Indigenous deaths in custody highest since 1979-80

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 11/12/2025

INDIGENOUS deaths in custody have reached the highest number in 45 years, as three states and territories launch racist wars against children.

Victoria, Queensland, and the Northern Territory have all gone against the recommendations made by experts, and have introduced extremely tough legislation, which has disproportionately affected first nations children.

The Australian Institute for Criminology, a government association, has today released their yearly report into deaths in custody. finding that 133 people had died in custody in 2024-25, and, of those, 33 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, the highest rate since 1979-80, during the Fraser government.

This shows very immediately the consequences of the actions of the state and territory governments that have pursued "Adult Crime Adult Time" or similar legislation in the past year, and the racist backbone of these laws.

"The National Deaths in Custody Program (NDICP) continues to serve an important role in providing crucial insight into the nature of deaths occurring within custody Australia-wide,” said AIC Deputy Director Dr Rick Brown on the importance of the program.

The NDICP is extremely important to the understanding of legislation, and in this case, has proven that the legislation in Victoria, Queensland, and the NT is indeed bad legislation.