Two Indigenous people have died in custody in NSW in the past week but the deaths only came to light when a bureaucrat was questioned in a parliamentary hearing.
An Indigenous man in his mid-30s died last Tuesday at Long Bay Hospital, which treats NSW prisoners.
Authorities believe his death was "natural" and that he had "multiple" medical issues.
"It was identified by Health and by our staff supervising him when he actually was unresponsive and then obviously support was immediately provided," Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin told a Budget Estimates session on Tuesday.
An Indigenous woman in her mid-50s died in her cell at Silverwater Women's Prison three days later.
Mr Severin said it's believed she killed herself.
Both deaths will be referred to the coroner.
The NSW government did not notify the public or the media of the deaths, with the latter only revealed during questioning at Budget Estimates by Greens MP David Shoebridge.
The government does not publicise deaths in custody, Mr Severin said.
It was "not appropriate" to advise the public of deaths without any detail and "cause a lot of anger, a lot of angst and a lot of grief", he said.
The government does inform the Aboriginal Legal Service and Department of Aboriginal Affairs of Indigenous deaths in custody, Mr Severin said.
Mr Shoebridge criticised the failure to notify the public.
"Two First Nations deaths in a single week is devastating and the government's new policy of secrecy only adds to the growing concern about First Nations deaths in custody," he said in a statement.
"The government's response to the Black Lives Matter movement has not been to address deaths in custody but to hide them from public scrutiny."
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