Indigenous deaths in custody rise to 516 since royal commission

More than 500 Indigenous people have died in custody in the three decades since a royal commission aimed at preventing Indigenous deaths in the justice system.

The latest Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) figures show there were 106 deaths in custody from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, up by 23 on the previous reporting period.

The total included the deaths of 24 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The grim toll brings the amount of Indigenous deaths since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991 to 516.

The report handed down from the 1991 royal commission said while Indigenous people were no more likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous people, they were far more likely to be arrested and imprisoned.

The AIC says that’s still the case three decades later.

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