First Nations organizations are calling on the Federal Government to address human rights violations after Australia recorded the highest number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody in at least four decades,. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) extended condolences to the families and communities who have lost loved ones, following the release of devastating new national statistics. 

The national deaths in custody report by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), released yesterday, showed that 33 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people died in custody in 2024–2025. This figure marks the highest yearly death toll since the AIC began keeping records and is the largest number of Indigenous deaths in custody since the 1979–80 period,. Furthermore, the total is almost double the average recorded since 1989–90.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accounted for 29 percent of all deaths in custody in 2024–25, an increase from 23 percent the previous year and the highest proportion since 2002–03. Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), a total of 617 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody have been recorded.

Mass Incarceration Linked to Crisis

Nerita Waight, Acting Chair of NATSILS, stressed that this record number of deaths is not a coincidence. “There are more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison now than ever before,” said Ms Waight.

Ms Waight argued that state and territory governments are prioritizing “political point-scoring” by “openly pursuing and celebrating policies that throw our people behind bars,” and warned that these policies are costing lives. She also noted that incarceration makes people less safe by increasing their chance of becoming trapped in an ongoing cycle of crime, imprisonment, and trauma.

Failure to Implement 1991 Recommendations

NATSILS highlighted the failure of governments to implement key safety recommendations from the 1991 RCIADIC, stating that it is “utterly unacceptable that more than 30 years later we are still waiting”.

One critical example cited was the recommendation to remove hanging points from cells. Despite this longstanding guidance, Ms Waight noted that at least 75% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were unsentenced and died in custody last year passed away due to hanging and related complications.

Geographical Breakdown and Call for Prime Ministerial Leadership

The majority of the deaths occurred in prison custody, where 26 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died in 2024–25,. This is the highest number of Indigenous deaths in prison custody recorded since 1979–80.

New South Wales recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in prison custody, which is also the highest number recorded in that state since 1979–80. Western Australia recorded six deaths, followed by three each in Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory,.

NATSILS maintains that the key solution to reduce deaths in custody is putting an end to the mass incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, labeling prisons as “life-threatening places”. Ms Waight urged state and territory governments to stop passing laws that conflict with their obligations to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal legal system. Instead, she called on leaders to work in partnership with Aboriginal communities to implement evidence-based, community-led solutions that prevent people from entering the system in the first place.

Citing the failure of state and territory leaders to prioritize Indigenous lives, Ms Waight concluded by calling for urgent leadership from the Prime Minister “to end this national crisis on justice”.