LIAC Crime Library

Heather Osland was found guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court in 1996 of killing her husband in July 1990. She used the defence of ‘battered woman syndrome’ to justify the murder. Her defence was unsuccessful and the case launched a women’s rights campaign, sparking reform of homicide defences in Victoria. Under the reforms victims of family violence who kill their partners are able to claim delf-defence even if they were not facing immediate danger at the time.

• R v Osland [1998] 2 VR 636; (1997) 95 A Crim R 479, 1 August 1997, is not available on Austlii but is available on LexisNexis Unreported Judgments. (State Library.)
• Osland v R (1998) 197 CLR 316; (1998) 159 ALR 170; [1998] HCA 75

1. Newspaper articles on Proquest ANZ Newsstand, available remotely to registered clients of the State Library of NSW. Type in heather osland.

2. Journal articles on AGISPlus, available remotely to registered clients of the State Library of NSW. Type in heather osland.  

3. ‘Terms of Imprisonment’ Australian Story, 31 October 2005, full transcript of TV program.

4. “Women Who Kill in Self Defence Campaign: Release Heather Osland Campaign” (1998). (Available at the State Library.) 

Heather Osland

Evaluating the effectiveness of the law? 

These websites will help you find information about any issue you have identified from this case and background information that is helpful for evaluating the effectiveness of the legal system

Statistics can be helpful for evaluating the effectiveness of the legal system:

Updating or finding other cases:

Finding NSW legislation: