The Offence of Conspiracy to Murder in New South Wales

Detectives from New South Wales Police Taskforce Falcon have arrested and charged a woman over conspiracy to murder, in relation to a 2025 plot to kill a prominent western Sydney organised crime figure. The alleged plan was foiled after a police pursuit that year which took place across Dharug land, starting in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown and ending in Padstow, which police say turned up a handgun.

NSW police officers had approached a grey BMW sedan with fake numberplates on Bankstown’s Columbine Street at around 3pm on 26 September 2025. The BMW took off at highspeed, with the pursuit ending in Padstow for safety reasons. And a loaded handgun was later found discarded on Fairford Road. The BMW was then located abandoned on Beaconsfield Road in Revesby at 3.40 pm.

Taskforce Falcon detectives then took over the investigation to find several individuals who were involved in the various stages of planning the murder. This included setting up the vehicles to be used, surveilling the target, planning the getaway with drivers and the coordination of the hit. Six people have been charged in relation to the attempt to kill the prominent crime figure.

With the assistance of officers from Raptor Squad, Strike Force Encantado detectives executed a search warrant on Dharawal land at a premises in Ingleburn in Sydney’s southwest at 6.20 am last Friday, 9 October 2026. This saw the 30-year-old woman taken down to Campbelltown police station to be charged with conspiracy to murder and drive conveyance taken without consent of the owner.

Conspiring to kill

The 30-year-old woman has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, contrary to section 26 of the Crimes Act 1900 (Cth). This offence carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years imprisonment.

To see the offence of conspiracy to murder established, the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused and at least one other person conspired or agreed to commit murder or that the accused solicited, encouraged, persuaded, endeavoured to persuade or proposed to any person to commit such a murder.

Section 26 of the Crimes Act retains the original 1900 wording of the law, except for a later amendment to the penalty. This includes the archaic language in the phrase: “whether a subject of Her Majesty or not, and whether within the Queen’s dominions or not”. And often archaic language is updated to modern parlance in NSW lawmaking, unless the original still serves its purpose.

This phrase provides that the crime of conspiracy to murder has universal application and extraterritoriality. “A subject of Her Majesty or not” means that the murder target does not have to be an Australian citizen for these crimes to have been perpetrated. In terms of the effect of the term “Queen’s domain” on this law, it means the plan to kill can involve being outside of NSW or Australia.

Queen Victoria was the monarch referred to in the original drafting of this law. However, today, the monarch is King Charles III.

Section 16 of the Interpretations Act 1987 (NSW) explains that any NSW legislation featuring the phrase “a subject of Her Majesty” is referring to an Australian citizen or any British subject, while section 13 of that Act, provides that “a reference to the Sovereign is a reference to the Sovereign for the time being”. So, Her Majesty or Queen automatically refers to the presiding King, or His Majesty.

Defences against conspiracy to murder

There are a number of defences available to argue against a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

The defence of duress involves an accused asserting that they committed a crime in order to prevent a threat against themselves or a loved one. In terms of conspiracy to murder, it might be argued that the accused was planning to kill another person, because that other individual had been planning to kill them or one of their family members.

The withdrawal or abandonment defence is also open to a charge of conspiracy to murder under section 26. This defence involves the accused asserting that they withdrew from initial plans to commit a crime. In NSW, the defence of abandonment can be raised against inchoate offences, or incomplete crimes, which include those involving conspiracy, attempt and incitement.

Under section 418 of the Crimes Act, the defence of self-defence can also be argued against a charge of conspiracy to murder. Although arguing self-defence against conspiracy to murder is a difficult case to make. The issue involved in arguing self-defence when conspiring to murder is that the act of defence is usually against an imminent threat, whilst conspiring itself takes time and planning.

Further developments on conspiring to kill

As noted above, one amendment has been made to the text of section 26 of the Crimes Act, and this was in the late 1980s. The reform was part of a broader shift to “truth in sentencing”, under the NSW Greiner Coalition government, which progressed the Crimes (Life Sentences) Amendment Bill 1989 that resulted in life sentencing actually meaing for “the term of one’s natural life”.

Prior to the reform, the original section 26 text had included the punishment as the convicted person being “liable to penal servitude for life”. But after the 1989 reform, this changed to the offender being “liable to imprisonment for 25 years”.

During his 1989 second reading speech on the Life Sentences Bill, then NSW Liberal attorney general John Dowd explained that the government was moving to truth in sentencing for crimes involving murder, because up until that point, a sentence of life imprisonment was indeterminate, which meant decisions were often made to release offenders early.

So, all other crimes that didn’t involve a murder, including conspiracy to commit the crime, that had previously carried life as their maximum penalty, then had their maximum dropped down to 25 years gaol times.

Another major change to conspiracy to murder took place just last month, when the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Further Organised Crimes Reforms) Bill 2026 passed on 24 September 2026, and it inserted new section 26A into the Crimes Act, which carries the offence of aggravated conspiracy to murder. This has built upon the section 26 offence, and it carries life imprisonment.

This offence is part of the government’s crackdown on organised crime, and the circumstances of aggravation are related to organised crime. This includes the conspiracy involving two or more people or substantial planning, or organisation or systemic or continuing activity, or it was committed to obtain profit, power or influence or it was an act of retribution against a person or persons.

Subsection 26A(4) of the Crimes Act ensures that if a person stands trial for the section 26A offence, but the jury is not satisfied that the aggravated offence is made out, then it is open to the court to convict the accused on the section 26 offence of conspiracy to murder.

Image: Marble Arms Factory Worker Modelling Game Getter Gun 1909 is in the public domain