Lidia Thorpe demands Labor act on incarceration crisis, amid record number of Indigenous deaths in custody

Australia has recorded its highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in almost half a century, with independent senator Lidia Thorpe demanding the government take stronger action. From 2024-25, almost a third of the 113 deaths in custody were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, new Australian Institute of Criminology data shows. 29 per cent of prisoners who died in custody were Indigenous, marking the largest number of Indigenous prisoner deaths since records began in 1979–80. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also made up 27 per cent of deaths in police custody over the same time period. Senator Thorpe has branded the problem a “national disgrace” and called the AIC findings “horrific”. “There’s a sense of hopelessness among my people,” she told the ABC. “You know, having cousins of my own die at the hands of the system, deaths in custody, you never get over that. “And when you see more and more families affected, when does it end? “Healthcare in prisons does not happen. We know that people are dying from preventable deaths, and if we implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission, the 339 (recommendations), it’s not only going to save Aboriginal people’s lives, it’s going to save anybody’s lives who’s incarcerated.” The AIC’s findings come more than three decades after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down 339 recommendations in 1991. However national data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are still vastly over-represented in Australia’s prison system, making up 3.8 per cent of the national population but about a third of the prison population. Senator Thorpe, who is lobbying Labor to convene the national cabinet, said federal responses to vaping and the social media ban were examples of the states and territories being able to co-ordinate responses to urgent, national issues. “We need the same action to be taken on deaths in custody,” she said. This week also marked Victoria’s formal apology to Indigenous communities, which Senator Thorpe claimed felt “hollow” in light of the state’s passing of tough-on-crime laws, which she said disproportionately targeted First Nations people. “We saw (Victorian Premier) Jacinta Allan, again, apologise, where she’s being tough on crime and incarcerating more Aboriginal women than ever before,” she said. “We can’t have these hollow apologies. They’ve got to mean something, and we need action rather than words. “And incarceration and (child) removal rates are skyrocketing in Victoria. So what are you saying sorry for when you keep doing it? “We demand justice because we’re a dying race, and it’s literally killing us, these decisions that politicians are making in the lead-up to elections.” In an earlier statement, Senator Thorpe argued punitive actions such as prisons did not make communities safer. “This is not about safety. It is about punishment, control, politics and power,” she said. “Every piece of evidence shows it would be cheaper, safer, and more effective to invest in housing, bail services, income support, disability services and community-led services, not cages. “We’ve known what works for decades. What’s missing is the courage from Canberra to follow the evidence, stop this violence and protect our people. “Ending deaths in custody must be a priority for this government.”