International & Humanitarian Work
Asia and the Pacific
VIFM has been active in responding to natural and human-induced disasters that have resulted in mass casualties in South East Asia and the Pacific.
We have had a particular involvement where Australian citizens were victims, such as in the Bali bombings, the Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, the tsunami in Thailand and aviation crashes in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
VIFM’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team has also worked in East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. The Institute strengthens its capacity to respond to Australian mass casualty events, teach forensic medicine and contribute to research in the field through its international humanitarian capacity development and DVI work.
VIFM has a number of highly specialised staff who have honed and broadened their niche skills through international humanitarian work in testing conditions in the aftermath of human induced (war, terrorism) or natural disasters. We saw first hand how invaluable this international experience was when our staff worked for three months to care for and identify the 173 Black Saturday bushfire victims for their families.
Our ability to rapidly deploy the infrastructure and logistics required to manage the large number of casualties was informed by our staff members’ experiences in working in the aftermath of the Bali Bombings, Kosovo following the NATO intervention, and Thailand following the Indian Ocean Tsunami. We were able to rapidly deploy processes and systems which enabled the bushfire victims to be identified as quickly as possible so they could be released to their families for burial.
VIFM has an established network of contacts with forensic medical professionals throughout the Pacific and South East Asia. We are part of a project to foster a collaborative network of forensic institutes in Asia which will focus on capacity development through training and information exchange.
National and International Partners
VIFM’s international disaster response work and capacity development work is largely funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and AusAID with some project support from international humanitarian agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross or international governments.
VIFM is working with the AFP on a project aimed at enhancing the forensic medical capacity of African nations. A network of forensic clinicians from some 12 African nations has been formed and VIFM and the AFP have run workshops on forensic investigative techniques and identification processes for network participants. The AFP is also sponsoring eight African clinicians to undertake postgraduate studies in forensic medicine at VIFM/Monash University over a four year period.
Since 2005 the VIFM has collaborated with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) in a number of training and investigation projects. In 2008 the VIFM was successful in obtaining funding from AusAID under the Public Sector Linkages Program to provide technical assistance and training in human identification for the Timor-Leste National Police and the Forensic Department of the Hospital Nacionale Guido Valladares.
Additional funding was provided by the Argentine Government and a private donor through the EAAF. The training included a practical component based on a humanitarian investigation into the Santa Cruz massacre in Dili. The VIFM and EAAF have subsequently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Timor-Leste “to pursue additional investigations to enable the identification of victims who fought for national liberation and independence up to September 1999″.
Responding to Disasters.
VIFM has significant experience in temporary mortuary management and disaster victim identification in the aftermath of disasters. Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) is the INTERPOL-authorised formal and organised process of identifying multiple bodies after a mass fatality. It requires a number of skilled professionals working together to amass the evidence required to clearly identify victims and release them to their families. The professionals involved include the police and medical experts including forensic pathologists and technicians and, depending on the nature of the incident, forensic odontologists, forensic anthropologists, toxicologists and molecular biologists (DNA).
In major disasters such as the tsunami in Thailand there may be thousands of bodies requiring identification. International DVI procedures are set out by INTERPOL with local authorities generally having control over the site(s) of the disaster and local staff, sometimes with assistance from outside organizations. Internationally accepted INTERPOL Guidelines provide the basis for collecting and recording both ante-mortem and post-mortem data. DVI responses involving VIFM staff include recent natural disasters such as Black Saturday bush fires, terrorist actions such as the Bali bombings, and events that have happened some time ago, such as the exhumations of mass graves from armed conflicts.
Operating in an external jurisdiction brings with it complex legal and cultural issues. Cultural sensitivities are extremely important and our teams have to be briefed on local religious beliefs, cultural attitudes and practices and political systems. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to the success of these operations with input from representatives of all major professional groups.
Victim identification is painstaking work as it is paramount that accurate victim identification is made based on all available information. This may entail DNA sampling, odontological (dental) examination, review of personal property and reference to medical records.