Victoria's embattled forensic medicine system is locked in a stand-off over the use of specially built one-stop-shops for victims of sexual assault and violence.
An ABC investigation found some victims of sexual assault were being forced to wait up to a day to be assessed by forensic doctors due to a staff shortage and a lack of funding.
In some cases, victims waited in bloodied and soiled clothing.
Over the past decade, the government built seven Multi-Disciplinary Centres (MDCs) across Melbourne and the regions.
The facilities include examination rooms, police sexual assault units, child protection and community health and counselling.
But some forensic doctors are currently refusing to use them over safety concerns.
Some medical experts and forensic doctors argue that they are not safe for patients who have just been assaulted.
This is because they do not have a full complement of medical assistance, drugs and equipment available.
There is also concern the centres can be isolated and do not have the level of security to deal with patients affected by alcohol or other drugs.
The small team of forensic doctors is employed by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) and funded by Victoria Police.
Report highlights risks existing facilities pose
Last year, VIFM commissioned George Braitberg, an emergency medicine expert, to examine the use of MDCs.
Professor Braitberg's report, seen by the ABC, found that "multi-disciplinary centres in Victoria pose inherent risks to patient and staff safety".
The VIFM said the centres were still used in regional Victoria.
"MDCs are designed to holistically manage the services to victims. It is appropriate that for certain types of non-recent sexual assault and physical assault cases, that forensic medical examinations are conducted in an MDC, as is already happening,'' VIFM said in a statement.
Victim advocates are also pushing for doctors to return to the centres.
Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn urged the government to force change.
"It's really about the government and the medical service sitting down and working out what can be done to get the doctors and nurses back in there,'' Ms Maltzahn said.
She disagreed with some experts who want the forensic system to be embedded in hospitals, especially at a time when the health system is already under enormous strain.
The Police Association also said its members supported the use of MDCs.
"They connect a whole range of services, not just health practitioners, but other services that are required to support victims of crime in these serious matters. They are a valuable tool for us,'' secretary Wayne Gatt said.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the government's model was designed to reduce the prospects of victims having to attend multiple locations "and re-tell their stories again and again for different reasons".
In the wake of the ABC investigation, the government said it would recruit more forensic specialists.
Delays 'not good enough': Premier
Ms Symes acknowledged there was more to do for victims, while Premier Daniel Andrews was disappointed by the major delays victims faced.
"We have to do better than that,'' Mr Andrews said.
"Because the last thing I want is for, for any victim, any woman, for that terrible journey to be made worse because the system isn't there for her."
Experts, including the Law Reform Commission, have recommended that the forensic system be moved from the justice department into the health system in order to better look after victims' health needs.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O'Brien backed the move.
"We need a victim-centred approach, a health-centred approach to victims of sexual assault,'' he said.
"The current system isn't working, we need to treat coronial matters separately from those matters involving live victims of sexual assault."
