A man believed to be from New Zealand has died overnight at the Broadmeadows detention centre in Melbourne’s north but the death is not being treated as suspicious.
Emergency services were called to the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation complex around 8.30am on Monday morning.
“The Australian Border Force can confirm a male detainee recently passed away at the MITA,” an ABF spokesperson said in a statement.
“The matter has been referred for investigation to the appropriate agencies, including the Victorian Coroner.”
It's believed the man had been in detention for about four years.
Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge expressed his condolences to the man’s family.
اقامتگاه ترانزیتی مهاجرت ملبورن Source: SBS
He said the man was facing deportation from Australia but was not part of a cohort of detainees set to be transferred to Christmas Island.
“He was a person with a very serious criminal background,” Mr Tudge told the ABC.
“That is why he was in a detention facility because he was being evicted from the country, because he was not an Australian national.”
“He has passed away, sadly and obviously our condolences to his family.”
Mr Tudge said he had no information to suggest any protocols were broken by immigration staff leading up to the man’s death.
“There's now a full coroner's investigation into this, quite rightly, to determine the cause of death and any lessons from it.”
A spokesperson for Victoria Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.
