CONTENT WARNING: VACCHO advises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that the following article references those who have returned to the Dreaming.
The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) is calling for immediate and meaningful action following the release of the Deaths in custody in Australia 2024–25 report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, which reveals a devastating rise in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody.
According to the report, 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died in custody across Australia in 2024–25 which is the highest number recorded since 1979–80. This brings the total number of Aboriginal lives lost in custody to 617 since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
VACCHO CEO Dr. Jill Gallagher, AO said these figures highlight a national crisis that governments can no longer ignore.
“Every one of these deaths represents a person loved and valued by their family and Community. Many of these are preventable tragedies that continue to shatter Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” she said.
“More than thirty years after the Royal Commission very little has changed. In fact, the situation is getting worse. The ongoing failure to implement expert recommendations and evidence-based solutions is costing lives.”
VACCHO says the figures reflect systemic failures within custodial health systems, which remain ill-equipped to meet the cultural, social, and health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To address these gaps, VACCHO has been calling for systemic change including to move oversight of prison healthcare to the Department of Health and ensuring all prison healthcare is operated by a public health provider.
“This is not a new problem. Maintaining the same way of doing things will maintain the same results,” Dr. Gallagher said.
“Governments who fail to act cannot hide behind ignorance- therefore we are left to assume it is pointed indifference to our families’ losses,” she said.
Further, VACCHO’s 2026–27 State Budget Submission calls for an urgent investment of $1.7 million to continue the Aboriginal-led service design of a new ACCO-led custodial health model. This work will ensure Victoria meets key recommendations from the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the Cultural Review, and numerous coronial inquests.
“An ACCO-led custodial health model is an essential step toward addressing the root causes of these preventable deaths. It must be properly funded and implemented before more lives are lost.” Dr. Gallagher said.
“An ACCO-led model has been put forward time and time again—by Aboriginal people, by inquiries, and by coroners. This is because we know that Aboriginal Health in Aboriginal hands achieves real change and deliver real results,” she said.
The proposed model will reimagine healthcare in Victorian prisons, embedding cultural safety, prevention and trauma-informed care at every stage. It aims to provide holistic and coordinated support that continues beyond prison, linking people to housing, employment, and health services so they can make a strong, healthy transition back to Community.
“If governments are serious about closing the gap in health and justice outcomes, then Aboriginal-led solutions must be at the centre,” she said.
