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New deaths in custody in Australia data released

New deaths in custody in Australia data released

Link to: Deaths in custody in Australia 2024–25

Data from the most recent National Deaths in Custody Program Statistical Report Deaths in custody in Australia 2024–25 show that:

There were 90 deaths in prison custody and one death in youth detention in 2024–25. Twenty-six of the prison custody deaths were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (29%), the highest number of Indigenous deaths in prison custody recorded since 1979–80. Sixty-four non-Indigenous people (71%) died in prison custody in 2024–25.
Forty-two percent (n=11) of Indigenous prisoners and 31 percent (n=20) of non-Indigenous prisoners who died in prison custody were unsentenced.
The most frequently recorded known manner of death for Indigenous prisoners in 2024–25 was self-inflicted (53%, n=10), followed by natural causes (42%, n=8). This is the highest number of self-inflicted Indigenous deaths in prison custody since 1979–80.
Natural causes was the most common manner of death among non-Indigenous prisoners (69%, n=36), followed by self-inflicted deaths
(29%, n=15).
There were 22 deaths in police custody and custody-related operations in 2024–25. Six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 16 non-Indigenous people died in police custody during this 12-month period.
Of the three Indigenous deaths in police custody for which coronial information about the manner of death was available, two were due to accident or misadventure and one was a justifiable homicide (occurring during a police shooting).
Of the 13 non-Indigenous deaths in police custody for which coronial information about the manner of death was available, eight (62%) were justifiable homicides (all police shootings), three (23%) were self-inflicted and two (15%) were due to accident or misadventure.

Read the AIC media release.

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