61.5

complaints per 100,000 people, 2024-25

Report on Government Services 2026, table 6A.11

125

deaths in police custody, 2007-08 to 2024-25

Report on Government Services 2026, table 6A.5

of those recorded as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

Counts as published; see the note on rates below

Complaints about NSW Police Force per 100,000 people, by year. Report on Government Services 2026, table 6A.11.

Complaints, year by year

Two bases are published. Per 100,000 people measures complaints against the population served. Per 100 sworn staff measures them against the size of the force, which is the fairer comparison if you are asking how often an individual officer is complained about.

Year	Complaints per 100,000 people	Complaints per 100 sworn staff
2015-16	43.0	20.3
2016-17	40.2	19.3
2017-18	37.1	17.9
2018-19	39.6	19.0
2019-20	51.2	23.9
2020-21	53.1	24.3
2021-22	60.9	28.4
2022-23	59.7	29.2
2023-24	62.0	32.6
2024-25	61.5	33.5

Deaths in police custody

Year	Deaths in police custody	Of which Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
2007-08	6	0
2008-09	6	0
2009-10	5	2
2010-11	6	1
2011-12	11	0
2012-13	6	0
2013-14	1	0
2014-15	7	0
2015-16	5	0
2016-17	6	3
2017-18	7	1
2018-19	5	1
2019-20	7	0
2020-21	7	2
2021-22	9	5
2022-23	17	4
2023-24	7	2
2024-25	7	3

These are counts as published, not rates. A rate would need a population denominator by Indigenous status, which we do not yet hold in a form we can recompute and check.

How to complain about NSW Police Force

A complaint normally starts with NSW Police Force itself, which has its own professional standards command. More serious allegations, and allegations of corruption, go to the state's independent body.

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is the independent oversight body for New South Wales: www.lecc.nsw.gov.au. Its powers differ from those of its counterparts in other states, so do not assume guidance written for another jurisdiction applies here.

A civil claim is a separate process from a complaint, brought in the courts of New South Wales under that jurisdiction's limitation rules. Those deadlines are strict and run whether or not a complaint is still being considered.

This is general information about how oversight is structured in New South Wales, not advice about any individual case.

New South Wales police in the news

The five most recent reports mentioning this force, collected automatically. Headlines and links belong to the publishers named. We do not edit, summarise or endorse them, and inclusion here does not imply any finding against anyone.

Government and police must take responsibility for Indigenous deaths in custody National Indigenous Times · 20 Aug 2026
Man Arrested After Escaping Custody at Manly Court Mirage News · 23 Jul 2026
Two men arrested after threatening Sydney Chabad securitywith fake gun on Shabba The Jerusalem Post · 5 Jul 2026
Woman denied bail after child found dead in NSW Central Coast home ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation · 4 Jul 2026
Independent watchdog needs teeth to tackle police violence in NSW National Indigenous Times · 25 Jun 2026

Sources. Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, Report on Government Services 2026, Part C Section 6 (Police Services). Licensed CC BY 4.0. Complaints table 6A.11, deaths in police custody table 6A.5. The per-100,000 and per-100-staff rates are the publisher's calculation. A complaints figure reflects what New South Wales records as a complaint, which differs between jurisdictions, so it is not directly comparable with another state without that caveat.

Data last refreshed 29 August 2026, covering 2015-16 to 2024-25. Every figure on this page is recomputed from the source datasets, not edited by hand. Found something wrong? Tell us.