Families Forced to Relive Trauma in Medical Panel Hearings After Custody Deaths
Mary Culleton and her son Gary are being compelled to attend medical panel hearings to validate the psychological harm they suffered following the death of Darren Culleton in police custody. This process, which can take up to 10 months, forces families to repeatedly recount their grief, adding to their distress years after the initial tragedy.
A Labyrinthine System with Growing Delays
After a family member dies in custody, surviving relatives may face a complex legal journey that includes autopsies, funerals, police investigations, inquests, and lawsuits. If they pursue compensation from the Victorian government, they often must appear before an independent medical panel to explain how the death impacted them mentally or physically.
These panels assess the severity of psychological or physical injuries to determine if a civil case against government entities, such as Victorian police or public hospitals, can proceed. However, the system is plagued by significant delays, with referrals for psychological injuries now averaging nine to 10 months, and physical or psychological injuries taking eight to 10 months.
An email from December 2025 revealed that wait times have increased, with the longest delays reaching six months earlier in the year. Associate Professor Peter Gibbons, convener of medical panels, noted a continued rise in referral numbers over the past 12-18 months, leading to heightened demand for hearings.
Retraumatization and Emotional Toll on Families
Gary Culleton, Darren's twin brother, describes how the prolonged process constantly resurfaces his grief. Multiple delays between the inquest, filing the civil case, and the medical panel hearing require him to reread distressing details about his brother's death. He also supports his parents and siblings through the same ordeal.
"Bringing up things after such a long delay, you forget a lot of major key points," Gary said. "I've already dealt with the drama of it, but then have to just relive it all again." Mary Culleton echoes this sentiment, stating, "It brings everything back to that day, what happened to him."
Darren Culleton, 30, died after self-harming in a police divisional van in 2021. A coroner found in 2023 that his death was a preventable tragedy, citing communication failures, lack of training, and absence of policy as contributing factors.
Critics Allege Tactics to Avoid Compensation
Jeremy King from Robinson Gill, representing the Culleton and Kerr families, argues that referrals to medical panels are a deliberate strategy by defendants. "We find that defendants indiscriminately refer all plaintiffs, including children, mothers, and vulnerable Aboriginal Elders, to the medical panel as it is a cheap and easy way of significantly reducing the quantum of their claim," he said.
Other affected families include relatives of Joshua Kerr, a 32-year-old Gunaikurnai and Yorta Yorta man who died of methamphetamine toxicity in Port Phillip Prison in 2022. An inquest in 2024 found his death preventable, with correctional and medical staff failing to communicate properly. His mother, Aunty Donnas Kerr, a member of the Stolen Generations, and his two children, aged 12 and 15 at the time of his death, are among six family members referred to the panel.
The Victorian government spokesperson acknowledged the importance of timely hearings and stated efforts to reduce delays through recruitment of additional specialists, expanded resources, and increased weekly hearings. However, medical panels did not respond to questions about referral numbers, reasons for increased delays, or measures to prevent retraumatization.
In Australia, support services include Lifeline at 13 11 14 and the Indigenous crisis hotline 13 YARN at 13 92 76.
