The National Coronial Information System: Saving Lives through the Power of Data

• Author: Lauren Dunstan
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12317
• Published date: 01 June 2019
• Date: 01 June 2019

The Australian Economic Review, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 247–254 DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12317

Data Survey

The National Coronial Information System: Saving Lives

through the Power of Data

Lauren Dunstan*

Abstract

The National Coronial Information System

(NCIS) is a secure database of mortality-

specific information on deaths reported to a

coroner in Australia and New Zealand. The

NCIS contains data on over 380,000 cases,

investigated by a coroner. Data include

demographic information on the deceased,

contextual details on the nature of the fatality

and searchable medico-legal case reports

including the coronial finding, autopsy and

toxicology report and police notification of

death. The database is available to coroners to

assist investigations and appropriate access is

available on application for research or

monitoring projects.

1. Introduction

The National Coronial Information System

(NCIS) is a national data repository containing

information on deaths reported to a coroner in

Australia and New Zealand. The NCIS was

established in 2000 to provide Australia-wide

infrastructure supporting the collection and

management of coronial data. Previously, as

noted in Pearse (2012), these data were held

separately within each jurisdiction, often in

paper files and without the ability to easily

share or access information securely or

nationally. The NCIS is an essential data tool

for both coroners and researchers to obtain

nationally standardised information about the

causes of preventable death and injury.

The database contains coded and non-coded

data including: demographic information about

the deceased; contextual information about the

nature of the fatality; full text copies of coronial

findings, post mortem and toxicology reports;

and police notification of death reports. The

collection is quality assured and organised to

facilitate search and discovery. It provides an

invaluable resource for those working towards

safer communities through injury and death

prevention (Parliamentof Victoria Law Reform

Committee, 2006). The information is used by

coroners, police, government, community and

advocacy groups, researchers and the media as

an evidence base for awareness raising and

death prevention initiatives. The NCIS is a

leading example of the role of data as evidence

to inform research, policy development and

coronial investigation (Phillips et al. 2015).

The NCIS is governed by a Board of Manage-

ment comprised of coronial, public health and

* National Coronial Information System, Department of

Justice and Community Safety, Victoria 3006 Australia;

email <lauren.dunstan@ncis.org.au>. The National Coro-

nial Information System is funded by all state/territory

Justice Departments, New Zealand Ministry of Health,

Commonwealth Department of Health, Commonwealth

Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development,

Safe Work Australia, Australian Competition and Con-

sumer Commission and the Australian Institute of

Criminology. The author gratefully acknowledges their

support and the support of coroners and coronial staff in

their commitment to the collection of this data, and thanks

John P. Haisken-DeNew for helpful comments.

°

C2019 The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research,

Faculty of Business and Economics

Published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd