New Zealander, Malaysian and Sierra Leone national all received ‘appropriate mental health care’ before they separately killed themselves inside Villawood over a three-year period, inquest finds
Three people who killed themselves in a Sydney immigration detention centre all received appropriate mental health care, an inquest has found.
But it was unclear why detainees at Villawood detention centre routinely did not take their medication or attend medical appointments, the inquest said.
One such example was New Zealand woman Leah Jane Porter, 50, who hanged herself in Villawood in May 2022. Porter’s death was one of three detainee suicides examined by the New South Wales coroner’s court. The trio – Porter, as well as a Malaysian and a Sierra Leone national – separately hanged themselves inside Villawood over a three-year period.
Porter moved to Australia from New Zealand in 2007 with her partner and two sons. She suffered from mental health challenges, including depression and borderline personality disorder. She had a history of suicide attempts, the inquest found.
In 2021 Porter’s visa was cancelled due to criminal convictions. After finishing her prison sentence, she was transferred to Villawood in January 2022.
While in detention, Porter regularly refused her medication for borderline personality disorder, the inquest heard. Her attendance of medical appointments was sporadic and worsened over time.
“At some point Ms Porter adopted a stray kitten and became very attached to it,” the inquest found. “She was extremely distressed when detention staff took the kitten from her, reportedly for health reasons.”
The inquest found Porter was not unusual in missing appointments and not taking medication: it was common across the centre.
The inquest found the rate of detainees not attending health appointments was 39%. A higher rate – 65% – of detainees do not routinely take their medication. These figures reflected averages in community health care.
Sierra Leone national Moses Kellie, 33, was also sent to Villawood after his visa was cancelled due to serving a prison sentence. He killed himself in January 2019. Kellie, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, PTSD and substance dependence, had been detained for four years.
The inquest also reviewed the death of Malaysia national Muhammad Hafizuddin bin Zaini, 29, who hanged himself in Villawood in 2020.
Bin Zaini came to Australia in 2016 on a tourist visa. He applied for a protection visa, but this was denied. He continued to live in Australia.
During Covid lockdowns, he was detained in South Australia and his bridging visa expired.
While detained a psychiatrist found Bin Zaini had paranoid ideation and was likely schizophrenic. He repeatedly expressed his desire to return to Malaysia, particularly after learning his mother was unwell. However, he could not be deported due to Covid border restrictions.
“This was a source of immense frustration and unhappiness for [him],” Elizabeth Ryan, the deputy state coroner, told the court while delivering the findings.
The court heard Bin Zaini had mistakenly been given the impression by a psychiatrist he would be deported to Malaysia in September 2020. Bin Zaini hanged himself on 12 December 2020.
The inquest found that the number of people sent to Villawood from prison because their visas were cancelled after a conviction increased by up to 75% between 2019 and 2023.
Villawood, in western Sydney, was operated by the private operator Serco at the time of each of the suicides, and health services in the centre were managed by International Health and Medical Service.
The health services are now run by another provider, and Secure Journeys, a local subsidiary of Management & Training Corporation (MTC), will soon take over operation of Villawood from Serco.
The inquest recommended the federal government commission an independent study to examine why detainees routinely do not take their medication, or attend appointments.
In the case of Kellie, the inquest found he did not have the recommended daily follow-ups with a mental health nurse. He also did not have any psychiatric assessments for more than a year in the leadup to his death.
In some instances, this was due to Kellie not attending booked appointments. The inquest said it was not clear if this was due to Kellie’s own non-attendance or due to a “system failure in booking arrangements”.
The inquest made a number of recommendations, including removing ligature points which can be used by a detainee to hang themselves.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org