Description

The National Deaths in Custody Program has monitored the extent and nature of deaths occurring in prison, police custody and youth detention in Australia since 1980. The Australian Institute of Criminology has coordinated the program since its establishment in 1992, the result of a recommendation made the previous year by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

The most recent National Deaths in Custody Program Statistical Report Deaths in custody in Australia 2021–22 shows that:

• In the 31 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991), there have been 516 Indigenous deaths in custody.
• In 2021–22, there were 106 deaths in custody: 84 in prison custody and 22 in police custody and custody-related operations. Of these, there were 16 Indigenous deaths in prison custody and eight Indigenous deaths in police custody.
• Of the 10 Indigenous deaths in prison custody where cause of death information was available, five were due to natural causes, four to hanging and related complications and one to alcohol and/or drugs.
• Of the 54 non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody where cause of death information was available, 43 were due to natural causes, 10 to hanging and related complications and one due to other or multiple causes.
• In 2021–22, there were six police shootings and one self-inflicted shooting in police custody. Two of the six police shootings were Indigenous deaths and four were non-Indigenous deaths.