Overview
- Official data show 113 deaths in custody in 2024–25, including 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the highest Indigenous toll since national monitoring began in 1979–80.
- Deaths included 90 in prisons, 22 in police custody and one in youth detention, with Indigenous people accounting for 29% of all prison deaths for the year.
- More than 40% of prison deaths involved people who had not been sentenced, and where recorded, most Indigenous prison deaths were self-inflicted, with 75% of known remand cases attributed to hanging.
- New South Wales recorded nine Indigenous prison deaths in 2024–25, Western Australia six, and the ACT three, with no Indigenous prison deaths reported in Tasmania or the Northern Territory.
- The tally of Indigenous deaths in custody since the 1991 royal commission stands near 600, with the AIC dashboard showing 617, as families and legal advocates call the fatalities preventable and urge overdue safeguards such as removing hanging points.