More than $40 million will be spent on programs to curb Victoria’s soaring prison population, including women and Aboriginal prisoners, by helping them find work and escape the cycle of repeat incarceration.

The funding, to be announced in Monday's state budget, follows a big jump in the number of prisoners denied bail prior to sentencing, which is partly why more people are now behind bars.

Fifty per cent of Victoria’s prisoners have been to jail at least once before, according figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last month.

A cell block inside the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, Victoria's main women's prison. Credit:Ari Hatzis

Victorian Corrections Minister Ben Carroll admitted the rate was too high and said the state had to find ways “to stop the prison gatehouse being a turnstile”.