Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This story contains images and references to a deceased person.

Aboriginal, law and human rights advocates have condemned reports that urgent bail reform in Victoria will be delayed by at least 12 months in a proposal by the state government, despite a coroner in January calling for the current laws to be scrapped and labelling them a "complete, unmitigated disaster".

The reform bill is expected to be introduced into parliament in the coming weeks after months of consultation. It was sparked by the coroner's report into the death of 37-year-old Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman Veronia Nelson while in custody.

Ms Nelson, whose death was found to have been preventable, died alone in a cell at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in January 2020 after being arrested for shoplifting and a failure to appear on bail. She was found to have died from a rare gastrointestinal condition – known as Wilkie's syndrome -along with malnutrition and opiate withdrawal.

Recordings showed Ms Nelson calling out. Her body was found naked on the floor, with her hands clenched.

In delivering his finding in January, Coroner Simon McGregor said "conditions under which Veronica lived out her final days are harrowing."

One gastroenterologist, Sally Bell, said her death was "unnecessary" and "without dignity."

The government had tightened bail laws after the 2017 Bourke Street massacre, which included the "reverse onus" test, requiring people accused of a wide range of offences to prove "compelling reasons" and "exceptional circumstances" for why they should be granted bail.

Mr McGregor said the provisions breached the charter of human right and should be repealed. He recommended this after a review found the number of Aboriginal women in jail had almost doubled within a year of its introduction, with many accused of low-level offences they had not been found guilty of committing.

He also recommended the removal of the "unacceptable risk" test that remanded people in custody who were accused of committing an offence while already on bail.

As reported by AAP's Callum Godde, Ms Nelson's partner, Uncle Percy Lovett, said what happened to her should never happen again.

"The government needs to make real changes to bail laws to stop so many people getting locked up before they have even been sentenced," he said in a statement on Monday.

"No one should be locked up and refused bail if they wouldn't get a prison sentence."

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive and First Peoples' Assembly member, Yorta Yorta and Narrandjeri woman Nerita Waight, questioned why a potential delay was necessary.

"Veronica's family and Aboriginal communities across Victoria have been consistent in asking for urgent bail reform," she told National Indigenous Times.

"It has been three and a half years since Veronica's passing - why should we have to wait any longer?"

After the coroner handed down his findings, Premier Daniel Andrews vowed to take full responsibly in reforming the bail laws - with the changes announced in March.

The proposed reforms expected to be introduced would remove the controversial reverse-onus test for low-level offenders applying for bail. However, documents obtained by The Age show the changes would not start for 12 months after they are legislated and won't completely remove the unacceptable risk test.

Documents show the reverse onus test would be abolished for children, except on murder or terrorism offences. Adults accused of bail-related offences will no longer fall under the provision, in line with recommendations by the coroner, however all other offences captured by the test would remain.

Furthermore, against Mr McGregor's recommendations, the "unacceptable risk" test would both be kept and expanded. A person could still be refused bail if accused of carrying out an offence while on bail for a range of other offences.

In March, Ms Nelson's family outlined their vision for change. Referred to as Poccum's Law (Ms Nelson's childhood nickname,) it called for a raft of measures. These include the removal of the presumption against bail and that bail should be granted unless there is a specific and immediate risk to the safety of another person or that there was a substantive risk that the person would flee the state.

It further states that all bail offences should be removed, and a person must not be remanded for an offence unlikely to attract prison time.

Aunty Donna Nelson, Veronica's mother, said at the time that the system was "broken."

"Veronica should never have been locked up. Our bail laws need to change now," she said.

Police and the courts are required to consider whether a person is Aboriginal before denying bail.

Victorian Greens justice spokesperson, Katherine Copsey, said there remains people in pre-trial detention currently, "for no good reason."

"That's why we need meaningful bail reform now, not in 12 months. Waiting another year to implement these changes will have tragic consequences for First Nations Victorians," she said in a statement to National Indigenous Times.

"Without urgent and meaningful reform, the Victorian Labor Government's enduring legacy may well be that their justice policies were directly responsible for the imprisonment of more First Nations Victorians than at any time in recorded history."

AAP reported that Treaty and First Peoples Minister Gabrielle Williams described the proposal as speculation and insisted the Andrews government was yet to settle on the bill's final version.

"It's not particularly helpful to comment ahead of time when work is very much still underway, when consultation is still underway, and when it's not a final position," she said on Monday.

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommended that along with an increase in access to bail, prison should only be used as a last resort.

Currently, over 37 percent of people currently in detention in Victoria are not sentenced. For women, this figure sits at 40 per cent.

VALS went on to note that "[s]ince then, they have been repeated in many reports, reviews, inquiries and forums, yet Victoria has failed to implement these recommendations and instead has gone backwards."

For crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).