Overview

• Sarah Gebert’s 300-page finding attributes Calgaret’s 2021 respiratory failure to an excessive Suboxone dose and a failure to escalate medical care in time.
• The report identifies the traumatic removal of Calgaret’s newborn at birth as a turning point that precipitated her depression, obesity and diabetes over two years in prison.
• Calgaret’s letter pleading for parole was never forwarded to the board and she was later denied release for lack of suitable accommodation despite being eligible.
• Key reforms call for integrating Aboriginal-led health services in prisons, offering psychological support for mothers separated from infants and enhancing parole transparency.
• Victorian Aboriginal leaders and legal advocates are pressing the government to implement these recommendations after a proposed pilot Indigenous healthcare program was denied funding.