Indigenous advocates and families say tallying Australian deaths in custody does not address fundamental causes

‘I want to see the day when deaths in custody stop,’ says nephew of David Dungay Jr, who died in police custody in 2015

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Indigenous deaths in custody must stop rather than just be counted, families and advocates say as the government announced a real-time database to collect all custodial deaths as they happen.

The federal government revealed the new deaths in custody reporting system on Wednesday, with states and territories agreeing to provide more up-to-date figures on people dying in state and territory watch-houses, police stations, prisons and detention centres.