A 19-year-old man has died in a unit of Sydney's Long Bay correctional centre that an independent watchdog had recommended be closed because it 'simply cannot provide a safe environment'. The man, who was on remand, took his own life on Sunday in the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre (MSPC), five months after inspectors warned of ligature points in cells across all areas.
Corrective Services NSW confirmed that staff initiated a medical response, but the man was pronounced dead by paramedics. Both Corrective Services and NSW police are investigating, and the death has been reported to the NSW coroner, triggering a compulsory public inquiry.
The death comes as NSW's prison population reaches a record high, with more than 14,000 people incarcerated in March. The rise is driven by increases in the remand population and Indigenous adults in custody, with a record number of Indigenous people in jail. Last year also saw a record number of Indigenous deaths in custody.
In December, the inspector of custodial services, Fiona Rafter, recommended the permanent closure of three of Long Bay's five units, including the MSPC, after inspections in 2023 and 2024. Her report described run-down rooms with little natural light or ventilation, mouldy walls, rusted furniture and evidence of vermin. She noted 'ligature points in cells across all areas' and concluded that the unit 'cannot provide a safe environment' for inmates with disabilities, age-related frailty or mental illness.
The government has yet to make publicly available its formal response to the report, submitted in early March. There have been 39 deaths in custody in NSW in 2025, 12 of which were First Nations people. Twenty-two per cent of the overall deaths were by hanging, despite a $16m program to remove ligature points from cells across the correctional system over four years.
Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson expressed devastation at the news, having moved in February to close the unit, a motion blocked by the government. The minister for corrections, Anoulack Chanthivong, declined to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
