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

New data indicate that 33 of the 113 people who died in custody in the year ending in June were Indigenous. This represents an increase from 24 fatalities in the previous equivalent period.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain severely represented in the criminal justice system. They make up more than one-third of all incarcerated individuals, even though comprising under 4% of the national population.

These sobering figures come to light more than three decades after a seminal royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody, which made numerous of recommendations.

Detailed Analysis of the Recent Figures

Of the 33 Indigenous deaths in custody recorded between last July and this June, 26 took place while in prison custody, which is an increase from 18 in the prior year.

One death was in youth detention, and the vast majority of the deceased were men.

The remaining six fatalities took place in the custody of law enforcement, defined as when someone dies while police are holding or attempting to detain them.

The leading cause of First Nations deaths was classified as "self-inflicted," with "natural causes." The data noted that asphyxiation was the method in eight of the deaths.

Geographic Breakdown

The Australian state of New South Wales recorded the highest number of Aboriginal deaths in prison custody 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 this state is a "profoundly distressing reality," the state's chief medical examiner recently stated.

In October, Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan stressed that this upward trend was not "mere statistics" and that these deaths demanded "independent and careful examination, dignity and responsibility."

Demographic Details and Academic Response

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

A criminal law expert, Amanda Porter, characterised the figures as representing a "national emergency" that requires "decisive action and political action."

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

"It's maddening to see the quantity of investigations I attend, the number funerals families have to attend, and the reality that we are 30 years after the inquiry, and the problem is getting increasingly more severe," she noted.

Since the royal commission, a approximately 600 Indigenous people have lost their lives in detention, which includes six in juvenile detention centers, according to the findings.