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Contact details
Purpose
Description
Definition of family and domestic violence
Relationship to Defining the data challenge for family, domestic and sexual violence (cat. no. 4529.0)
Family and domestic violence related content (data items collected)
Collection methodology
Scope / Target population
Coverage
Data availability / Dissemination
Publications
Collection history
Other directory data sources held by this agency
NATIONAL CORONIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
DASHBOARD METADATA
Collection type | | Geographic coverage | | Frequency | | Data availability |
- Administrative by-product
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- National
- State/territory(all)
- City/region
- SLA
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- Detailed publication/report publicly available
- Customised data - charged consultancy 1
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[1] May be subject to release conditions
DETAILED METADATA
Contact details:
PURPOSE:
To contribute to a reduction in death and injury in the Australian and New Zealand Community by providing information to investigators and researchers about the frequency and nature of deaths reported to Australian and New Zealand Coroners. |
DESCRIPTION:
The National Coronial Information System (NCIS) is an internet based data storage and retrieval system for Australian coronial cases. It includes information about every death reported to an Australian coroner since July 2000 (January 2001 for Queensland), and for New Zealand since 1 July 2007. |
DEFINITION OF FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
Family and domestic violence is not specifically defined within the NCIS database. Possible cases of interest relating to family and domestic violence within the NCIS could include homicides within family or domestic settings; homicide/suicides; suicides predicated by previous abuse; or infant or child neglect resulting in death. History of non-physical types of abuse may be mentioned in the deceased or perpetrator history described in attached documentation.
Identifying these possible cases would need to be done using a variety of different search techniques, and would not be quickly or easily identifiable as a “FDV” related death. There is current consideration about the addition of a flag to the NCIS to identify family/domestic violence related deaths.
Aspects of family and domestic violence captured by the data are:
- Physical abuse;
- Homicide /suicide; and
- Neglect.
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RELATIONSHIP TO DEFINING THE DATA CHALLENGE FOR FAMILY, DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE (cat. no. 4529.0)
The summary table below is designed to indicate the amount of information available for each of the six elements outlined in
Defining the Data Challenge for Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence, 2013 (cat. no. 4529..0).This is a subjective assessment made by the ABS about the data collected and is not an indication of data quality.
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RELATED CONTENT (data items collected)
The following tables provide a detailed analysis of the availability of specified data elements in the data source. The data items have been grouped into four counting units:
1. Context;
2. Person;
3. Incident/Event; and
4. Transaction.
Tables are absent from the entry in cases where the data source contains no data items which relate to the particular counting unit/s.
Context
Please note: Person
[1] Information may be included within attached documentation.Incident/event 1
[1] Some cases have a Police circumstances, Autopsy or Coronial finding report attached. These documents can provide qualitative information about the incident, offender, relationship between victim and offender or previous incidents of violence.
[2] Information may be included within attached documentation.Transaction
[1] Information may be included within attached documentation.COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
Each State and Territory in Australia and the New Zealand government have a licence agreement with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine that permits the transfer of coronial information for storage and dissemination via the NCIS. Coronial clerks in each of the coroners offices enter data directly into local case management systems. Data from these case management systems is uploaded to the NCIS on a regular basis (in most cases nightly or weekly). Full text documents are either attached to the local case management systems by the coroners courts, or transferred directly to the NCIS from the originating organisation (eg. Post-mortem reports from the Forensic Science Centre). The coroners clerks use the information contained within the coronial file as the basis for their data entry. All information transferred to the NCIS is performed in accordance with State and Federal Privacy legislation. Access to identifying information will often be restricted until the case has been finalised by a coroner. For cases reported to a coroner, where a criminal investigation is undertaken, the case will often be put on hold with the coroner’s office until the completion of the criminal process. Cases of suspected or alleged FDV may therefore remain open on the NCIS for a significant period of time from the date of reporting, before a coronial determination is made. |
SCOPE/TARGET POPULATION
People whose deaths have been reported to a coroner in Australian States and Territories and New Zealand. |
COVERAGE
This collection includes reported deaths only. The criteria for a reportable death varies according to the Coroners Act in each jurisdiction, however it generally encompasses all sudden; unexpected or unexplained deaths. These include homicides; suicides; child death; industrial fatalities; Motor Vehicle Accidents, Drowning, and most other forms of non-natural death. |
DATA AVAILABILITY / DISSEMINATION
Charged consultancies - Private or media organisations are not eligible for direct system access but may ask for statistical data from the system to be produced. A service fee on an hourly rate is applicable.
Direct system access is available to death investigators and approved Third Party users (fee applicable). A Third Party is an Australian or New Zealand individual or organisation with a role or interest in public health and safety or with a statutorily mandated statistical role. This includes Commonwealth, State and Territory government departments and agencies, University research centres, and other research organisations/agencies with a role or interest in public health and safety or death and injury surveillance. Commercial and media organisations are not currently eligible for third party access to the NCIS. |
PUBLICATIONS
NCIS Mortality Publications
COLLECTION HISTORY
Collection commenced: Deaths reported to a coroner from 1 July 2000 (1 Jan 2001 for Queensland)
Break in series: No
Other details: N/a
OTHER DATA SOURCES HELD BY THIS AGENCY
N/a