Victorian government vows bail law changes after damning inquest findings into Indigenous woman's death in custody
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned the following article contains images of a deceased person.
The Victorian government has pledged to make reforms to the justice system after a coroner found Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson's death in custody was preventable.
Premier Daniel Andrews said Nelson was "let down" by the system and pledged his government would "not waste a moment" to make changes to the bail laws.
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Premier Daniel Andrews said Veronica Nelson was "let down" by the system. Nine
The Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman died alone in her cell after her repeated pleas for help were knocked back by prison guards and healthcare staff in January 2020.
Andrews' remarks came a day after Coroner Simon McGregor called for bail law reform, citing the adverse effects it had on Indigenous people while handing down his findings.
The state government made changes to the Bail Act in 2018 under expert advice in response to the 2017 Bourke Street massacre.
"The Bail Act has a discriminatory impact on First Nations people, resulting in grossly disproportionate rates remanded in custody, the most egregious of which affects alleged offenders who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women," McGregor said.
He said before those changes Indigenous people made up 8.2 per cent of the state's prison population and First Nations women were 10 per cent of female inmates.
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In the hours before her death on the floor of a Victorian prison cell, Veronica Nelson called for help nine times. 9News
Veronica Nelson was 37 when she died. Supplied
The premier today described Nelson's death as a tragedy.
"I take responsibility to make the necessary changes and that's exactly what we'll do to ensure this doesn't happen again," Andrews said.
"There is a bail issue here – whether (Veronica Nelson) ought to have been in custody at all. That's one issue.
"Almost regardless of that issue, if you're in pain and you're calling for help, you should be taken seriously and she was not taken seriously.
"The vulnerability of being in a custodial setting – that was not applied.
"So there are a raft of different failures."
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