This law only applies to offenders convicted in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and the Northern Territory. Because these are the jurisdictions where the ‘no body no parole’ legislation currently operates. There are no provisions specifically addressing the concept of ‘no body, no parole’ in Tasmania or the ACT, however, it may still be a consideration in the parole process.
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00:00 One of the more controversial parts of criminal law in Australia is the 'nobody, no parole' law.
00:06 Under that law, if a convicted murderer does not reveal the location of the victim's remains,
00:11 the offender could be refused parole. Parole is the conditional release of an offender,
00:16 enabling them to serve a portion of their sentence in the community. The law works
00:21 under the provision that the prisoner's release should be contingent on their cooperation with
00:27 authorities, though in New South Wales at least it is just one of the considerations in the
00:32 granting of parole. It's not an automatic refusal. In New South Wales, the 'nobody, no parole' law,
00:39 or 'Lyn's Law' as it's come to be known, was strengthened in October 2022 out of the conviction
00:45 of former Sydney school teacher Chris Dawson. Dawson was found guilty of murdering his 33-year-old
00:52 wife Lynette, who vanished from the Northern Beaches more than 40 years ago. Her body has
00:58 never been found. In March 2024, Lyn's Law was used to deny the release of 48-year-old Kelly Lane,
01:06 who had been convicted in 2010 of killing her newborn daughter Teagan on the New South Wales
01:12 Northern Beaches in September 1996. Lane had been sentenced to 18 years in prison,
01:18 but became eligible for parole after 13 years. She was refused parole after the authorities said
01:25 it was not satisfied that the offender had cooperated to identify the location of Teagan's
01:30 body. However, Lane has continually maintained that her baby Teagan had been given to her father,
01:37 Andrew Norris or Morris, soon after Lane gave birth in Auburn Hospital. Police have never
01:43 located either the body of the two-day-old baby or the man known as either Andrew Norris or Morris.
01:49 New South Wales Greens MP Sue Higginson described the 'nobody, no parole' laws as being a
01:56 'knee-jerk' response and said Lane was effectively a political prisoner as a result. In Queensland,
02:03 the 'nobody, no parole' law means a parole application must be refused unless satisfied
02:09 the prisoner has made a significant effort to cooperate in the identification of the body's
02:14 location. In February 2024, the High Court of Australia was asked to decide whether the laws
02:20 would mean that a convicted killer could be kept behind bars if it was found that they had not
02:26 cooperated to locate even parts of a dismembered body. During this case, the Queensland Parole
02:33 Board argued that Matthew Leslie Armitage, known as the 'Esky Killer', should remain behind bars
02:39 because the hands and feet of the man he killed had not been located. In 2021, Armitage, his father
02:47 and another man were convicted for the manslaughter of Sean Barker, which occurred in 2013. Armitage
02:53 was sentenced to nine years in jail. Police located the burnt remains of the 33-year-old
02:59 Barker near Gympie, but his hands and feet were never found. A forensic anthropologist told the
03:05 court that the body parts could have been eaten by animals or destroyed in bushfires that tore
03:10 through the Tullara State Forest. Eventually, Armitage was granted parole after the Queensland
03:16 Court of Appeal determined the 'nobody, no parole' laws did not apply here. But the case led to a
03:22 nationwide discussion on what the law means when it refers to remains. And given the law is intended
03:28 to bring closure and comfort to grieving families, its advocates continue to ask, is it really fit
03:35 for this purpose?