Overview
- Official data record 113 deaths in custody in 2024–25, including 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the highest Indigenous count since monitoring began in 1979–80.
- Ninety deaths occurred in prison custody, 22 in police custody and one in youth detention, with 26 Indigenous deaths in prisons and six in police settings.
- The AIC notes 53% of Indigenous prisoner deaths with a known cause were self‑inflicted, with especially high rates of hanging among people held on remand.
- Jurisdictional counts were concentrated in New South Wales and the ACT, with NSW leading prison deaths and the ACT logging an unusually high three Indigenous prisoner deaths.
- Advocates and political leaders condemned the findings and urged urgent implementation of Royal Commission recommendations as the post‑1991 Indigenous toll reached about 617.