An inquest has found the death in custody of Wiradjuri woman Rebecca Maher was accidental, but failure by police to conduct a body search may have cost the 36-year-old her life.

Ms Maher's death was the first Aboriginal death in NSW Police custody since 2000.

The 36-year-old died in the early hours of July 19, 2016 from multi-drug toxicity after being picked up heavily intoxicated in Cessnock in the NSW Hunter Region.

She was held in a cell at Maitland police station for six hours before she was found unresponsive and pronounced dead.

Ms Maher was found with two bottles of pills, including the anti-anxiety medication Alprazolam, which she had been prescribed earlier that day.

It was ruled on Friday that police failed to properly search Ms Maher over unfounded concerns she had HIV.

Acting State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan noted that had the police conducted an adequate search, Ms Maher may have been able to receive the medical care she required.

The inquest heard from emergency medicine expert, Dr John Vinen, who said in a report to the court that Ms Maher "would have survived" if paramedics were called and she had been transported to hospital.

Protesters held a rally in Newcastle calling for police to be held accountable. ( Dom Vukovic )

The coroner recommended police receive further training on how to adequately deal with people suspected of having potentially infectious diseases.

She also said Ms Maher should not have been prescribed the Alprazolam because she had a history of drug addiction.

She recommended the actions of the GP be investigated and said she would pass her findings to the medical council.

Outside Newcastle Courthouse, Indigenous campaigner Aunty Tracey Henshaw said the recommendations were meaningless.

"Everybody that does a job has policies that they have to adhere to. The police should not because they wear a uniform be not made accountable for their policies," she said.

Magistrate O'Sullivan stopped short of attributing direct blame for Ms Maher's death, but made further recommendations that intoxicated Aboriginal people held by police have the same access to legal services through the custody notification service as people who have been arrested.

The service offers 24-hour legal advice for Aboriginal people taken into custody and was one of the key recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

At the time of Ms Maher's death, the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW called for an independent investigation into the death, also noting her family was not notified of her death until 12:20pm, six hours after it happened.