The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying in police custody has doubled since 2007.

The overall rate of deaths in police custody for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is at its highest in more than a decade, with NSW the most likely place for someone to die, according to Productivity Commission data released on Monday.

Nationally, a total of 40 people died in the custody of police between July 2022 and June 2023, and a quarter of them were Indigenous – five in Queensland, four in NSW and one in South Australia.

In 2007-2008, two First Nations Australians died in South Australia, two in the Northern Territory and one in Queensland.

The report does not disclose whether the deaths occurred in close contact with officers, such as at a station or in a police vehicle, or in custody-related operations such as a siege or pursuit.

The data comes amid increasing calls for action from the families of those who died in custody, including during Friday’s Invasion Day protests.

Paul Silva, the nephew of David Dungay Jr whose dying words were “I can’t breathe”, told the Sydney rally his mob wanted justice and accountability for their people.

Paul Silva (centre), the nephew of David Dungay Jr, called for justice at an Invasion Day rally. Photo: AAP

Nadine Dodd, the mother of WA teenager Cleveland Dodd – found unresponsive at Perth’s Casuarina prison in October 2023 – said governments were to blame for “commission after commission” that did not bring justice to grieving families.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were also over-represented in deaths from unnatural causes while in prison (suicide, drug overdoses, injury or homicide), with six out of 15 deaths in 2022-23.

According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, 70 people overall in the same period died in the nation’s prisons, 21 of them who were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Perceptions of police integrity are meanwhile at record lows with public belief in the honesty of the force dropping 10 points from a decade ago to 66.5 per cent.

The notion police “treat people fairly and equally” has also sunk, with less than two-thirds of people (63.6 per cent) agreeing with the statement and all states recording a fall in trust.

The responses, drawn from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing, also note overall lows in public satisfaction with police services.

The report also showed South Australia has the most police officers per capita of all states in Australia.

The report showed there are 238 operational sworn staff per 100,000 people in South Australia, compared to the national average of 221 staff.

The State Government last year committed another $12 million in the state budget to an accelerated police recruitment course to hire 900 new police officers over three years.

Minister for Police and Correctional Services Joe Szakacs welcomed the government services report, saying that it “shows that our plan to get more police officers on the beat is working, and we’re committed to recruiting 300 more each year over three years”.

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– with AAP