🔗 Share this article

The number of First Nations people losing their lives while in detention in Australia has reached its highest point since records began in 1980.

Fresh statistics reveal that 33 of the 113 people who passed away in custody in the year leading up to June have been identified as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. This represents an increase from 24 deaths in the prior equivalent period.

Indigenous Australian people are severely represented in the justice system. They constitute more than one-third of all prisoners, despite representing less than four per cent of the national people.

These sobering statistics come to light more than three decades after a seminal royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody, which made hundreds of proposed changes.

Breakdown of the Recent Figures

Of the 33 Indigenous deaths in custody logged between last July and this June, twenty-six occurred while in a correctional facility, which is an increase from 18 in the prior year.

A single death occurred in youth detention, and all except one of the individuals were male.

The other six deaths happened in the custody of law enforcement, defined as when someone dies while police are detaining them.

The primary cause of Indigenous deaths was classified as "self-inflicted," followed by "natural causes." The data found that asphyxiation was the cause in eight of the cases.

Geographic Breakdown

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

The rising number of First Nations deaths in custody in New South Wales is a "deeply distressing milestone," the state's coroner recently said.

In a recent statement, Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan stressed that this rising trend was not "mere statistics" and that these deaths demanded "independent and careful examination, dignity and responsibility."

Demographic Details and Academic Response

The mean age of those who died was 45 years, and 11 of the individuals were awaiting a sentence.

A criminal law associate professor, Amanda Porter, characterised the data as representing a "national emergency" that requires "leadership and government action."

Ms. Porter, who has attended several official inquiries with grieving families, stated little has changed since the 1991 royal commission that was established to tackle this crisis.

"It's heartbreaking to see the number of inquests I attend, the number funerals families have to attend, and the reality that we are three decades after the inquiry, and the situation is getting progressively more severe," she noted.

From the time of the royal commission, a total of 600 Indigenous people have lost their lives in detention, which encompasses six in juvenile detention centers, as per the findings.