🔗 Share this article

The tally of Indigenous people losing their lives while in detention in Australia has hit its highest point since records started in 1980.

Fresh figures indicate that 33 of the 113 people who died in detention in the 12-month period ending in June were Indigenous. This marks an increase from 24 deaths in the previous corresponding period.

Indigenous Australian people remain disproportionately overrepresented in the criminal justice system. They make up more than one-third of all prisoners, despite comprising under 4% of the national people.

These concerning numbers emerge more than three decades after a pivotal inquiry into First Nations deaths in custody, which put forward numerous of proposed changes.

Breakdown of the Latest Figures

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

A single death was in a juvenile facility, and all except one of the deceased were male.

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

The primary reason of Indigenous deaths was classified as "self-harm," with "natural causes." The data found that asphyxiation was the method 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 all recorded three deaths.

The growing number of First Nations deaths in custody in New South Wales is a "profoundly distressing reality," the state's chief medical examiner recently stated.

In a recent statement, Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan stressed that this upward trend was not "mere statistics" and that these deaths required "independent and careful examination, respect and responsibility."

Demographic Details and Academic Reaction

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

A criminal law associate professor, Amanda Porter, described the data as representing a "country-wide emergency" that needs "leadership and political action."

Ms. Porter, who has attended several official inquiries with bereaved families, stated very little has improved since the 1991 national inquiry that aimed to address this crisis.

"It's infuriating to see the number of investigations I attend, the number memorials families have to attend, and the reality that we are 30 years after the royal commission, and the problem is getting increasingly worse," she noted.

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