The National Coronial Information System is a national database of coronial information on every death reported a Coroner in Australia from July 2000 and New Zealand from July 2007. It assists coroners, their staff, public sector agencies, researchers and other agencies in obtaining coronial data to inform death and injury prevention activities.
History
The NCIS was the first national database for coronial information in the world. It was established in Australia following recognition by coroners that their mandate for public health and safety could be improved if they could share coronial data across borders to identify previous similar deaths. Prior to the establishment of the NCIS there was no systematic national data storage system for Australia’s eight coronial jurisdictions and the NCIS is considered an invaluable tool to facilitate public health knowledge and research, hence strengthening the coroner's role In September 1997, the Australian Coroners' Society endorsed a business plan for the development and management of the NCIS by a consortium called the Monash University National Centre for Coronial Information. The consortium was made up of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Monash University’s Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, and the Monash University Accident Research Centre. The NCIS was launched in 2000, as the National Coroners information System, with the objective to securely share case information beyond state and territory borders for the purpose of coronial investigation and death prevention. The NCIS was managed by MUNCCI until 2004. The subsequently managed the system from 2004-2012. Since 2012, the NCIS has been part of the Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation through the Service, Strategy and Reform Division
Data
The NCIS collects demographic, contextual and circumstantial information on every reportable death in Australia and New Zealand, as well as legal, medical and scientific reports such as the coroner's finding, post mortem report, toxicology report and police summary of death reports. Supplementary data is provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. All deaths occurring in Australia and New Zealand are coded in accordance with the World Health Organisation International Classification of Death – Tenth Revision codes.
Services
The NCIS provides information to agencies responsible for developing community health and safety strategies to reduce the incidence of preventable death and injury in Australia and New Zealand. The NCIS database is available by application only to approved users, including death investigators and ethically approved third party researchers. Access for Australian and New Zealand death investigators provides them with the ability to review previous coronial cases across jurisdictions that may be similar in nature to current investigations, thus ensuring their ability to identify systemic hazards within the community. Access for approved researchers and government agencies enables them to identify the frequency and circumstances surrounding particular types of death for the purposes of research and prevention.
