AGY-2164 | Institute of Forensic Medicine

Full description

The Institute of Forensic Medicine was established in 1991 from the Division of Forensic Medicine. (1) The Institute reported to the NSW Department of Health (initially via the Clinical Policy and Practice Division of the General Manager Public Health and Chief Health Officer) and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney. The Institute performed post mortems and carried out research. It conducted significant research including into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the pathology of joints. (2)

On 10 May 1996 the Institute was transferred from the Department of Health to the Central Sydney Area Health Service. (3)

In 2000 the Institute had an establishment of 60 staff including pathologists, aviation pathologists, forensic dentists, forensic anthropologists, technicians, grief counsellors and administrators and it had access to 100 grief counsellors who could assist when dealing with large-scale disasters. The expertise of the Institute included the following (a) the determination of the time, cause and manner of death; (b) expert evidence; (c) non-fatal case consultation; (d) pre-trial and trial evidence; (e) forensic training and research; (f) identification service; (g) molecular biology; (h) disaster investigation (I) bereavement counselling; (j) medical investigation of crime scenes; (k) second opinions; (l) medico-legal seminars (m) under-graduate and post-graduate teaching and training. (4)

In October 2000 the NSW Minister for Heath requested an audit of body parts held in New South Wales Hospitals for research, training and diagnosis purposes. The results of the audit provided in March 2001 revealed that over 25,000 body parts were held in hospitals and universities often without the consent of the next-of-kin. (5) On 19 March 2001 the Minister for Health commissioned Mr. Brett Walker SC to conduct an inquiry into the practices at the morgue particularly to determine whether these were legal and ethical, necessary to determine the cause of death and conducted with the consent of the relatives of the deceased. (6)

The Commissioner found that some practices were illegal but that this had been in ignorance of the law. The administration of the Institute was criticised. The Minister abolished the Institute but proposed that the work be continued as a section of the Division of Laboratory Medicine of the Central Sydney Area Health Service. (7) In August 2001, the Department of Forensic Medicine was established under the umbrella of the Central Sydney Laboratory Services, Central Sydney Area Health Services. (8)

At the same time a new regulatory body, the Forensic Medicine and Pathology Authority, was to be created to regulate all mortuary operations in NSW hospitals and universities. (9) By 2008, however, it appears that the Authority had not been established. (10)

Endnotes
(1) Central Sydney Area Health Service, Annual Report for Year ended 30 June 1995/1996, p.19; Central Sydney Area Health Service, Annual Report for Year ended 30 June 1997, p.24; Independent Commission against Corruption Website http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/files/html/pub2_49i.htm#P227_27278 Report on the Investigation into the Glebe Morgue, 1998, Chapter 1 – Summary (cited 13 August  2008).
(2) New South Wales Department of Health, Annual Report for Year ended 30 June 1993, p.125 and, Annual report for Year ended 1993/94, p.135.
(3) Central Sydney Area Health Service Annual Report 1996/1997, op.cit., p. 24; NSW Government Gazette 10 May 1996, p.2180
(4) NSW Institute of Forensic Medicine website.
(5) Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2001 p.1.
(4) Letters Patent of 21 March 2001.
(6) NSW Minister for Health. Media Release 'Institute Abolished, Director Moved following Glebe Morgue Inquiry', 17 August 2001.
(7) Loc. cit.
(8) Central Sydney Area Health Service, Annual Report, 2001/2002, p.49.
(9) Minister for Health media release, 17 August 2001, op.cit.
(10) NSW Government Directory Website, http://www.directory.nsw.gov.au/completelist.asp (cited 15 August 2008): NSW Government Gazettes, FOI Summary of Affairs, 2001-2008.