The National Coroners Information System (NCIS) is a national internet based data storage and retrieval system for Australian coronial cases. Information about every death reported to an Australian coroner since July 2000 (January 2001 for Queensland) is stored within the system, providing a valuable hazard identification and death prevention tool for coroners and research agencies.

The NCIS has a primary role to assist coroners in their role as death investigators, by providing them with the ability to review previous coronial cases that may be similar in nature to current investigations, enhancing their ability to identify and address systematic hazards within the community.

Approved research and government agencies also utilise the NCIS to obtain valuable information concerning the circumstances of reported fatalities, to assist in the development of community health and safety strategies.

The NCIS is an initiative of the Australasian Coroners Society, and is based at and managed by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM). The NCIS is funded by a range of Commonwealth and State/Territory agencies.

NCIS Latest news

18/08/2010 - Updated NCIS User Manual: 'Practical Tips for Using NCIS' is now available.

Following the recent upgrade to the NCIS interface, the newest edition of the Practical Tips for Using NCIS manual is now available.  Click here for the latest version or download it directly from the 'Documents' menu on the NCIS.

13/07/2010 - Abstracts Welcome For 2010 AMDIG Workshop

Abstracts for the 2010 Australasian Mortality Data Interest Group (AMDIG) workshop are now open.  The workshop is titled "Improving, Investigating and Using Mortality Data", and themes cover suicide, drugs and alcohol, international developments and methodology, and death investigation processes.

The closing date for abstracts is 16 July 2010. 

To access the details on how to format and submit abstracts, click here.

12/07/2010 - NCIS News Edition 8, July 2010

Click here to view the latest news and updates, upcoming activities and NCIS user tips in the latest edition of NCIS News.

24/06/2010 - New Version Release of NCIS!

On its 10th Anniversary, the NCIS is also celebrating rolling out its latest software version 5.0.  This version will enable users to improve the amount of information to  search on, return and obtain generally from the database.

Please note that during the upgrade, NCIS will be unavailable for use between 7pm on Friday 25th June and 9am on Monday 28th June (Melbourne time).

Key features of the latest NCIS version include:

Auto Notification - allows users to proactively monitor particular deaths of interest;

Multiple Fatality Event - links cases where an incident resulted in the death of two or more individuals;

Geo-coded Address Information - allows users to search by particular geographic areas (available for external cause fatalities only);

Responses to Recommendations - allows users to view agencies that coronial recommendations have been referred to and track their progress.

Updated training manuals will be available shortly.  For further information on the upgrade or new version, please contact the NCIS team on +61(3) 9684 4442 or ncis@vifm.org

21/06/2010 - Operational Statistics

The Operational Statistics page of our website has recently been updated, with statistics available in relation to case closure and document attachment.

04/06/2010 - Australasian Mortality Data Interest Group (AMDIG) Conference, 18-19 November 2010

Hosted by the NCIS and Monash University's Department of Forensic Medicine, this year's AMDIG conference focuses on improving, investigating and using mortality data.

Workshop themes include: Suicide; Drugs and Alcohol; Methods, Data Sources & International Perspectives; Death Investigation Processes.

To register interest or for further information, please email catherined@vifm.org or call +61(3) 9684 4442. 

26/03/2010 – NCIS Annual Report

The latest NCIS Annual Report is now available.