NSW records 66 custody and police operation deaths in 2025, a new high despite safety investments

A coroner’s court report released this week confirms that New South Wales recorded a total of sixty‑six deaths occurring within custodial settings and police‑related operations during the calendar year 2025, representing an increase of eighteen fatalities compared with the preceding year and establishing a new statutory high. Among these fatalities, nearly twenty‑four percent were classified as self‑inflicted, with the overwhelming majority of those cases involving hanging, a method that persisted despite the allocation of several million dollars toward the removal of ligature points within detention facilities, thereby exposing a disjunction between policy intent and practical outcome. Further, the report underscores that a disproportionate share of the deaths involved Indigenous Australians, a demographic historically over‑represented in custodial statistics, thus reinforcing concerns about systemic bias and the adequacy of protective measures.

That the substantial financial investment intended to eliminate ligature hazards failed to curtail the prevalence of hanging deaths points to either incomplete implementation of the prescribed modifications, insufficient monitoring of compliance, or a more fundamental disregard for the procedural rigor necessary to safeguard detainees, all of which reflect institutional shortcomings. Moreover, the persistence of self‑harm incidents within a system that ostensibly prioritises risk mitigation suggests a gap between the articulated safety agenda and the operational realities on the ground, a discrepancy that is unlikely to be remedied without a transparent audit of both policy application and staff training practices.

In sum, the record number of custodial deaths recorded in 2025, combined with the continued occurrence of preventable self‑inflicted fatalities, illustrates a pattern of systemic inertia that undermines public confidence in the criminal justice apparatus and signals a pressing need for comprehensive reform that addresses not merely the physical environment but also the underlying cultural and administrative deficiencies that have allowed such outcomes to become, regrettably, predictable.

Published: May 1, 2026