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The tally of Indigenous people dying while in detention in Australia has reached its highest point since official data started in 1980.

New data reveal that 33 of the 113 individuals who died in detention in the 12-month period leading up to June have been identified as Indigenous. This represents an rise from 24 deaths in the preceding equivalent period.

Indigenous Australian people remain grossly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. They make up over 33% of all incarcerated individuals, even though comprising less than four per cent of the country's population.

These disturbing figures come to light more than three decades after a landmark royal commission into First Nations deaths in custody, which put forward numerous of recommendations.

Detailed Analysis of the Latest Figures

Of the 33 Indigenous deaths in custody logged between last July and this June, twenty-six took place while in a correctional facility, which is an rise from 18 in the prior year.

A single death occurred in a juvenile facility, and the vast majority of the individuals were male.

The remaining six deaths happened in police custody, defined as when someone dies while police are holding or attempting to detain them.

The leading reason of First Nations deaths was categorised as "self-harm," followed by "illness." The data found that hanging was the cause in eight of the cases.

Geographic Breakdown

The Australian state of New South Wales recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in correctional facilities with nine, then Western Australia with six. Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory each had three deaths.

The growing number of First Nations deaths in custody in New South Wales is a "deeply distressing tragedy," the state's chief medical examiner has remarked.

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

Profile Details and Academic Response

The mean age of those who died was 45 years, and 11 of the individuals were still waiting for a sentence.

A university expert, Amanda Porter, characterised the data as reflecting a "national crisis" that needs "decisive action and political action."

Ms. Porter, who has been present at several official inquiries with grieving families, stated little has changed since the 1991 national inquiry that was established to tackle this crisis.

"It's maddening to see the quantity of investigations I attend, the many funerals families have to attend, and the fact that we are three decades past the royal commission, and the problem is getting progressively more severe," she noted.

Since the royal commission, a approximately 600 Indigenous people have died in custody, which encompasses six in youth detention, as per the findings.