Yorta Yorta grandmother Tanya Day, 55, fell and suffered a head injury while in a regional Victorian police cell after being arrested for drunkenness on a train on December 5, 2017. She died two weeks later.

"It is clear to us that the investigation into our mum's death has been flawed and inadequate," daughter Belinda Day said outside the Coroners Court in Melbourne on Friday.

"We have had a coronial investigation - but what we now want is a criminal investigation. We want to know whether the police, who should have cared for mum, committed an offence in denying mum her dignity and, ultimately, her life."

She said police should not investigate themselves and any officers found to have failed in their duty should be held accountable and charged.

Apryl Day thanked Ambulance Victoria for its heartfelt apology for their mother's treatment, but says Victoria Police as an organisation has not apologised.

Superintendent Sussan Thomas offered a personal apology at the inquest on Friday.

"On behalf of Victoria Police I'm more than happy to say I am sorry and I know that Victoria Police are sorry for your loss and I know it's caused pain."

However, the family were disappointed with the senior officer's answers because she was not the correct person to answer specific questions.

"(Victoria Police) have provided someone who couldn't answer the question ... in not doing so there's a lack of respect for the court," Belinda Day told reporters.

Supt Thomas - who is in the priority communities division and in charge of the Aboriginal and youth portfolio - was asked why she believed she was chosen to speak at the inquest.

"I am here to talk about all the good work that is occurring across Victoria Police and the policies as well," she replied.

Her response caused Ms Day's son Warren to walk out of the courtroom and other family members and supporters to loudly groan.

Supt Thomas found out two days ago she would be giving evidence, the inquest was told.

Family members said watching footage of their mum's falls in the police cell was traumatic and "extremely distressing" but agreed it needed to be publicly aired.

Apryl, Belinda and Warren Day told the inquest their mum was a passionate Aboriginal activist, strong-minded but always up for a joke.

Their strength and passion was because of their mum, they said.

The inquest ended on Friday after three weeks of evidence from witnesses including police officers and paramedics at the scene.

Acting state coroner Caitlin English will hand down her findings at a later date.

THURSDAY, DAY 13: It is not "best practice" to re-question police officers about their inconsistent statements on the death in custody of an Aboriginal woman, a coronial investigator says.

Yorta Yorta grandmother Tanya Day, 55, suffered a head injury while in custody at Castlemaine after the 55-year-old was arrested for being drunk on a train in December 2017.

She died about two weeks later and a mandatory coronial inquest in Melbourne is being held.

Police officers Senior Constable Danny Wolters and Sergeant Edwina Neale were on duty the night Ms Day fell in the Castlemaine police cells, but gave inconsistent reports about what happened.

Coronial investigator Detective Senior Constable Scott Riley said he "considered it not to be best practice" to ask the officers about the discrepancies, he told the inquiry on Thursday.

"It was considered to be best practice to accept the statement as the evidence of that person" and to get that statement "as soon as you can" he said.

Det Snr Const Riley admitted there was nothing preventing him asking questions or requesting another statement but "I believe I conducted a thorough investigation".

The investigator also told the inquiry he had knowledge of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody but had no training or knowledge in relation to it.

A Professional Standards Command detective disputed the explanation into the discrepancies at the inquest into Ms Day's death.

"I believe you should re-canvas if required," Professional Standards Command Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Patrick said.

He was given oversight into the coronial investigation.

The detective told the coroner he had no knowledge of why the investigator did not go back and question the two officers.

An internal investigation found allegations Snr Const Wolters failed to check on Ms Day every 30 minutes as required was "substantiated", Det Patrick revealed.

But the same claim against Ms Neale was "not substantiated" and that he accepted Sgt Neale's statement as truthful.

Snt Const Wolters got "workplace guidance" after the death.

The inquest will resume on Friday with Victoria Police Superintendent Sue Thomas expected to give evidence, and members of Ms Day's family.

WEDNESDAY, DAY 12: A police officer investigating the death in custody of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day failed to question a colleague over conflicting evidence, an inquest has heard.

The 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman suffered a head injury while in custody in regional Victoria after she was arrested for being drunk on a train on December 5, 2017. She died two weeks later.

Detective Senior Constable Scott Riley, from the coronial support unit, was questioned on Wednesday about "inaccuracies" in a witness statement by Leading Senior Constable Danny Wolters, who was partly responsible for monitoring Ms Day in custody.

In a statement dated December 6, 2017, Sen Const Wolters said he checked on Ms Day in her cell.

But Det Snr Const Riley noted "the evidence is different to that".

That was in light of the CCTV footage of Ms Day at the Castlemaine police station, inside the cell, and of the corridor, where police checked on her through the door.

The footage shows Ms Day falling five times in a two-and-a-half-hour period.

Police entered the cell four hours after she was arrested and noticed a bruise on her forehead and called an ambulance.

Paramedics weren't told about the 4.51pm fall, when Ms Day hit her head against a concrete wall.

Medical experts later deemed the fall caused a brain bleed that led to her death.

Sen Const Wolters and Sergeant Edwina Neale, who were on duty that night, maintain they didn't see Ms Day fall.

But Sen Const Wolters said in his statement he did see the fall, the inquest was told.

Det Sen Const Riley said he knew Sen Const Wolters didn't follow the policy to check on Ms Day and had learnt to his "surprise" the officer at times used an intercom to contact her.

Despite the conflicting information, Det Sen Sgt Riley didn't seek clarification and decided to let the Coroners Court decipher the evidence.

"I think that evidence to be more appropriate to be tested in court because we have not identified any criminal offence," Det Sen Sgt Riley said.

Det Snr Constable Riley said he was not aware of the police seeking legal advice about a possible criminal case and assumed an internal review of the incident would take place.

The Day family have previously raised concerns about the adequacy of Det Sen Const Riley's investigation.

The inquest before coroner Caitlin English continues on Thursday, with Det Sen Const Riley back on the stand.

TUESDAY, DAY 11, 5.15pm: The family of Aboriginal grandmother Tanya Day received an apology from Ambulance Victoria for the "disrespectful" treatment she received after falling in a police cell.

The 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman was placed in a Castlemaine cell after being arrested for drunkenness on a train on December 5, 2017. She died two weeks later.

"I am deeply sorry for your loss and deeply sorry for our disrespectful care and the treatment Tanya received that day," Ambulance Victoria clinical operations director Michael Stephenson said to Ms Day's family during an inquest on Tuesday.

Members of Ms Day's family thanked Mr Stephenson for his courtroom apology.

Police officers did not see Ms Day fall.

They entered the cell more than three hours later at 8.03pm, when they noticed a bruise on her forehead and called an ambulance.

The first paramedic on the scene was Lisa Harrup, who said she was told by a police officer that he saw Ms Day slip from a seated position.

"All of my treatment was based on what I thought was an accurate history provided by a police officer. Why wouldn't he know exactly what had happened?" she told the inquest last week.

But Mr Stephenson has contradicted the paramedic's version of events, saying it was clear the woman had a traumatic injury and was paralysed at some points.

"She's got a haematoma on her forehead - by definition she has a traumatic head injury," Mr Stephenson told the court.

"The bruise came from trauma so it has to be traumatic."

He said it didn't appear Ms Day moved her right arm or hand on CCTV of the cell, disputing Ms Harrup's evidence that she did.

"I don't think it did happen," he said.

"Tanya looks to be paralysed from her right-hand side."

Tuesday's evidence in Melbourne coincided with a rally that marched from state parliament to the Coroners Court to show support for Ms Day and her family.

The inquest continues.

FRIDAY, DAY 10, 5pm: The family of an Aboriginal woman who died after hitting her head in a Victorian police cell wants the world to watch the distressing footage of her final conscious hours.

CCTV captures Tanya Day falling five times in a Castlemaine cell within a two-and-a-half-hour period after she was arrested for being drunk on a train on December 5, 2017.

Coroner Caitlin English released the footage at the request of the Day family on Friday.

"The privacy of Ms Day, regarding trauma and stress, is not an issue here because unusually Ms Day's family are advocating strongly for the release of the footage," she told the coroners court.

"In fact, they are advocating for the very opposite of the protection of privacy, and reject invisibility."

While "unbearably painful" to watch, Ms Day's eldest daughter Belinda Day said it was vital to giving her mother a voice.

"This CCTV footage shows the last few hours that our mum was conscious. It shows her being denied her basic humanity and dignity," she said outside court.

"Imagine having to watch your mum die in this way, with nobody held responsible.

"We want the world to see this footage because it is what our mum would have wanted."

Ms Day said her mother would still be alive today if she were not Aboriginal.

The inquest has previously heard police put Ms Day in a cell to "sober up".

They did not enter Ms Day's cell from 3.56pm until 8.03pm, when they noticed a bruise on her forehead and called an ambulance.

The 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman died 17 days after her arrest from a brain haemorrhage caused by a fall in the cell at 4.51pm.

CCTV footage showed her condition was deteriorating from this time.

Daughter Apryl Day said the police conduct at the inquest proved they did not care about her mother.

"Throughout the whole proceedings, we've seen them latch onto any narrative they can without actually admitting that they have done something wrong," she said.

Apryl Day walked out of court as Lisa Harrup, the first paramedic to attend to Ms Day in the cell apologised for rough handling.

"I was neither intentionally rough with Ms Day or disrespectful," Ms Harrup wept.

"I actually felt sorry for Ms Day. She had been kept in a dirty, foul-smelling concrete cell for four hours."

CCTV captures Ms Harrup pulling Ms Day onto the stretcher by the left arm.

When first shown this footage, the Day family and friends gasped.

"I would have handled my mother or sister in the same way as Ms Day," she said.

"That said, I understand Ms Day's family are upset by the footage they have seen and I regret if my actions have contributed to their distress."

THURSDAY, DAY NINE, 5pm: A Victorian police officer meant to check on Aboriginal woman Tanya Day while she was in custody says he didn't enter her cell because she was lying in an "undignified position for a lady".

Leading Senior Constable Danny Wolters was the watch-house keeper when Day, 55, was arrested and placed in a Castlemaine police cell for being drunk in public on December 5, 2017.

The Yorta Yorta grandmother died of a brain haemorrhage, caused by a fall in the cell, 17 days later.

Despite being instructed to physically check and rouse Ms Day every half-hour, Sen Const Wolters only checked on her from outside the cell every 40 minutes, and via CCTV every 20 minutes.

At an inquest into Ms Day's death on Thursday, the officer was asked why he did not enter the cell to conduct physical checks.

He was shown CCTV footage of his check immediately before the catastrophic fall Ms Day suffered at 4.51pm, as well as one at 5.35pm.

In both, he looks through the cell window for mere seconds.

At 5.35pm, Ms Day is seen lying across the bench with her legs hanging over the side, her feet planted on the floor.

Ms Day appears to have lost movement in her right arm, likely caused by the fall.

"I found her to be in a very undignified position for a lady to be in," Sen Const Wolters said.

"I have seen a lot of males in that position in our cells, a lot of males, and I found it a little bit confronting and I spoke to her, I got a verbal response from her, and I left her to her own privacy and dignity."

"You found it embarrassing and confronting to deal with an Indigenous woman?" Peter Morrissey SC, the lawyer representing the Day family, asked the officer.

"No," he replied.

No officers entered the cell until 8.03pm, when they noticed a bruise on her forehead and called an ambulance.

In his triple-zero phone call, played to the Coroners Court earlier, Sen Const Wolters said he'd seen Ms Day slip from a seated position about 7pm.

He told attending paramedics she had gotten up afterwards, was "moving around normally" in the cell and that he had gone through CCTV footage to determine she had only fallen once.

Sen Const Wolters denied this account.

He said he did not see Day fall but inferred, from seeing her on the bed one moment and on the floor the next, that she had fallen.

Lawyer Megan Fitzgerald, acting on behalf of two of the paramedics who treated Ms Day, said he gave the paramedics a "false impression" of the seriousness of her injury, which he denied.

WEDNESDAY, DAY EIGHT, 2pm: Aboriginal woman Tanya Day said she was okay seconds before falling and hitting her head in a Victorian police cell, an officer has told an inquest into her death.

But police admit they did not physically check whether 55-year-old grandmother was alright as often as they should have, partly because of understaffing due to their Christmas party.

Ms Day died in hospital from a brain injury sustained from falling and hitting her head five times inside Castlemaine Police Station, after being arrested for public drunkenness on December 5, 2017.

Leading Senior Constable Danny Wolters was in charge of checking on Ms Day but says he was not worried when he saw her stumble drunkenly in her cell.

He told the Coroners Court of Victoria on Wednesday he saw a sudden movement in Ms Day's cell but did not see her fall.

"I can only describe it as a drunken stumble," he said.

"It wasn't behaviour that concerned me."

The officer said he went up to Ms Day's cells at 4.51pm and asked her if she was okay and she replied that she was.

Const Wolters did not go into the cell and, seconds later, the Yorta Yorta woman was captured on CCTV falling and hitting her head on the wall.

When the officer went back about 45 minutes later, it was "same question, same answer".

This happened again just before 6.45pm, Const Wolters told the inquest.

After 8pm, he and another officer went inside Ms Day's cell for the first time and found a fresh bruise on her forehead, so they called the ambulance.

Const Wolters told the operator he'd seen Ms Day slip over about an hour before but it hadn't seemed to affect her.

Ms Day was soon in a critical condition and she died 17 days later from a brain haemorrhage.

On Wednesday, Const Wolters backtracked and said he didn't actually see her fall, contradicting earlier evidence from his colleagues.

Ms Day's level of drunkenness meant the officer was meant to physically check and rouse her every 30 minutes but he didn't.

Const Wolters instead checked on her every 20 minutes, alternatively through the cell window and using CCTV, partly because of staffing issues due to Castlemaine police holding their Christmas party that night and officers from nearby stations were filling in.

The inquest, looking at whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death, continues.

TUESDAY, DAY SEVEN, 6.30pm: A police officer meant to look after Aboriginal woman Tanya Day while she was in custody told a triple-zero operator he had checked on her every 20 minutes, including rousing her awake.

But CCTV showed nobody entered Ms Day's cell for four hours.

Leading Senior Constable Danny Wolters was the watch housekeeper when Day, 55, was arrested and placed in a Castlemaine police cell for being drunk in public on December 5, 2017.

The Yorta Yorta grandmother was in the cell for less than an hour when she fell and hit her forehead at 4.51pm.

She died 17 days later from a brain haemorrhage caused by the fall.

Neither Sen Const Wolters nor his supervisor Sergeant Edwina Neale entered Ms Day's cell until 8.03pm, when they noticed a bruise on her forehead and called an ambulance.

"We have got a female in custody here for drunk and she starts falling over inside the cell and she's got a lump on her head that we need to get checked out," Sen Const Wolters said in a triple-zero call, played to the inquest into Ms Day's death on Tuesday.

Sen Const Wolters had checked on Ms Day at 4.50pm, leaving just seconds before the fatal fall.

CCTV footage of that check was played in court, showing Sen Const Wolters looking at Ms Day through a cell window for about six seconds before walking away.

"That's a completely inadequate check, what you've witnessed there?" Peter Morrissey SC, the lawyer representing the Day family, asked the supervising sergeant.

"It looks it, yes," Sgt Neale said.

"If you had seen that fall, you would've raced straight in there, wouldn't you?" Mr Morrissey asked.

"Yes."

Sgt Neale said she tasked Sen Const Wolters with checking on Ms Day every 20 minutes, either in person or via CCTV.

But he later told her that Ms Day would "get up and become agitated" when he did physical checks and suggested they be pushed out to 40 minutes.

"That decision was criminally negligent, do you agree or disagree?" Mr Morrissey asked.

"I totally disagree," Sgt Neale replied.

Paramedic Lisa Harrup entered the cell at 8.25pm.

Sen Const Wolters told paramedics Ms Day rolled from the bench and hit her head on the concrete floor about 7pm.

But CCTV footage showed Ms Day had been sleeping on the floor for at least 20 minutes by then.

Sen Const Wolters is expected to give evidence on Wednesday.

Coroner Caitlin English is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

MONDAY, DAY SIX, 3.30pm: Distressing footage of Aboriginal woman Tanya Day falling and hitting her head multiple times in a Victorian police cell has been played at the inquest into her death.

Relatives and supporters of the Yorta Yorta grandmother gasped, cried and shook their heads as CCTV video showed Ms Day, 55, falling and hitting her head five times at Castlemaine Police Station on December 5, 2017.

She died from a brain haemorrhage 17 days later.

The video played in the Coroners Court on Monday showed Ms Day staggering, falling and striking her head but police did not enter her cell until she was due to be released that night.

The viewing came after one of the officers tasked with checking on her told the inquest he and his colleague only looked through the cell window partly because of Ms Day's gender.

"To me it would be a very personal thing for a female to be in custody and have two men enter her cell," Leading Senior Constable Wayne Cairnes said.

He also said he would have had to remove his weapons before going into the cell.

Snr Const Cairnes recalled seeing Ms Day standing in the cell but later conceded this was wrong after being played footage of her sprawled on the cell bed.

He and another officer checked on her for only seconds before being satisfied with her condition and walking away.

Snr Const Cairnes thought his colleague asked, "Tanya, are you OK?" but conceded he could not definitively recall whether those exact words were said.

When Ms Day arrived at the police station, she bargained with officers to let her go.

Another officer on duty, Leading Senior Constable Wayne Rowe, said she would have been "about a seven (out of 10)" in terms of drunkenness.

He had to hold Ms Day to keep her still while her photo was taken and she knocked his hand away as he held her jacket, indicating it would have to be removed.

"I spent about the next 10 minutes explaining to (Ms) Day that because she was going into the cell, she needed to remove her jacket (which contained a drawstring), shoes and jewellery," he said.

Police told the woman to sleep it off in the cell while they tried to organise someone to collect her.

Coroner Caitlin English is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

FRIDAY, DAY FIVE, 5.30pm: A conductor made the call to kick an Aboriginal woman off a regional Victorian train for being drunk, before she suffered fatal injuries in a police cell, an inquest has been told.

Tanya Day, 55, died from a brain haemorrhage in December 2017 after being removed from a train at Castlemaine station for being drunk.

Regional train driver David Aisbett said it was up to a conductor to decide whether passengers should be removed from rail services.

The driver contradicted conductor Shaun Irvine's evidence from earlier this week, who said it was up to police.

"He's (Irvine) telling me that there's a lady on the train that's under the influence of some recreational substance and she doesn't know who she is, where she is, he can't get any sense out of her so he doesn't want her on the train," Mr Aisbett told central control in a recording played at the inquest on Friday.

There was no way of seeing what was happening in the carriage, Mr Aisbett said, and he had to relay information he was given.

Mr Irvine previously denied telling the driver he didn't want her onboard.

The inquest was earlier told the Aboriginal Community Justice Panel at Bendigo was contacted and asked if someone was able to pick Ms Day up, but no one was available.

But on Friday, volunteer justice worker Sandra Owen said while the name "didn't ring a bell" it didn't mean she would not help.

"Just because I don't know her doesn't mean we're not going to support the person, because we support them regardless," Ms Owen said.

The unpaid volunteer, who was one of just three volunteers at the service, was told Ms Day was intoxicated, didn't want to speak to the ACJP and wasn't making sense.

"I told him that we couldn't come and pick her up when she was drunk and we would have to wait until she was sober," Ms Owen said.

This was for the safety of volunteers but she told the officer to call again once Ms Day was sober, she said.

She said if she had known more about Ms Day's circumstances and details she would have been happy to meet her at a nearby train station and take her home.

Once Ms Day was in custody, police didn't go inside her cell until she was due to be released that night.

She died 17 days after hitting her head five times in the cell.

Coroner Caitlin English is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

THURSDAY, DAY FOUR, 5pm: An Aboriginal grandmother who died in hospital after being held in police custody was in tears in the hours before she was found injured on the floor of her cell, footage shown at her inquest reveals.

Tanya Day, 55, died from a brain haemorrhage in December 2017. Seventeen days earlier, she had been removed from a train for public drunkenness at Castlemaine station.

Footage from the police station aired at the inquest into her death shows the Yorta Yorta woman unsteady and apparently crying.

She'd been taken to the police station by senior constables Matthew Fitzgibbon and Kristian Hurford in a divisional van.

Sen Const Fitzgibbon told the inquest on Thursday Ms Day had been "light on her feet".

He said his partner contacted Ms Day's daughter Kimberley to explain the situation but she wasn't able to collect her mother, so the Aboriginal Community Justice Panel at Bendigo was notified.

The person who answered the phone told them she was "not prepared to send one of her staff to come and collect her", he said.

As no one could collect Ms Day she was taken into the cells.

"I knew she was unsteady on her feet the whole time," Sen Const Fitzgibbon said of Ms Day.

At one point he had to hold her hand while in the cell "to keep her steady" while another officer patted her down.

Ms Day had been upset "on and off ... but that's not unusual," Snr Const Fitzgibbon said.

"No one is happy to be in a cell."

He said it appeared she had been wiping her eyes and also appeared upset at the charge counter.

Ms Day's jewellery, bright pink jumper and shoes were taken away from her because they were deemed a safety risk.

After Sen Const Fitzgibbon left the cell he had no further contact with her but was told she was injured when he returned for a break at the station.

"I was informed... that Ms Day had fallen and hit her head and they had checked on her and saw she had a lump on her head," Snr Const Fitzgibbon said.

Once Ms Day was taken into the police station officers did not go inside her cell until she was due to be released later that night.

The coroner is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

THURSDAY, DAY FOUR: Aboriginal woman Tanya Day was unintelligible when police officers woke her up on a regional Victorian train, but instead of calling an ambulance they arrested her for public drunkenness.

More than two weeks later, the 55-year-old died from a brain haemorrhage she suffered while in police custody after she was taken off the train at Castlemaine station.

Senior Constable Stephen Thomas and his partner, First Constable Aaron Towns, responded to calls from the train's conductor that she was "unruly" and intoxicated.

But while they didn't believe she was unruly or causing trouble, they decided to arrest her and take her off the train instead of calling an ambulance.

This was despite police guidelines requiring intoxicated people giving unintelligible responses to be taken to hospital or get urgent medical advice.

"No I didn't think medical assistance was required," Snr Const Thomas told an inquest into her death in Melbourne on Wednesday.

He said while he considered calling an ambulance, her demeanour was improving.

Sen Const Thomas also said he did not formally caution Ms Day that she was under arrest and said it was "the most low-key arrest I've ever done".

"I didn't formally say, 'you are now under arrest'. I just expressed I wanted her to come with me and I guess by compelling her to come with me that's a form of arrest," he said.

First Const Towns said he never considered calling an ambulance and it was decided there were no other options but to take Ms Day to the police station.

The officers got family contacts from her phone and passed them onto other police to follow up.

At an earlier hearing, train conductor Shaun Irvine made sure police were called to speak to Ms Day because he was concerned for her safety.

She was not bothering other passengers but was deemed unruly as she appeared delirious and couldn't provide related answers to his questions, Mr Irvine said.

Police officers did not enter her cell until she was due to be released later that night, despite deciding she should be physically roused every 40 minutes.

CCTV footage showed she hit her head five times while in the cell. She died in hospital 17 days later from brain injuries.

Coroner Caitlin English is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

The court was shown CCTV footage collected from the railway platform, which features V/Line staff and police entering the train and re-emerging with Ms Day.

The inquest will continue on Thursday with more footage from the police station expected to be shown.

WEDNESDAY, DAY THREE: An Aboriginal woman who died in custody after she was taken off a regional Victorian train for being drunk was not formally cautioned that she was under arrest.

Tanya Day, 55, died from a brain haemorrhage in December 2017 after being removed from the Castlemaine service.

"It was the most low key arrest I've ever done," Senior Constable Stephen Thomas told a coronial inquest on Wednesday.

Despite finding she was intoxicated the police officer said Ms Day didn't appear to be unruly.

"I didn't see what I would call unruly behaviour," Snr Const Thomas said.

He did consider leaving her on the train but decided not to because he was worried he'd be held responsible if something did happen to Ms Day.

Once she was in custody, police didn't go inside her cell until she was due to be released that night.

She died in hospital 17 days later from brain injuries.

Coroner Caitlin English is examining whether racism contributed to Ms Day's death.

The court has also been shown CCTV footage collected from the train station platform, which shows V/Line staff and police entering the train and re-emerging with Ms Day, then interacting with her as she briefly sat on a bench before the group moved to the car park.

The inquest continues.

TUESDAY, DAY TWO: A rail conductor who called police on an Aboriginal woman sleeping on a Victorian train says he would have done the same if she was white.

Conductor Shaun Irvine has rejected suggestions Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day's race played a part in getting officers to escort her off the train for public drunkenness at Castlemaine on December 5, 2017.

Seventeen days later, the 55-year-old grandmother was dead, having fallen and hit her head five times in the police cell.

A coroner overseeing the inquest into the death in custody has rejected a push by Ms Day's family for the full and immediate release of CCTV from the station.

"It would not be fair for the witnesses to release the CCTV in full prior to it being played in court," coroner Caitlin English said on Tuesday.

Lawyers for the family say racism contributed to what happened to Ms Day, with Peter Morrissey SC asking Mr Irvine whether he would have called police if the passenger was a white person.

"Based on that information ... you would not have called the driver to get police," Mr Morrissey suggested.

"I believe I would have (done the same thing)," Mr Irving replied.

The conductor also repeatedly said he couldn't recall whether he noticed Ms Day was Indigenous when he spoke to her about whether she had a ticket and where she was going.

But statements tendered to the inquest say Mr Irvine told officers Ms Day was Aboriginal and he eventually admitted he possibly said as much.

Mr Morrissey suggested the conductor had changed his story "because you're concerned an allegation of racism ... might be coming your way".

Mr Irvine rejected this and after prompting from V/Line lawyer Ben Ihle, spoke about having an Aboriginal friend while growing up.

He said he decided Ms Day was unruly because she appeared delirious and couldn't provide related answers to his questions, and he was concerned she could trip or even be hit by a train if she disembarked by herself.

The inquest continues.

MONDAY, DAY ONE: When a rail conductor found an Aboriginal woman asleep on a train in country Victoria, he made sure police met them at the next station.

Shaun Irvine told an inquest into Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day's death in custody he was concerned for her safety but did not offer any help or ask if she needed it.

The 55-year-old grandmother was arrested for public drunkenness on December 5, 2017, and later died from a brain haemorrhage after falling and hitting her head five times in a Castlemaine police cell.

Mr Irvine told the start of Ms Day's inquest on Monday she appeared delirious, gave unrelated answers to his questions and he was worried she could hurt herself once she got off the train.

She wasn't doing anything or being obnoxious or abusive to other passengers or staff, but Mr Irvine believed Ms Day was under the influence of a substance and classified her as "unruly".

He didn't think she needed an ambulance but organised for police to come when the Melbourne-bound train stopped at Castlemaine station.

"I believed that her safety was threatened by allowing her to continue to travel in the state she was in," Mr Irvine told the Victorian Coroners Court, citing risks such as falling or tripping.

Ms Day was removed from the carriage by two officers and died in hospital 17 days later.

Her family are pushing for CCTV footage from her time in custody to be made public.

"We think it's really important for people to see for themselves the treatment that mum had," daughter Belinda Stevens told reporters outside court.

Ms Day was captured on CCTV falling five times in the police cell within a two-and-a-half hour period.

At one point, the footage showed her falling forward and hitting her forehead on the wall.

Police were meant to physically rouse Ms Day every 40 minutes - but they did not enter the cell until she was due to be released.

The family's lawyers say racism played a role in her interaction with V/Line staff, arrest and time in custody.

"How can it be that a woman so much loved ... who was hurting no one, abusing and hitting no one ... could be removed in a manner of minutes from a train on which she was travelling?" Peter Morrissey SC told the inquest.

Coroner Caitlin English will hand down her decision on the release of the CCTV from the Castlemaine police station on Tuesday, before the second day of the inquest resumes.

Victoria's government has promised to abolish the offence of public drunkenness - a move recommended nearly 30 years ago by a royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

Australian Associated Press

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