 2001. The demise of HIH is considered to be the largest corporate collapse in Australia's history, with liquidators est ...

Hajnal Ban Hajnal Ban (also known as Hajnal Black) is an Australian lawyer, author, and former conservative politician, who was convicted of charges that prevented her being elected to public office between 2012 and 2016. She was elected on 15 March 2008 ...

, defrauded an elderly man with a mental incapacity of $660,000 *

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

, English-Australian businessman imprisoned for three years in 1996 for fraud * Brian Burke, former Western Australia Premier imprisoned for rorting travel expenses *

Michael Cobb Michael Roy Cobb (born 16 March 1945) is an Australian politician who represented the electorate of Parkes in the Australian House of Representatives from 1984 to 1998. Before entering politics Cobb worked as a veterinary surgeon and ran a fa ...

, former politician convicted of fraud after rorting travel expenses *

Laurie Connell Lawrence Robert "Laurie" Connell (died 27 February 1996) was a Western Australian business entrepreneur. As chairman of the Rothwells merchant bank, he was well known for his dealings with the Government of Western Australia and his close relat ...

, gaoled for conspiring to pervert the course of justice *

Peter Foster Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...

, one of Australia's most famous conmen, gaoled for fraud * Simon Hannes, insider trading ahead of takeover of TNT in 1996 *

Theresa Lawson Theresa Rose Lawson (nee Emmett; 20 February 1951 – 2 June 2014) was a former Woolworths payroll clerk and St Marys Band Club director, who stole more than A$2.7 million over a three-year period from 1999 to 2002. It is regarded as one of the ...

(1951–2004) former Sydney

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

payroll clerk imprisoned for stealing $2.6 million *

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

, former WA Premier imprisoned for stealing * David Parker, former WA Deputy Premier imprisoned for

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

for evidence given to

WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie ...

royal commission *

Rene Rivkin Rene Walter Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was a Chinese-born Australian entrepreneur, investor, investment adviser, and stockbroker. He was convicted of insider trading in 2003 and sentenced to nine months of periodic detention. Early li ...

(1944–2005) stockmarket guru imprisoned on insider trading charges *

Christopher Skase Christopher Charles Skase (18 September 19485 August 2001) was an Australian businessman who later became one of his country's most wanted fugitives, after his business empire crashed spectacularly and he fled to Majorca, Spain. Early life Sk ...

(1948–2001) failed businessman and fugitive who escaped to

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Andrew Theophanous Andrew Charles Theophanous (born 24 March 1946) is a Cypriot-born Australian former politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2000, and an independent member from 2000 to 2001. He is the au ...

, bribery and fraud offences relating to assisting in visa applications as a Member of Parliament * Craig Thomson, fraud against the Health Services Union for sexual purposes and gratification *

Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager and tour promoter. Career Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he became known national ...

, (1948–2022) Musician and talent manager gaoled for tax evasion * Ray Williams, fraud related to the collapse of

HIH Insurance HIH Insurance was Australia's second-largest insurance company before it was placed into provisional liquidation on 15 March 2001. The demise of HIH is considered to be the largest corporate collapse in Australia's history, with liquidators est ...

Gangsters

* George Freeman, Sydney gangster *

Alphonse Gangitano Alphonse John Gangitano (22 April 1957 – 16 January 1998) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria. Nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street", Gangitano was the face of an underground organisation known as the Carlton Crew. He ...

, associate of

Jason Moran Jason Moran may refer to: * Jason Moran (criminal) (1967–2003), Australian mobster * Jason Moran (musician) Jason Moran (born January 21, 1975) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical inst ...

, murdered *

Mick Gatto Domenic "Mick" Gatto (born 6 August 1955) is a professional mediator within the Victorian building industry; and a debt collector. Gatto was named as a standover man during the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry. Ba ...

, well known member of the Melbourne underworld, active during the

Melbourne gangland killings The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vacu ...

John 'Chow' Hayes John Frederick "Chow" Hayes (7 September 19117 May 1993) was an Australian criminal who became known as Australia's first gangster. Early life Hayes was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, New South Wales on 7 September 1911, the illegitima ...

, violent criminal who became known as Australia's first gangster *

Michael Kanaan Michael Kanaan (born 23 May 1975). is an Australian triple murderer from Sydney, currently serving three sentences of life imprisonment plus 50 years and 4 months without the possibility of parole, for the murder of three people and other offenc ...

, multiple murderer and gang member *

Lenny McPherson Leonard Arthur McPherson (born Balmain, New South Wales 19 May 1921; died Cessnock, New South Wales, 28 August 1996) was one of the most notorious and powerful Australian career criminals of the late 20th century. McPherson is believed to have ...

, Sydney gangster *

Tony Mokbel Antonios Sajih Mokbel (Arabic: طوني مقبل) (born 11 August 1965) is an Australian criminal who has been convicted of a number of offences, most prominently commercial drug trafficking. He has spent most of his life in Melbourne, Australia ...

, serving a 12-year sentence, awaiting further charges *

(1967–2003) killed by rival gangster Carl Williams in a gang war *

(1941–2004) ( killed by rival gangster Carl Williams in a gang war * Mark Moran (1964–2000) killed by rival gangster Carl Williams in a gang war *

Michael Odisho Michael Odisho is an Assyrian-Australian underworld figure and former member of the DLASTHR and Brothers for Life (BFL) organized crime gangs which operated in Sydney, Australia. He was featured on a short ABC Television documentary '' 7 ...

, DLASTHR and BFL underworld Sydney gangster * Nikolai Radev (1959–2003) killed in gang war *

Abraham Saffron Abraham Gilbert Saffron (6 October 1919 – 15 September 2006) was an Australian hotelier, nightclub owner and property developer who was one of the major figures in organised crime in Australia in the latter half of the 20th century. For seve ...

, (1919–2006) Hotelier, nightclub owner and property developer. King of Kings Cross, Sydney gangster *

Squizzy Taylor Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne. He appeared repeatedly and sometimes prominently in Melbourne news media because of suspicions, formal accusations and some co ...

, (1888–1927) Melbourne gangster of the 1920s and before *

Andrew Veniamin Andrew "Benji" Veniamin (16 November 1975 – 23 March 2004) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A convicted car thief, Veniamin was a key figure in the Melbourne underworld killings, suspected of both murdering seve ...

(1975–2004) killed in gang war by Mick Gatto

Murderers

Australians convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

: *

Dante Arthurs Dante Wyndham Arthurs (born 8 August 1984) is an Australian murderer, convicted of the murder of eight-year-old Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia Shu. On 17 November 2007 Arthurs pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and unlawful detention and was co ...

, murdered Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia-Shu * James Beauregard-Smith, convicted triple murderer and rapist * Kenneth Brown, explorer and pastoralist hanged for murdering his wife *

Martin Bryant Martin John Bryant (born 7 May 1967) is a convicted Australian mass shooting, mass shooter who murdered 35 people and injured 23 others in the Port Arthur massacre (Australia), Port Arthur massacre, one of the world's deadliest ...

, convicted of 35 murders in the Port Arthur massacre *

Bevan Spencer von Einem Bevan Spencer von Einem (born 29 May 1946) is a convicted child murderer and suspected serial killer from Adelaide, South Australia. An accountant by profession, he was convicted in 1984 for the murder of 15-year-old Adelaide teenager Richard ...

, murderer *

, convicted

murderer *

Christopher Dale Flannery Christopher Dale Flannery, nicknamed "Mr Rent-a-Kill" (born 1948 – disappeared 9 May 1985) is alleged to have been an Australian contract killer. Background and early career Flannery was born in Brunswick, Victoria. He left school at the age ...

, (born c. 1948, disappeared May 1985) known as "Mr-Rent-A-Kill", rapist and armed robber who shot an undercover policeman *

Sef Gonzales Sef Gonzales (born 16 September 1980) is a Filipino Australian man who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the July 2001 murders of his father Teodoro "Teddy" Gonzales (46), his mother Mary Loiva Gonzales (43), and his sister C ...

, murdered his mother, father and sister *

Maddison Hall Maddison Hall (born Noel Crompton Hall in 1964) is a convicted Australian murderer. In 1987, Hall shot and killed hitchhiker Lyn Saunders at Gol Gol, New South Wales. Hall was convicted in 1989. Her transition in prison, the support provided b ...

, murdered a

hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads have ...

, had a

sex change Sex change is a natural or artificial process in which an individual's sex is changed. Sex change may also refer to: Biology and medicine *Sex reassignment therapy *Sex reassignment surgery *Sequential hermaphroditism, a phenomenon whereby some ...

operation in prison * Edward "Ned" Kelly (1854/1855–1880), Victorian bushranger murdered three troopers (policemen) named Lonigan, Scanlon and Kennedy, as well as former friend turned police informer

Aaron Sherritt Aaron Sherritt (August 1854 – 26 June 1880) was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly in Victoria, Australia. Personal life Aaron Sherritt was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in August 1854, to Irish migrants John and ...

* Julian Knight,

Hoddle Street massacre The Hoddle Street massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on the evening of Sunday, 9 August 1987, in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The shootings resulted in the deaths of seven people, and seri ...

Katherine Knight Katherine Mary Knight (born 24 October 1955) is an Australian murderer and the first woman in the country's history to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. She was convicted for the murder of her partner, John Charles Thomas Price, ...

, murdered her de facto husband John Charles Thomas Price on 29 February 2000; first Australian woman to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole *

Keli Lane Keli Lane (born 21 March 1975), a former Australian water polo player and teacher was convicted of the 1996 murder of her newborn baby, Tegan, and of three counts of making a false declaration. Lane is serving an 18-year prison sentence and will ...

, convicted of the 1996 murder of her newborn daughter Tegan on 13 December 2010 * Martin Leach, bound, gagged and stabbed Charmaine Aviet and bound, gagged, stabbed, raped and slit the throat of her cousin Janice Carnegie, both teenagers, before burying their bodies in a gully at Berry Springs *

Francesco Mangione Francesco Mangione is an Italian-born Australian, convicted of the 2002 murder of his 26-year-old cousin, Denis Giunta, in his Williamstown home. Early life Mangione, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria was born 23 July 1957 in Sicily. In 1969 he came t ...

, the Mr Whippy ice-cream turf war murderer *

Craig Minogue Craig William John Minogue (born 1962) is an Australian convicted murderer responsible for the 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Minogue was sentenced to life imprisonment ...

Russell Street bombing The Russell Street bombing was the 27 March 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters complex in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The explosion killed Angela Rose Taylor, the first Australian policewoman to be killed in the line ...

Bradley John Murdoch Bradley John Murdoch (born 19 February 1958) is an Australian criminal serving life imprisonment for the July 2001 murder of English backpacker Peter Falconio in Australia. He will be 74 when eligible for parole in 2032. Murdoch is being held i ...

, convicted for the murder of

Peter Falconio Peter Falconio was a British tourist who disappeared in a remote part of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia on the evening of 14 July 2001, while travelling with his girlfriend Joanne Lees. In the afte ...

Anthony Perish Anthony John Michael "Rooster" Perish (born 4 September 1969) is a convicted Australian murderer from Leppington, New South Wales, who killed a Sydney drug dealer, Terry Falconer, in November 2001. Perish was assisted in the murder of Falconer b ...

, convicted of murdering Terry Falconer *

Ronald Ryan Ronald Joseph Ryan (21 February 1925 – 3 February 1967) was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing warder George Hodson during an escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria, in 1965. R ...

, last person executed in Australian in 1967 *

Joseph Schwab Joseph Thomas Schwab, also known as Josef Schwab (25 November 1960 – 19 June 1987) was a spree killer, who murdered five people in the Top End region of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia during June 1987. Sc ...

(1960–1987) murdered five tourists across the Northern Territory and Western Australia in 1987 *

Neddy Smith Arthur Stanley "Neddy" Smith (27 November 1944 – 8 September 2021) was an Australian criminal who was convicted of drug trafficking, theft, rape, armed robbery, and murder. Smith served a life sentence since 1989 and was imprisoned in Lithgow ...

(1944–2021) convicted of the murder of Sydney

owner, Harvey Jones * John Travers, convicted ringleader of the

Anita Cobby Anita or ANITA may refer to: Arts * ''Anita'' (1967 film), an Indian film * ''Anita'' (2009 film), an Argentine film * ''Anita'' (2021 film), a Hong Kong film *'' Anita: Swedish Nymphet'', a 1973 erotic film People *Anita (given name), people w ...

murder. *

Brenton Tarrant On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

, convicted of the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019.

Rapists

Australians convicted of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

: *

Peter Dupas Peter Norris Dupas (born 6 July 1953) is an Australian convicted serial killer, currently serving three life sentences without parole for murder and primarily for being a serious habitual offender. He has a very significant criminal history inv ...

, serial killer *

Raymond Edmunds Raymond Edmunds, also known as the Donvale Rapist and Mr. Stinky, born 12 March 1944 at Queen Victoria Village, Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, is a convicted rapist and double murderer who was active in Victoria (Australia), Vic ...

, Mr Stinky or the Donvale Rapist. *

Sydney gang rapes The Sydney gang rapes were a series of gang rape attacks committed by a group of up to 14 youths led by Bilal Skaf against Australian women and teenage girls (2 with Italian parents, 1 with Greek parents and one part Aboriginal girl), as young as ...

Bilal Skaf Bilal Skaf ( ar, بلال سكاف) (born 14 September 1981) is a serial gang rapist who led groups of Lebanese-Australian men to commit gang rape attacks against women and girls in Sydney in 2000. For his crimes, Skaf is serving a 31-year p ...

, gang leader

Serial killers

Australians convicted of multiple murders: *

Catherine Birnie David John Birnie (16 February 1951 – 7 October 2005) and Catherine Margaret Birnie (née Harrison; born 23 May 1951) were an Australian couple from Perth, Western Australia, who murdered four women at their home in 1986, and attempted to mur ...

, rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986 *

David Birnie David John Birnie (16 February 1951 – 7 October 2005) and Catherine Margaret Birnie ( née Harrison; born 23 May 1951) were an Australian couple from Perth, Western Australia, who murdered four women at their home in 1986, and attempted to m ...

(1951–2005) rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986Serial killers death brings relief to survivor
www.abc.net.au, 7 October 2005. Retrieved 16 May 2008 *

Gregory Brazel Gregory John 'Bluey' Brazel (born 17 November 1954) is a convicted Australian serial killer, arsonist, and armed robber currently serving three consecutive life sentences for the murders of sex workers Sharon Taylor and Roslyn Hayward in 1990 ...

, shot dead a woman in 1982 armed robbery, and murdered two sex workers in 1990Killer gets compensation payout
,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

, 14 September 2006Killer caught with jail list

Sunday Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald Sun ...

, 13 October 2006 * John Bunting, murder of 12 victims known as the Snowtown murders or bodies in a barrel murders. *

Robert Francis Burns Robert Francis Burns (1840 – 25 September 1883) was an Irish Australian murderer and probable serial killer. He was hanged at Ararat Gaol in September 1883, convicted of the murder of Michael Quinlivan near Wickliffe in western Victoria. Aft ...

, murdered eight men between 1876 and 1881 in Victoria and New South Wales *

Eric Edgar Cooke Eric Edgar Cooke (25 February 1931 – 26 October 1964), nicknamed the Night Caller and later the Nedlands Monster, was an Australian serial killer who terrorised the city of Perth, Western Australia, from September 1958 to August 1963. Cooke c ...

, The Nedlands monster *

Bandali Debs Bandali Michael Debs (born 18 July 1953) is an Australian convicted serial killer currently serving four consecutive terms of life imprisonment plus 27 years for the murder of two Victoria Police officers in August 1998 and for the 1997 murder ...

, convicted of murdering two police officers and two prostitutes in the 1990s. *

Paul Denyer Paul Charles Denyer (born 14 April 1972, known briefly as Paula whilst in prison) is an Australian serial killer currently serving three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 years for the murders of three y ...

, Melbourne-based serial killer during the early 1990s dubbed the "Frankston Serial Killer" *

, Melbourne-based serial killer who killed several times upon release from prison. * Bradley Robert Edwards; convicted of killing two females and suspected of killing a third in Claremont , Western Australia during 1996–1997. *

Leonard Fraser Leonard John Fraser (27 June 1951 – 1 January 2007), also known as The Rockhampton Rapist, was an Australian convicted serial killer. Biography Fraser was born in Ingham, Queensland in 1951 and moved to Sydney in 1957. He left school in th ...

, also known as "The Rockhampton Rapist"; killed four to seven women in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

John Wayne Glover John Wayne Glover (26 November 1932 – 9 September 2005) was an English-Australian serial killer convicted of the murders of six elderly women (aged from 60 to 93), over a period of 14 months from 1989 to 1990 including Winifreda, Lady Ashto ...

(1932–2005) the Sydney North Shore granny murderer *

Caroline Grills Caroline Grills (née Mickelson; between 1888 and 1890 – 6 October 1960) was an Australian serial killer who poisoned her victims. She was predominantly a comfort killer, who murdered well-off members of her extended family to maintain a respe ...

(c.1888–1960) also known as "Auntie Thally"; serial poisoner of five family members * Paul Steven Haigh, convicted of the murders of six people in the late 1970s and another in 1991; currently serving six life sentences without the possibility of parole * Matthew James Harris, strangled a friend's brother, a female friend and a male neighbour to death over five weeks in 1998 in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Thomas Jeffrey Thomas Jeffrey (surname also recorded as Jeffery, Jeffries, Jeffreys or Jefferies) was a convict bushranger, murderer and cannibal in the mid-1820s in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia). In contemporary newspaper reports of his crime ...

, Tasmanian

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

escapee responsible for the murders of five people; executed in 1826 *

Eddie Leonski Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was a United States Army soldier and serial killer responsible for the strangling murders of three women in Melbourne, Australia in 1942. Leonski was dubbed The Brownout Strangler ...

, American serial killer known as the Brownout Strangler * John Lynch, convicted of the murder of Kernes Landregan in 1842 near

Berrima, New South Wales Berrima () is a historic village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The village, once a major town, is located on the Old Hume Highway between Sydney and Canberra. It was previously known officially ...

; prior to his execution he confessed to murdering ten people during the period 1836 to 1842.Berrima. – The Flood. – Confessions of Lynch the Murderer
''Australasian Chronicle'' (Sydney), 28 April 1842, page 2.Berrima
''Sydney Herald'', 2 May 1842, page 2. * William MacDonald, also known as "the Mutilator"; killed at least five men between June 1961 and April 1963Mutilation Killings Result of Strange Impulses, Court Told
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 9 August 1963, p. 6 *

John and Sarah Makin John Sidney Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian ' baby farmers' who were convicted in New South Wales for the murder of infant Horace Murray. The couple answe ...

; baby farmers convicted for the murder of Horace Amber Murray; suspected of the murders of 13 infants in total. *

Ivan Milat Ivan Robert Marko Milat (27 December 1944 – 27 October 2019) was an Australian serial killer who was convicted in the backpacker murders in 1996. Commonly known as the Backpacker Murderer, Milat captured, assaulted, robbed and murdered two me ...

, (1944–2019) convicted of the murder of seven young men and women between 1989 and 1993; known as Australia's most prolific serial killer. His crimes are collectively referred to as the " Backpacker murders". *

Martha Needle Martha Needle was an Australian serial killer known for poisoning her husband, three children, and prospective brother-in-law. She was hanged on 22 October 1894 when she was 31. She was convicted for the murder of Louis Juncken, brother of her f ...

, poisoner of four family members and boyfriend's brother *

Derek Percy Derek Ernest Percy (15 September 1948 – 23 July 2013) was an Australian suspected serial killer and convicted child killer who was also a person of interest linked to the mysterious deaths and disappearances of multiple children in the 1960s, i ...

, linked to the mysterious deaths of at least nine other children in the 1960s. *

Martha Rendell Martha Rendell (10 August 1871 – 6 October 1909) was the last woman to be hanged in Western Australia, for the murder of her ''de facto'' husband's son, Arthur Morris, in 1908. She was also suspected of killing his two daughters, Annie and Ol ...

, killed three stepchildren with

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

in the 20th century; last woman to be hanged in Western Australia *

Lindsay Robert Rose Lindsey Robert Rose (né Lehman; born 2 May 1955) is an Australian serial killer from New South Wales, currently serving five sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder of five people between 1984 and 1994. ...

, serial killer and

contract killer Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...

from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

who murdered five people between 1984 and 1994 * Arnold Sodeman, the schoolgirl strangler * Carl Williams, convicted of murdering three people and suspected of killing, or ordering the killing of, many more in the

. * Christopher Worrell and James Miller: also known as the "

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Murderers"; were convicted of killing seven people in 1976–1977.

Others

Australians convicted of other offences: *

Geoffrey Edelsten Geoffrey Walter Edelsten (2 May 1943 – 11 June 2021) was an Australian businessman and former physician known for founding the health care company Allied Medical Group. Edelsten was a general practitioner whose unconventional clinics a ...

(1943–2021) high-profile doctor convicted of soliciting a hit man and perverting the course of justice *

Marcus Einfeld Marcus Richard Einfeld (born 22 September 1938) is a former Australian judge who served on the Federal Court of Australia and was the inaugural president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. In retirement, he served two years i ...

, former Superior Court Judge, imprisoned subsequent to his retirement for lying relative to a speeding ticket. *

David Hicks David Matthew Hicks (born 7 August 1975) is an Australian who attended al-Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan, and met with Osama bin Laden during 2001. He was then detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay detention camp ...

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay ( es, Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off ...

detainee, convicted of providing material support for terrorism * Bon Levi, conman * Barry Morris (1935–2001) politician who was gaoled for making bomb and death threats *

Mark "Chopper" Read Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (17 November 1954 – 9 October 2013) was an Australian convicted criminal, gang member and author. Read wrote a series of semi-autobiographical fictional crime novels and children's books. The 2000 film '' Chop ...

(1954–2013) attempted murder, armed robbery, assault, kidnapping, torture, arson and impersonating a police officer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian criminals

Criminals In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

Australian criminals, List of Australian criminals, List of Australian criminals, List of

Bank robbers

Child sex offenders

Drug traffickers

Families

Fraudsters

Gangsters

Murderers

Rapists

Serial killers

Others

See also

References