New AIC Publication: Deaths in custody in Australia 2017-18
The Deaths in custody in Australia 2017–18 Statistical Report describes the number, rate and nature of deaths in prison and police custody in Australia between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. The data are drawn from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Deaths in Custody Program, established in 1992 following recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Deaths in prison custody
There were 72 deaths in prison custody in 2017–18. Sixteen of these (22%) were of Indigenous persons.
The death rate of Indigenous prisoners was 0.14 per 100 prisoners compared with 0.18 per 100 prisoners for non-Indigenous prisoners.
Sixty-three percent (n=45) of prison custody deaths were attributable to natural causes. Seventeen percent (n=12)were attributable to hanging.
A third of prison custody deaths (n=24, 33%) were of unsentenced prisoners.
Deaths in police custody
There were 21 deaths in police custody in 2017–18, of which three were Indigenous persons.
Eight shooting deaths in police custody occurred in 2017–18. Seven were of non-Indigenous persons and the Indigenous status was not known for the eighth death.
