An inquest into the death of the Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali, who set himself on fire after almost three years in detention on Nauru, is expected to examine why it took more than a day to medically evacuate him to Australia for specialist treatment.

The hearing will begin in Brisbane on Monday morning. It comes amid national debate about medical evacuations, and the passage of independent-led legislation to allow for medically necessary transfers from offshore detention.

Masoumali died in Brisbane in April 2016. In protest at his ongoing detention on Nauru, he publicly doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire. He was initially treated in hospital in Nauru and later arrived in Brisbane for specialist burns treatment.

George Newhouse, the principal solicitor at the National Justice Project, said Masoumali’s family want the inquest to examine all aspects of his medical care, including whether there was a delay to his medical evacuation to Australia.

Newhouse said Masoumali’s family also wanted to understand “the conditions that he was living in, and how his mental health descended to the point where he set himself alight.

“The death of Omid Masoumali did not occur in isolation,” Newhouse said. “It occurred in a context of widely known cases of medical failure, neglect and/or delayed interventions such as medical evacuation to Australian hospitals.

“There have been 12 asylum seeker deaths on Nauru and Manus Island since the Rudd Government reopened offshore processing and there will be more unless the government learn the lessons from each of these deaths and provide asylum seekers with the health care they urgently require.

“We act for the families of at least four other men who died offshore and their deaths require urgent investigation.”

Masoumail’s partner, who is expected to be de-identified during the inquest, told Guardian Australia in 2017 about the day of his death.

“People have seen a lot of pictures of Omid in his last moments,” she said. “Those images are very painful for me. I want people to know who Omid really was. He was ambitious, intelligent, invincible. But after three years, even Omid was broken.”

Sarah Atkinson from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is representing Masoumali’s partner at the inquest.

“What we know is that quick evacuation is extremely important when dealing with patients with serious and complex injuries, like those sustained by Omid,” Atkinson said. “It is therefore vitally important that the medical evacuation process works properly.”

Katie Robinson from the Human Rights Law Centre, who is also part of Masoumali’s partner’s legal team, said changes can – and must – be made.

“It’s tragedies like this one that remind us why we must embrace compassion, decency and humanity; the very things that Omid was denied. It’s a devastating reminder of how the Australian government has inflicted so much harm to the innocent men, women and children who have come to our shores seeking safety and freedom.

“A young man lost hope, he lost a chance for a better future and, ultimately, he lost his life. And a young woman lost her partner, and a man she described as her breath, her hope, her life and her base. Nothing can change the past. But lessons can be learnt.”

A vigil protest has been planned for 8.30am on Monday at the front of the coroner’s court in Brisbane.