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The count of First Nations people dying while in detention in Australia has climbed to its peak point since records started in 1980.

New data reveal that 33 of the 113 people who died in detention in the 12-month period ending in June have been identified as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. This marks an increase from 24 fatalities in the previous corresponding period.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain disproportionately represented in the justice system. They make up over 33% of all incarcerated individuals, despite comprising less than four per cent of the national people.

These sobering figures come to light more than three decades after a seminal royal commission into First Nations deaths in custody, which put forward numerous of proposed changes.

Breakdown of the Recent 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 previous year.

A single death occurred in a juvenile facility, and all except one of the individuals were men.

The remaining six fatalities happened in police custody, defined as a situation where someone dies while police are detaining them.

The primary cause of Indigenous deaths was categorised as "self-inflicted," followed by "illness." The data noted that hanging was the cause in eight of the cases.

Geographic Breakdown

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

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

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

Demographic Information and Academic Response

The average age of those who died was 45 years, and 11 of the deceased were awaiting a court sentencing.

A criminal law associate professor, Amanda Porter, described the data as reflecting a "national crisis" that requires "leadership and government action."

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

"It's maddening to see the quantity of inquests I attend, the many funerals families have to attend, and the reality that we are three decades past the inquiry, and the problem is getting increasingly more severe," she noted.

From the time of the royal commission, a approximately 600 Indigenous people have died in detention, which encompasses six in youth detention, according to the report.