Another Taser-related death in Australia has renewed debate about the powerful weapon and whether it is a safe option for police use.

The controversial US-manufactured product, which delivers a 50,000-volt electric shock, was initially sold in the United States to civilians.

Taser International formed in 1999 and began supplying its product to law enforcement agencies around the world.

Taser use varies across Australia, with some states and territories deploying the weapon among general duty officers and others restricting its use to specialist forces.

In the three years prior to 2011, Australian police forces purchased nearly 7,000 Tasers.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International have slammed the hundreds of Taser-related deaths around the world, saying the weapons "can kill and should only be used as a last resort".

The United Nations has said the use of a Taser amounts to torture.

But the company behind the product, Taser International, is adamant Tasers save lives. It says no coroner has ever found a Taser to be the cause of someone's death.

From death and injury to times when the weapon could have saved lives, ABC News Online looks back at how Tasers have made the news since their deployment in Australia.

March 18, 2012:

Roberto Laudisio Curti. ( Facebook )

Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti dies after being tasered by police in Sydney.

Police officers say Mr Laudisio Curti was resisting arrest, but detectives are looking into whether guidelines were breached.

Police had been investigating the theft of biscuits from a convenience store shortly before the incident.

The Brazilian student had been living with his sister and her Australian husband in Sydney since last winter, while studying English and playing soccer.

June 19 and September 6, 2011:

Greens MP David Shoebridge obtains figures from the NSW Police which show Taser use is on the rise in Australia, but gun use has remained steady.

October 5, 2010:

A Sydney man dies after being tasered by police in a confrontation during which he was brandishing two knives.

The man, who was trying to force his way into a home, was severely affected by alcohol at the time.

Further details of the death are yet to be released.

July 2010:

In Mount Gambier, South Australia, 30-year-old Corey Lovett is tasered after throwing knives at police and shouting "shoot me, shoot me".

A court later hears Lovett was taking alcohol and drugs at the time to deal with the death of his twin brother.

The judge arranges for Lovett to thank police for the way they handled the situation.

February 1, 2010:

A 44-year-old man suffers burns to his upper body when he locks himself inside a house in Forrestfield, Western Australia, and threatens to burn it down.

He spreads fuel throughout the house and tells officers he is going to get some matches. They force their way into the house and while attempting to arrest him, fire the Taser.

The electric current ignites the fuel, causing burns to 20 per cent of the man's body.

December 22, 2009:

A Sydney man is tasered at a carols by candlelight event after fighting breaks out among a group of drunk teenagers.

During the scuffle an officer is punched in the face. He then tasers his alleged attacker, bringing the 18-year-old man under control.

November 2009:

Adam Salter ( ABC News )

Adam Salter is shot in the back in the kitchen of his father's Lakemba home, south-western Sydney, by Sergeant Sheree Bissett as he stabs himself repeatedly in the chest.

Sergeant Bissett yells "Taser, Taser, Taser!" before firing the fatal gunshot.

Evidence shows that confusion may have come from carrying too many weapons, including a firearm and a similarly shaped Taser on her waist.

Mr Salter was on antidepressant medication at the time of his death, and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

A coroner finds the police intervention was an "utter failure".

July 20, 2009:

A man in Western Australia's Goldfields Aboriginal community of Warburton bursts into flames after police taser him while he is carrying a fuel container and a cigarette lighter.

The man suffers third degree burns to his face, arms and chest.

Police guidelines recommend against firing Tasers near flammable liquids.

June 12, 2009:

Antonio Galeano. ( ABC News - file photo )

Queensland man Antonio Galeano dies of a heart attack at Brandon, Townsville, after being tasered up to 28 times by police when they are called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's residence.

Police also use capsicum spray in the incident.

Data retrieved from the Taser shows it was activated 28 times over five-and-a-half minutes, but a pre-inquest hears the data may have been faulty.

The inquest hears 39-year-old Mr Galeano had a pre-existing heart condition and amphetamines in his body at the time of death.

April 16, 2009:

A Northern Territory man, known as Kwementyaye Rubuntja for cultural reasons, dies in Alice Springs after police use capsicum spray and a Taser on him when they are called to a domestic dispute.

The man stops breathing shortly after he is tasered and dies in hospital. Mr Rubuntja, 39, had heart disease and doctors say he may have been having a heart attack when he was acting strangely during the dispute.

The Northern Territory coroner finds the Taser may have contributed to his death, but that due to other great stresses, it is impossible to isolate the Taser as the sole cause of death.

In this instance, because Mr Rubuntja was unarmed and not making threats to kill, it is found the Taser was used prematurely and inappropriately.

February 7, 2009:

Queensland teenager Andrew Bornen is run over by a car and killed in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, after police threaten him with a Taser and tell him to lie on the ground.

His heart, aorta and pulmonary trunk rupture and he dies before an ambulance arrives six minutes later.

Officers had forced the 16-year-old down after reports a youth was armed with a machete in the area. He was only carrying a baseball bat.

An inquest finds Bornen had not been acting aggressively. It also finds the driver bore no responsibility for his death, and police had acted lawfully.

December 11, 2008:

Tyler Cassidy. ( Supplied: AAP )

Victorian teenager Tyler Cassidy is shot dead by police at Northcote skate park in Melbourne.

Three out of four police officers at the scene fire at the 15-year-old as he advances towards them with knives.

An inquest into Tyler's death hears officers could have used a Taser at the first point of contact with the boy.

August 30, 2008:

Video of Aboriginal man Kevin Spratt being tasered 13 times by police officers in a Perth watch-house is released to the public in October 2010.

The CCTV footage of Mr Spratt receives international attention. It shows him lying on the ground surrounded by officers and screaming as the Tasers are discharged. The officers involved are fined following an internal investigation.

The footage is released alongside a Corruption and Crime Commission report, which finds although Taser use is increasing in the state, and the weapons are disproportionately being used on Indigenous people, they are an effective weapon which are mostly used appropriately.

Sorry, this video has expired Police taser man 13 times

August 14, 2007:

West Australian man Mark Conway dies in a Perth hospital shortly after being tasered by police in Fremantle.

Mr Conway, a drug addict, was acting erratically and running in between traffic when police fired the Taser.

A coronial inquest later hears the 49-year-old had taken a large amount of drugs at the time, and a post-mortem examination concludes he died from an excessive amount of methamphetamine in his system.

Police were cleared of any wrongdoing.

May 2002:

New South Wales man Gary Pearce dies of a heart attack 12 days after being tasered multiple times by police.

The 56-year-old, a schizophrenic with a violent history, was threatening police with a frying pan when they used the Taser on him up to three times.

Mr Pearce's death certificate notes he had long term-heart disease, a thyroid problem, hepatitis C and was a heavy smoker.

This was Australia's first Taser-related death.