Outgoing Extradition Requests

The AFP and other relevant Australian agencies including state and territory police where the alleged offence falls under their jurisdiction do the investigative groundwork, but the formal decision to seek extradition, and the request itself, is made at the Attorney-General’s Department level.

The one significant exception to this is New Zealand: extradition between Australia and New Zealand is administered directly by police forces and prosecuting authorities in the two countries under a separate, streamlined scheme, rather than running through the Attorney-General’s Department in the ordinary way.

The CDPP also has a role in this process, though a more limited one than people sometimes assume. For Commonwealth criminal matters, the CDPP’s international work is confined to requesting that extradition be sought, it doesn’t run the request itself, since that function sits with the Attorney-General’s Department for every country except New Zealand. Some outgoing extradition matters can take years to resolve, and the CDPP’s involvement typically continues throughout, both in coordinating the request and later in prosecuting the matter once the person is returned.

What the Request Must Contain

Before Australia can ask another country to hand someone over, the request has to satisfy both the requirements of the Extradition Act itself and any additional requirements set out in the specific treaty or arrangement Australia has with that country. In broad terms, the material typically includes:

• identifying details of the person sought;
• a description of the offence they’re alleged to have committed (or, where they’ve already been convicted, details of the conviction and sentence);
• a written statement describing the conduct alleged, along with the applicable penalty for that conduct; and
• the relevant arrest warrant.

One point worth understanding clearly: the evidentiary threshold Australia must meet doesn’t come from Australia’s own rules, it is set by the domestic law of whichever country Australia is asking to hand the person over. Some countries require only a written statement describing the alleged conduct, without demanding proof of the allegations themselves. Others, particularly non-treaty partners or countries with a more evidence-based extradition tradition, may require Australia to establish something closer to a genuine case against the person before they will agree to surrender them. This is the reverse of the position Australia takes toward countries requesting extradition from us, where Australia generally applies a ‘no evidence’ standard of its own, accepting a statement of conduct without requiring proof. When Australia is the one asking, it has no control over how demanding the other country’s threshold will be.

Treaty and Non-Treaty Arrangements

Whether a foreign country will actually act on Australia’s request often comes down to whether a treaty exists between the two countries. Australia can make an extradition request to any country, but in the absence of a treaty, whether the request will be accepted depends entirely on the domestic laws of that country. Where a bilateral or multilateral extradition treaty is in place, Australia’s treaty partners generally have an obligation to consider the request; where no treaty exists, cooperation becomes a matter of that country’s discretion and its own domestic legal framework.

Australia’s extradition relationships fall into several categories under regulations made pursuant to the Act, the Attorney-General’s Department describes five broad categories in total. Based on the available information, these appear to include: countries with dedicated bilateral extradition treaties (a long list spanning nations including the United States, France, India, and Indonesia); countries whose treaty obligations were inherited from earlier historical arrangements, often dating back to agreements made through the United Kingdom; Commonwealth countries covered by the non-binding London Scheme for Extradition; countries covered by multilateral treaties with extradition obligations targeting specific categories of crime, such as terrorism; and countries with non-treaty arrangements, where cooperation proceeds on a discretionary, case-by-case basis rather than under a binding agreement. Which category a given country falls into can affect both the procedural requirements for a request and how readily that country cooperates in practice.

Interpol Red Notices

Alongside the formal extradition request itself, Australian authorities frequently make use of Interpol Red Notices as a complementary tool when a person wanted for a serious offence has fled overseas and their location is unknown or uncertain. A Red Notice is an international alert asking law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. It isn’t itself an extradition request or an international arrest warrant in the formal legal sense, but it plays a significant practical role in tracking down individuals across borders and can trigger a person’s detention in a foreign country while the formal extradition process is set in motion.

How the Request Is Transmitted and Assessed

Once the ICCCA has prepared and finalised the request, it is transmitted through diplomatic channels to the requested country’s own central authority for extradition matters. From that point, what happens next depends entirely on the domestic extradition law of the country being asked to surrender the person, Australia has no control over the process once the request lands in another country’s system.

Most foreign extradition systems, much like Australia’s own, involve some form of judicial or administrative hearing in which the requested country determines whether the legal threshold for extradition has been met. This typically includes an assessment of matters such as dual criminality, whether the alleged conduct would also be a criminal offence in that country, along with the requested country’s own domestic protections, which often include scrutiny of whether the person would face humane treatment, a fair trial, and appropriate prison conditions if returned to Australia. Some countries also apply protections against extradition where the offence could carry the death penalty, requiring an assurance from Australia that this won’t be sought or carried out, given Australia has abolished capital punishment.

After the Request Is Granted

If the requested country determines that extradition should proceed, the practical logistics of returning the person to Australia are then coordinated by the AFP, often working alongside Australian diplomatic staff based in that country and the foreign law enforcement or corrections authorities responsible for physically delivering the person into Australian custody. Once the person arrives back in Australia, they are handed over to the relevant Australian authorities,  whether that’s state or territory police for a state offence, or Commonwealth authorities where the CDPP is prosecuting a Commonwealth matter, to face the charges against them, or to resume serving a sentence already imposed.

Timeframes and Practical Realities

It’s worth being realistic about how long this process can take. Extradition cases, whether incoming or outgoing, often take years rather than months to resolve, particularly where the requested country’s own courts allow for multiple stages of review or appeal, or where diplomatic negotiations over conditions (such as death penalty assurances or prisoner treatment guarantees) need to be resolved first. Anyone affected by an outgoing extradition request, whether as a victim awaiting justice, a family member, or a person named in such a request, should expect a lengthy and procedurally complex process, and should seek experienced legal guidance to understand where things stand at any given stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can any Australian police officer or prosecutor request extradition on their own initiative?
No. Under the Extradition Act, Australian extradition requests can only be made by the Attorney-General. Police and prosecuting agencies carry out the investigation and build the case, but the formal request is made through the Attorney-General’s Department, specifically the International Crime Cooperation Central Authority.

What if Australia doesn’t have a treaty with the country the person has fled to?
Australia can still make a request to any country in the world, treaty or no treaty. Without a treaty in place, however, whether that country actually agrees to extradite the person depends entirely on its own domestic laws, there’s no guarantee, and no external obligation forcing that country’s hand.

Does Australia have to prove the person is guilty before another country will extradite them?
Not in the sense of a full trial. Australia’s general position when requesting extradition is a “no evidence” standard, a written statement describing the alleged conduct is required, but Australia is not required to provide proof of the allegations to the requested country’s satisfaction. The actual determination of guilt or innocence happens later, once the person is returned to face the Australian courts.

What’s the difference between an Interpol Red Notice and a formal extradition request?
A Red Notice is an international alert asking other countries’ law enforcement to locate and provisionally arrest a person, it’s a practical tool for tracking someone down, not a legal extradition request in itself. The formal extradition process, with its own legal thresholds and treaty requirements, is a separate step that follows.

How long does an outgoing extradition case typically take?

Often years, not months. Multiple layers of review in the requested country’s own legal system, diplomatic negotiations over conditions such as death penalty assurances, and the sheer administrative complexity of cross-border cooperation all add to the timeline.

Is extradition the same as deportation?

No, and the two are often confused. Extradition is the formal government-to-government process of sending someone to face prosecution or serve a sentence for a specific alleged crime. Deportation, by contrast, is the removal of a person who has no lawful right to remain in a country, and is generally unrelated to any specific criminal charge.

What happens once the person is actually returned to Australia?

They’re handed over to the relevant Australian authorities to face the process that was pending before they left, whether that means standing trial, or resuming a sentence they had not yet completed. Which authority takes custody depends on whether the matter is a state or Commonwealth one.