After 30 years of recommendations, five years of intense lobbying, three years of funding negotiations and two years of political promises, a lifesaving service that could prevent deaths in custody has been rolled out across Western Australia.

The custody notification service (CNS) has been trialled since July and went statewide at 12.01am on Wednesday.

It places a mandatory requirement on police who take an Indigenous person into custody for any reason, including protective custody provisions for intoxication or under the Mental Health Act, to call a 24/7 hotline staffed by the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALSWA).

It is based on the New South Wales CNS that has been operational for 19 years.

It was also a recommendation of the 1991 royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.

The family of Yamatji woman Ms Dhu, who died after suffering a critical health decline in a Port Hedland police cell after being jailed for unpaid fines in 2014, campaigned for a CNS in WA for five years. An inquest heard it could have saved her life.

Legislation to end the practice of jailing for unpaid fines was introduced to parliament last week.

ALSWA chief executive Dennis Eggington said the service would be staffed by “an incredible team who have undergone a rigorous expert training program in many areas including cultural awareness, relevant legal issues, mental health, disability, suicide prevention and trauma-informed practice”.

The scheme costs $1m a year and is jointly funded, with commonwealth funding of $2.7m over three years. The Northern Territory received the same funding.

Legislation to create a Victorian custody notification service came into effect on Tuesday.

The Victorian laws require police to ask everyone they arrest if they identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, and to contact the Victoria Aboriginal Legal Service within the hour of taking an Indigenous person into custody for any reason. It replaces a non-mandatory scheme that has been in place since the early 1990s and will be staffed by volunteers from the expanded Aboriginal community justice panel program.

“A Custodial Notification Scheme can prevent deaths and injuries in custody – that’s why we’ve enshrined one in legislation,” Victorian attorney-general Jill Hennessy said.

An investigation by Guardian Australia found that at least 424 Indigenous people have died in custody in Australia in the 30 years since the royal commission.

Only one Aboriginal person, Wiradjuri woman Rebecca Maher, has died in a police station in NSW since the introduction of the CNS.

A coronial inquest into Maher’s death recommended NSW expand the service to include intoxicated people held under protective custody laws.

South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania are the only states without the mandatory notification scheme.