🔗 Share this article

The number of Indigenous people losing their lives while in custody in Australia has climbed to its record point since official data started in 1980.

Fresh figures reveal that 33 of the 113 individuals who died in detention in the year leading up to June were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. This marks an uptick from 24 deaths in the prior equivalent period.

Indigenous Australian people are grossly represented in the criminal justice system. They constitute more than one-third of all prisoners, despite representing less than four per cent of the country's people.

These disturbing figures come to light more than three decades after a seminal royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody, which made hundreds of recommendations.

Breakdown of the Recent Figures

Of the 33 Aboriginal deaths in custody logged between last July and this June, 26 took place while in a correctional facility, which is an rise from 18 in the previous year.

One death was in a juvenile facility, and the vast majority of the deceased were male.

The other six fatalities happened in police custody, defined as a situation where someone passes away while police are detaining them.

The main reason of First Nations deaths was classified as "self-inflicted," with "natural causes." The report found that hanging was the cause in eight of the deaths.

State-by-State Breakdown

The state of New South Wales had the greatest number of Aboriginal deaths in prison custody with nine, followed by Western Australia with six. Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory each had three deaths.

The increasing number of Indigenous deaths in custody in New South Wales is a "profoundly distressing tragedy," the state's chief medical examiner recently said.

In a recent statement, Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan stressed that this upward pattern was not "just statistics" and that these deaths required "independent and careful scrutiny, respect and responsibility."

Profile Details and Expert Reaction

The average age of those who died was 45 years, and 11 of the individuals were still waiting for a sentence.

A university expert, Amanda Porter, characterised the figures as representing a "national emergency" that needs "leadership and political action."

Ms. Porter, who has attended several coronial inquests with bereaved families, said very little has improved since the 1991 royal commission that was established to tackle this issue.

"It's maddening to see the quantity of investigations I attend, the many memorials families have to attend, and the fact that we are three decades after the royal commission, and the situation is getting progressively worse," she noted.

Since the landmark inquiry, a total of 600 First Nations people have died in detention, which encompasses six in youth detention, according to the report.