If you need support now
If you, or someone you know, is thinking about suicide, help is available at any time. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (or text 0477 13 11 14), or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can call 13YARN on 13 92 76. If a life is in danger, call 000.
Key points
- Suicide and attempted suicide are not crimes. Victoria, South Australia and the ACT say so in their criminal laws.
- Helping, encouraging or inciting another person's suicide is a crime in every state and territory whose law we could read, with maximum penalties from 5 years' jail (Victoria) to life imprisonment (Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory).
- Online: using a phone or internet service for material that counsels or incites suicide, or promotes or gives instructions on a method, is a Commonwealth offence. Discussion, debate and law-reform advocacy are not, without that intention.
- Preventing a suicide: South Australia and the ACT expressly allow reasonable force.
- Voluntary assisted dying has its own laws in each state; South Australia's law says it is not suicide.
- For legal advice about a charge or investigation, call 1800 577 015 at any hour: free general legal information, and a 60-minute consultation with a lawyer for a fixed $295.
In Australia, suicide and attempted suicide are not crimes, but helping, encouraging or inciting another person's suicide is, with maximum penalties ranging from 5 years' jail in Victoria to life imprisonment in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and using the internet to counsel or incite suicide or to promote a method is a Commonwealth offence.
Checked on 23 October 2026 against the criminal laws of Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The NSW legislation website could not be read that day.
The offences in each state and territory
| Where | Law | What is an offence | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Crimes Act 1958 s 6B(2) | Inciting someone to suicide, where they then die by suicide or attempt it; aiding or abetting a suicide or an attempt | 5 years' jail |
| Queensland | Criminal Code s 311 | Procuring someone to kill themselves; counselling them to do so and thereby inducing them; aiding them | Life imprisonment |
| Western Australia | Criminal Code s 288 | Procuring someone to kill themselves; counselling them to do so and thereby inducing them; aiding them | Life imprisonment |
| South Australia | Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 s 13A(5)-(7) | Aiding, abetting or counselling a suicide or an attempt | 14 years if the person died, 8 years if they attempted; under a suicide pact, 5 and 2 years. Procuring a suicide by fraud, duress or undue influence is murder (or attempted murder) |
| ACT | Crimes Act 1900 s 17 | Aiding or abetting a suicide or an attempt; inciting or counselling a suicide that is then committed or attempted | 10 years' jail |
| Tasmania | Criminal Code s 163 | Instigating or aiding another person to kill themselves | 21 years' jail, a fine or both (the general maximum for a crime, s 389(3)) |
| Northern Territory | Criminal Code s 162 | Assisting or encouraging another person to kill or attempt to kill themselves, intending to, where they then die by suicide or attempt it | Life imprisonment |
| New South Wales | Crimes Act 1900 s 31C | Aiding or abetting suicide | We could not confirm the current wording or penalties: the NSW legislation website could not be read on 23 October 2026 |
| Commonwealth (phone and internet) | Criminal Code ss 474.29A, 474.29B | Using a phone or internet service for material that counsels or incites suicide, or that promotes or gives instructions on a particular method, intending it to be used that way; possessing, producing or supplying such material for that purpose | A fine of up to 1,000 penalty units |
How the offences work
- Suicide itself is not a crime. Victoria's Crimes Act (s 6A) and the ACT's (s 16) say the old rule making it a crime is abolished, and South Australia's law says it is not an offence to commit or attempt suicide (s 13A(1)). The Queensland, Western Australian, Tasmanian and Northern Territory codes contain no offence of attempting suicide in their homicide chapters.
- The other person must usually act. In the Northern Territory, the offence needs an intention to assist or encourage, and the other person must die by suicide or attempt it as a result; attempting the offence is not itself an offence. Victoria's and the ACT's inciting and counselling offences likewise apply only where a suicide or an attempt follows.
- Suicide pacts. In Victoria, a survivor who caused the other person's death under a suicide pact is guilty of manslaughter rather than murder, with a maximum of 10 years, and a person who aids or abets under a pact is guilty of being a party to a suicide pact (5 years). South Australia also reduces murder to manslaughter for a survivor of a pact, but treats any third party to the killing as a murderer.
- Preventing a suicide. South Australia (s 13A(2)) and the ACT (s 18) expressly allow a person to use reasonable force to prevent a suicide they believe on reasonable grounds is about to happen.
- Voluntary assisted dying is governed by each state's own voluntary assisted dying law, not by these offences. South Australia's Criminal Law Consolidation Act says a death by a voluntary assisted dying substance under its Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 is not suicide (s 13A(12)). If your question is about assisted dying, get advice on that state's law.
- Online discussion. The Commonwealth offences do not catch public discussion or debate about euthanasia or suicide, or advocating law reform, unless the person intends the material to be used to counsel or incite suicide, or to promote or instruct on a method (s 474.29A(3), (4)).
Support services
| Service | Contact | When |
|---|---|---|
| Lifeline (crisis support) | 13 11 14; text 0477 13 11 14 | Any time, day or night |
| Suicide Call Back Service (phone and online counselling) | 1300 659 467 | Any time, day or night |
| 13YARN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis support) | 13 92 76; text 0447 13 92 76 | Calls any time; texts 4pm to midnight |
| Kids Helpline (young people) | 1800 55 1800 | Any time, day or night |
| Beyond Blue Support Service | 1300 22 4636 | Any time, day or night |
| Emergency | 000 | If a life is in danger |
How Go To Court Lawyers can help
Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in your state is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. If you have been charged with an offence relating to suicide, or a death has led to a police investigation, the lawyer can explain the charge, the process and your options. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.
General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) (amendments as at 30 September 2026), the Criminal Code (Qld) (current as at 1 June 2026), the Criminal Code (WA) (as at 1 May 2026), the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) (version of 1 July 2026), the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) (republication 155, effective 23 February 2026), the Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) (version current from 23 December 2025), the Criminal Code Act 1983 (NT) (as in force at 12 October 2026) and the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (compilation 174, 30 June 2026), and the websites of Lifeline, the Suicide Call Back Service, 13YARN, Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue, on 23 October 2026. The Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) could not be read on the NSW legislation website that day; section 31C is named as the NSW aid-and-abet offence in a NSW Parliament question of 2003.