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The count of First Nations people losing their lives while in detention in Australia has hit its highest point since official data began in 1980.

New data show that 33 of the 113 people who passed away in custody in the year ending in June were Indigenous. This represents an increase from 24 deaths in the preceding equivalent period.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain disproportionately overrepresented in the criminal justice system. They make up more than one-third of all prisoners, despite comprising under 4% of the country's population.

These concerning figures come to light over three decades after a seminal royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody, which made numerous of proposed changes.

Breakdown of the Recent Figures

Of the 33 Aboriginal deaths in custody logged between last July and this June, 26 took place while in prison custody, which is an rise from 18 in the previous year.

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

The other six fatalities took place in the custody of law enforcement, defined as a situation where someone passes away while police are holding or attempting to detain them.

The primary reason of First Nations deaths was classified as "self-harm," followed by "illness." The report noted that hanging was the cause in eight of the cases.

Geographic Breakdown

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

The increasing number of Indigenous deaths in custody in New South Wales is a "profoundly distressing tragedy," the state's chief medical examiner has said.

In October, Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan stressed that this upward trend was not "mere statistics" and that these deaths demanded "independent and careful examination, respect and responsibility."

Demographic Information and Expert Response

The mean age of those who died was 45, and eleven of the individuals were awaiting a sentence.

A criminal law associate professor, Amanda Porter, characterised the data as reflecting a "national emergency" that needs "leadership and political action."

Ms. Porter, who has been present at several official inquiries with bereaved families, stated little has improved since the 1991's national inquiry that was established to tackle this issue.

"It's infuriating to see the quantity of investigations I attend, the number memorials families have to attend, and the reality that we are three decades after the royal commission, and the situation is getting increasingly worse," she noted.

Since the royal commission, a approximately 600 First Nations people have lost their lives in custody, which encompasses six in youth detention, as per the report.