A coroner who investigated a suicide at Maribyrnong Detention Centre has called for better mental health support for detainees.
Coroner Jacqui Hawkins last Thursday delivered her report into the death of Indian citizen Dalvir Singh in detention last February.
Singh, 27, was found dead in the centre on February 13. He first came to Australia in 2007 on a student visa but this was cancelled in 2009.
In 2013, he fathered a child and was married but in late December that year was taken into custody by police at Pakenham over a family violence incident.
He attempted to take his own life, a fact not passed on when he was transferred to Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre on January 10.
On January 21, federal police notified the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) of Mr Singh’s history of family violence and self-harm, but the coroner found that this information was again not passed on.
CCTV footage shows Mr Singh entered and exited his room a number of times between 6.15pm and 6.26pm on February 13.
An officer from centre manager Serco entered the room during a routine check at 7.05pm, finding Mr Singh on the bed. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead at 7.21pm.
Ms Hawkins found the suicide was based on a number of factors, including the breakdown of Mr Singh’s relationship, withdrawal from opiate dependence and placement in immigration detention.
She also found Victoria Police and DIBP lacked adequate systems for passing on critical information about people being transferred into immigration detention.
“Recognition of the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by immigration detainees is an essential first step in the provision of appropriate care and management,” she found.
Ms Hawkins recommended that DIBP, Serco and the International Health and Medical Service make better arrangements for qualified mental health practitioners to observe and interact with detainees, “particularly during periods of higher suicide and self-harm risk, such as when first detained or when informed about detention or when identified as someone who is at risk.”
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