Some 82 people died in custody in 2020/21

Some 82 deaths were recorded, down by 31 from the previous year, the Australian Institute of Criminology said.

Of those who died, 15 were Indigenous and 67 were non-Indigenous, the data gathered under the AIC-coordinated National Deaths in Custody Program shows.

Some 66 people died in prison custody, 12 of whom were Indigenous.

"Of the deaths for which manner of death was known, natural causes were the most common," the AIC said on Thursday.

While Indigenous people were less likely than non-Indigenous to die as a proportion of prisoners, they were more likely to die as a proportion of the general population.

Sixteen deaths occurred in police custody, including three Indigenous people and 13 non-Indigenous.

Fifteen of those deaths occurred while police were detaining or attempting to detain an individual, including six of which involved a shooting.

Half the police custody deaths occurred in New South Wales, with four in Queensland, three in Victoria and one in Tasmania.

NSW also recorded the most deaths in prison custody - 29 - followed by 13 in Western Australia and 10 in Victoria.

Queensland had nine deaths in prison custody, South Australia reported four and the Northern Territory one.

Five of the prisoners who died in custody were women and 61 were men, while the median age of these prisoners was 53.

A cause of death was recorded in 59 of the 66 prison deaths, with 61 per cent dying from natural causes and 27 per cent "due to hanging and related complications" - the highest number in almost 20 years.

Seven died from external trauma, including head injuries and gunshot wounds, or alcohol or drug-related reasons.

Half of the prisoners died in their cell, with 32 per cent of deaths occurring at a public hospital and 15 per cent at a prison hospital.

Most of these deaths were at government-run prisons, 79 per cent, with 21 per cent at a private facilities.

In the 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, there have been 489 Indigenous deaths in custody.

These include 320 in prison, 165 in police custody or custody-related operations and four in youth detention.

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Australian Associated Press