SYDNEY — Independent Member of Parliament for Sydney Alex Greenwich has written to New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley requesting that he use his powers to direct an inquest into the death of Bikram Lama, a rough sleeper whose body was found in Hyde Park. The letter asks the inquest to examine potential policy failures.

Lama died while sleeping rough in Hyde Park, and his body lay unnoticed for up to a week in bushes near a busy thoroughfare into St James station. The coroner has sought contact with Lama's family in Nepal. Daley's office said the coroner was still waiting for a brief of evidence from NSW Police, after which it would decide whether to hold an inquest.

Lama came to Australia to study, his family said. Public records show he was deemed a non-resident by the time of his death.

The City of Sydney estimates about one in five rough sleepers in the inner city are not Australian residents. Non-residents are typically unable to access key supports needed to get out of homelessness, including social housing, social security, healthcare and work rights.

"Like so many other people, I was just shocked and saddened by this," Greenwich said. "It's heartbreaking but this has to be a wake-up call for policymakers, and the question that we have to be asking ourselves is: 'did Bikram Lama die because of failures in state and federal policies'?"

"There's just so many questions that need to be answered here," Greenwich said. "If this is happening to Bikram, unless we got to the bottom of this and what policy failures led to it, this will happen again."

In 2024, Guardian Australia investigated more than 600 homelessness deaths and found a life expectancy gap with the general population, often due to systemic failures to provide housing, healthcare and mental health support.