Unlocking health: using linked administrative data to improve health outcomes for people incarcerated in Victoria

People released from prison are at increased risk of poor health and social outcomes. In this project we aim to establish a system for monitoring health and health service use among people leaving prison in Victoria.  

Objectives 

• Describe rates of illness, death and use of health services change for people in prison and after they are released. We’ll break this information down by key groups such as men, women and whether a person is an Aboriginal and Torres Islander or not. 
• Describe rates of people returning to prison within 2 years. We’ll break this information down by key groups such as men, women and whether a person is an Aboriginal and Torres Islander or not. 
• Identify the individual and systemic factors associated with drug-related harms after release from prison.  

Data sources 

We will establish a state-wide retrospective cohort using routinely collected health and correctional administrative data from 1 July 2009 to 2024. This will be updated annually (subject to ongoing funding).  

We will use databases including: 

• mortality 
• ambulance attendances 
• emergency department presentations  
• hospitalisations 
• drug treatment 
• public mental health 
• primary care 
• prescribed medications 
• notifiable infectious diseases.  

A community advisory panel will guide how we implement the project.

Timeline

1 August 2025 to 1 August 2030.