An Aboriginal woman who died in custody in NSW would have survived if police policies had not been breached, a coroner has found.
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Rebecca Lyn Maher, 36, was found dead in her holding cell at Maitland police station in July 2016.
An autopsy revealed Ms Maher died from mixed drug toxicity after taking a combination of methadone and benzodiazepines leading to respiratory failure.
She was detained by police for being intoxicated but had not been drinking. Two chemist pill bottles were found in one leg of her pants after her death.
In delivering her findings at Lidcombe on Friday, acting state coroner Teresa O'Sullivan said Ms Maher should have been searched and an ambulance should have been called.
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"If that had occurred, expert evidence suggests that Rebecca would have survived," she said.
"Rebecca was in a state where she should not have been kept in police detention but instead taken immediately to hospital."
The coroner said it was dangerous and inappropriate for police to think an intoxicated person could "sleep it off".
The coroner said the six-hour delay to notify Ms Maher's mother of her daughter's death was "troubling", noting the information relayed to her was "misleading" and not done by a commissioned officer.
Australian Associated Press
