List of Australian criminals

This is a list of Australian people who have been convicted of serious crimes.

Bank robbers

Australians convicted of bank robbery:

Child sex offenders

Australians convicted of child sex offences:

  • Brett Peter Cowan, Australian murderer and child rapist who was convicted of the murder of Daniel Morcombe[6]
  • Mr Cruel, 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.[7]
  • Robert 'Dolly' Dunn, paedophile,[8] died in 2009 while serving a 20-year sentence
  • Dennis Ferguson, paedophile who has caused controversy in NSW and Queensland[9] found dead in December 2012[10]
  • Rolf Harris, Australian entertainer convicted of twelve counts of indecent assault while living in the UK involving underage girls [11]
  • Robert Hughes, actor convicted of ten child sex offences committed against five young girls, including Hey Dad! co-star Sarah Monahan between 1985 and 1990, sentenced to 10 years and 9 months with a non-parole period of six years[12][13] Hughes was released from Long Bay Correctional Centre on 15 June 2022, renouncing his Australian citizenship and deported to the United Kingdom[14]
  • Brian Keith Jones, aka "Mr Baldy", serial paedophile, jailed indefinitely in 2006 for breaches of parole[15]
  • 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 and Australia. McGrath's offending was so prolific, the true number of his victims will never be known.[16][17]
  • Milton Orkopoulos, NSW state MP and child sex offender[18]
  • Patrick Power, Crown Prosecutor convicted of possessing child pornography[19]
  • Father Gerald Francis Ridsdale, paedophile, Australian Catholic priest 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.[20]
  • Father Vincent Gerard Ryan, paedophile, Australian Catholic priest convicted of sexual abuse against 37 children.[21]
  • Peter Scully, paedophile charged with abduction, human trafficking, rape, torture and murder. Known for creating and selling the dark web video Daisy's Destruction, 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.[22]
  • 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 and railway enthusiast groups, including the Puffing Billy Railway, through which he gained access to many young volunteers.[23]

Drug traffickers

Australians convicted of drug-related crimes both in Australia and overseas:

Families

Notable Australian criminal families:

Fraudsters

Australians convicted of fraud:

Gangsters

Murderers

Australians convicted of murder:

Rapists

Australians convicted of rape:

Serial killers

Australians convicted of multiple murders:

Others

Australians convicted of other offences:

See also

References