Victoria will stop outsourcing health care for female prisoners to a for-profit company, as the state government admits it "hasn't always" fulfilled its duty of care.
Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan said primary health services at Victoria's maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne's west would be taken over by Western Health from July.
Health services at Tarrengower Prison in central Victoria will be taken over by Dhelkaya Health, which operates Castlemaine and Maldon hospitals.
"We want to avoid people coming into contact with the justice system in the first place – but for those who do, the system has a duty of care to look after them and help them get their lives back on track," Mr Erdogan said.
"We recognise in the past, this hasn't always been the case for women in custody – a more tailored and appropriate standard of health care is needed."
"Western Health and Dhelkaya Health will provide the high-quality primary health services and skilled workforce needed to meet the distinct needs of women in custody."
Last week the government confirmed it signed a five-year prison healthcare contract with GEO Group instead of current provider Correct Care Australasia.
That contract spans the state's publicly run male prisons, but does not include Dame Phyllis Frost or Tarrengower prisons.
The shift means the organisations providing health care in the women's prisons will be accountable to the minister for health, as opposed to the state's justice department — a change advocated for by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.
"This is a momentous first step towards bringing healthcare in prisons in line with healthcare in the broader community," VALS chief executive Nerita Waight said.
"Prison healthcare in Victoria is in a state of emergency.
"We speak to clients daily about poor quality healthcare in prisons."
Ms Waight said the next step was for the government to make the change in all prisons in Victoria.
"And they need to do it quickly," she said.
Inquest heard current care does not meet community standards
The state government's announcement comes less than a fortnight before a major coronial inquest will hand down its findings into the death of an Aboriginal woman in conditions described by medical witnesses as "appalling".
Veronica Nelson was being held on remand at Victoria's maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in January 2020 when she died from a combination of severe malnutrition, heroin withdrawal symptoms and a rare medical condition affecting the intestine.
An inquest into her death last year heard both prison officers and health staff employed by Correct Care Australasia missed multiple opportunities to escalate Veronica's care and save her life.
"The way she died was utterly, appallingly undignified," gastroenterologist Christopher Vickers told the inquest last year.
"She was left in a concrete cell … and died in pain and suffering and that was absolutely appalling."
Prison supervisor Leanne Reid told the inquest the standard of health care at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre did not match community standards — falling beneath a key recommendation made by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody more than three decades ago.
The coroner is expected to hand down findings at the end of this month.
Veronica's long-term partner, Uncle Percy Lovett, said the change was a step in the right direction, but that culturally appropriate services also needed to be on offer.
"I hope this means that things will be better for the other women in prison, and that what happened to Veronica never happens again," Uncle Percy said.
"Blackfullas also need Aboriginal heath dervices. It's hard for us to talk to the officers and people inside."
