Monitoring of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Deaths in Custody in Australia

• NCJ Number: 194158
• Author(s): Lisa Collins
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 12 pages
• Corporate Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: This paper was presented at the Best Practice Interventions in Corrections for Indigenous People Conference held in October 2001; see NCJ-194157 and NCJ-194159-162 for supporting papers. Downloaded 02/05/2002

Annotation

Using the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Deaths in Custody Program, this paper examined the long-term trends in Indigenous and non-Indigenous custodial deaths in Australia from 1980 to 2000.

Abstract

Monitoring Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths in prison and police custody and juvenile detention has been the mandate of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s (AIC) National Deaths in Custody Program (NDICP) since 1992. NDICP monitors the incidence of deaths in custody, conducts research, and reports on and provides information on the extent and nature of deaths in Australia. Two categories constitute death in police custody, death in institutional settings and deaths during custody-related police operations. This paper provided a statistical look at deaths in custody in Australia during 2000. Findings showed that Australia recorded 91 deaths in custody during 2000. This was an increase of six compared with the recorded deaths in 1999. Despite some yearly fluctuations, most of the basic patterns and trends of deaths in custody during this period remained similar to those in previous years. In summation, over the past 5 years, the nature of deaths in custody had remained relatively stable. The year 2000 was seen as no exception. Tables, figures, and references