Indigenous Australians make up more than quarter of Australia's prisoner population.
And new data from the West Australian Department of Corrective Services suggest that that gross over-representation could be exacerbated by policies in WA locking up people over unpaid fines.
The department's figures show that between 2008 and 2014 numbers soared from 194 incarcerated fine-defaulters to over 1000.
In the same period, the number of Aboriginal people held for unpaid fines jumped from 101 to 590.
Gerry Georgatos is a senior researcher in custodial systems and a prison reform advocate.
He told Widyan Al Ubudy the figures are a reminder of government failures to address Indigenous prison rates.
