A 21-year-old Aboriginal man has died at a privately operated prison in northern New South Wales.
British multinational Serco, which runs Clarence Correctional Centrere near Grafton, released a brief statement confirming the man had died on Wednesday.
Serco said it extended its sympathy to “the family, and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community”.
Serco declined requests for an interview and said it was unable to comment while investigations are underway.
No further details have been provided regarding the circumstances of the man’s death.
The matter is being investigated by Serco and NSW Police.
All deaths in custody are referred to the NSW coroner for a compulsory public inquiry.
The Australian Institute of Criminology’s real-time dashboard shows there have been 74 deaths in custody this year, including 20 Indigenous deaths.
Previous death in custody
Last month a coroner criticised medical staff at the correctional centre for failing to provide adequate treatment to a non-Indigenous prisoner who died.
The coronial inquest heard 29-year-old Dictor Dongrin was left unattended for 21 hours and was suffering from alcohol withdrawal when he died in the prison’s medical unit in June 2022.
Serco told the inquest it has implemented a range of new measures since then.
The Clarence Correctional Centre opened in 2020 with capacity for 1,700 inmates. (ABC North Coast: Leah White)
Meanwhile, in an inspection report tabled in state parliament in April this year, the NSW Inspector of Custodial Services raised multiple concerns about the Clarence Correctional Centre.
The report highlighted regular lockdowns caused by staff shortages, a lack of resources to address mental health issues, and noted that drug and alcohol teams were “similarly overwhelmed”.
The report said there was no Aboriginal health worker at the time of the inspection, “despite 37 per cent of the [prison] population being Aboriginal”.
It saidd there were “almost no opportunities for Aboriginal people to connect with and learn about their culture”.
The inspector made 47 recommendations for the improvement of services at Clarence Correctional Centre.
In response to the report Serco said there was “always scope to strengthen welfare support” and that it remained “committed to the wellbeing of all people in custody”.
