2021 news

Fatal facts edition 69 contains summaries of cases and recommendations made between April and June 2021.

A coroner may make recommendations following an investigation that relate to public health and safety to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Fatal facts is a unique NCIS service providing access to coronial recommendations from across all Australian states and territories. It contains cases closed by a coroner from 2000.

View Fatal facts

This Sunday is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (External link), an event that acknowledges those who have died or been injured on the world’s roads, and advocates for action to reduce road trauma.

The NCIS is a valuable data collection that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the transport and traffic related category can identify summaries of relevant deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into transport deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

The NCIS Annual report 2020-21 is now available.

NCIS Annual reports highlight the services, activities and achievements of the NCIS Unit.

Significant progress was made during 2020-21 towards the NCIS Unit’s mission to provide comprehensive coronial data to those who need it and vision to save lives through the power of data. Key outputs included the first set of NCIS fact sheets to showcase the New Zealand data held in the collection, the development of a promotions roadmap to provide a structure approach to increasing awareness of the value of the NCIS, and a refreshed training and support program designed to grow users’ skills and knowledge

View NCIS Annual reports

A number of updates have been applied to the supplementary codes that support Australian coronial data in the NCIS:

• The display of ICD-10 codes has been enhanced.
• Two quarterly updates (April to June, July to September) for incident, residential and death address geocoding have been completed.
• Indigenous status and Place of birth data sourced from Births, Deaths and Marriages Registries for deaths reported to an Australian coroner in 2019 have been uploaded to the NCIS.

See System updates for further information.

Sunday 10 October is World Mental Health Day (External link), an initiative to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilise support efforts.

The NCIS is a valuable data collection that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

A new fact sheet has been released by the NCIS Unit today highlighting the frequency of intentional self-harm deaths of health professionals in Australia.

The fact sheet, Intentional self-harm deaths of health professionals in Australia, examines all closed case intentional self-harm deaths reported to an Australian coroner between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2018 where the person was employed as a health professional at the time of their death.

The fact sheet reviewed the circumstances of 619 deaths reported in Australia and made a number of key findings, including:

• The highest proportions of health professional intentional self-harm deaths were reported to coroners in New South Wales (32.0%) and Victoria (24.7%).
• The majority of deaths were midwifery and nursing professionals (57.8%, n=358). More than one fifth were medical practitioners (24.1%, n=149).
• Females comprised the majority of health professional intentional self-harm deaths (56.4%, n=349). By contrast, females comprised only 16.3% of intentional self-harm deaths among all employed persons.
• Pharmaceutical drug toxicity was the most common mechanism of injury among health professional intentional self-harm deaths (43.0%) and was nearly five times as common as among intentional self-harm deaths of employed persons generally (8.9%).

View NCIS fact sheets

Other NCIS resources

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the intentional self-harm category can identify summaries of relevant deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into intentional self-harm deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

The NCIS Unit provides operational statistics on a quarterly basis to assist users in interpreting search results.

The NCIS operational statistics have been updated as of 1 October 2021, and include figures by year and jurisdiction.

The applicable statistics are:

• case closure
• document attachment.

View NCIS operational statistics

This month is National Safe Work Month (External link), a time for workers and employers across Australia to commit to safe and healthy workplaces for all Australians.

The NCIS is a valuable data collection that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

Safe Work Australia (External link) is a core funder of the NCIS Unit and provides supplementary data to the NCIS for Australian work-related deaths, including occupation, industry and injury type codes. In addition, Safe Work Australia publishes a variety of statistics and research (External link) on work-related death and injury, alongside safety information.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the Work related category can identify summaries of workplace incident deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into work-related deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

Fatal facts edition 68 contains summaries of cases and recommendations made between January and March 2021.

A coroner may make recommendations following an investigation that relate to public health and safety to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Fatal facts is a unique NCIS service providing access to coronial recommendations from across all Australian states and territories. It contains cases closed by a coroner from 2000.

View Fatal facts

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day (External link), an event that aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and encourage well-informed action to reduce suicide around the world.

The NCIS is a valuable data collection that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

The NCIS Unit releases fact sheets on coronial data held in the collection. Fact sheets include statistical information on deaths reported to a coroner and cover specific topics of public interest. The Intentional self-harm series examines deaths among specific populations. The Mortality data series is released annually and includes intentional self-harm deaths reported to Australian and New Zealand coroners in a calendar year.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the intentional self-harm category can identify summaries of relevant deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into suicide deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day (External link), an event raising awareness of overdose as a public health issue, stimulating action on overdose prevention and drug policy and remembering those lost to overdose.

The NCIS is a valuable data collection that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the Drug and alcohol category can identify summaries of drug-related deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into drug-related deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

An average of 34 household maintenance-related deaths are reported in Australia every year, according to an updated fact sheet released by the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) Unit today.

The fact sheet, Household maintenance-related deaths in Australia, examines all closed case external cause deaths reported to an Australian coroner between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2018 where the activity at the time of the fatal incident was household maintenance.

The fact sheet reviewed the circumstances of 608 deaths reported in Australia and made a number of key findings, including:

• Males were significantly over represented, comprising nine in every 10 deaths (92.6%).
• Older males were at greatest risk, with males aged 75 years and over comprising over one third (36.1%) of all household maintenance-related deaths.
• The most common activities resulting in death were roof maintenance (100 deaths), gutter maintenance (73 deaths) and electrical or lighting works (58 deaths).
• Deaths were most frequently the result of a fall (74.1%, or 435 deaths). Falls from ladders (203 deaths) and roofs or balconies (105 deaths) were most common.
• Other common causes of fatal injury included electrocution and drowning (49 and 35 deaths, respectively).

View NCIS fact sheets

Sunday 25 July is World Drowning Prevention Day (External link), an event highlighting the impact of drowning and offering life-saving solutions to prevent it.

The NCIS is a valuable tool that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the Water related category can identify summaries of drowning deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into drowning deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

This week is National Farm Safety Week (External link), an initiative to raise awareness of farm safety issues in rural communities across Australia.

The NCIS is a valuable tool that supports the development of death and injury prevention strategies by providing access to coronial data for death investigation and research.

NCIS Fatal facts is a unique tool that allows public access to Australian coronial recommendations. Users can search the tool by a variety of category tags. A search using the Work related category can identify summaries of farm-related deaths and associated coronial recommendations made to improve public health and safety.

A variety of organisations use NCIS data to conduct research into farm-related deaths. Links to relevant research publications are available on the NCIS website.

The NCIS Unit provides operational statistics on a quarterly basis to assist users in interpreting search results.

The NCIS operational statistics have been updated as of 1 July 2021, and include figures by year and jurisdiction.

The applicable statistics are:

• case closure
• document attachment.

View NCIS operational statistics

The NCIS New Zealand Mortality data series fact sheets have been released today. The fact sheets are the first to showcase New Zealand data in the NCIS collection.

The fact sheets, New Zealand Mortality data series 2014–2018, examined all closed case injury, drug-related and intentional self-harm deaths reported to a New Zealand coroner in the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 calendar years. The series provides a unique comparison between injury, drug-related and intentional self-harm deaths in Australia and New Zealand.

All NCIS fact sheets are publicly available on the NCIS website.

We acknowledge that this content may be distressing. If you or someone you care for is in need of assistance, support services are available.

Fatal facts edition 67 contains summaries of cases and recommendations made between October and December 2020.

A coroner may make recommendations following an investigation that relate to public health and safety to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Fatal facts is a unique NCIS service providing access to coronial recommendations from across all Australian states and territories. It contains cases closed by a coroner from 2000.

View Fatal facts

The latest NCIS Mortality data series fact sheets have been released today.

The fact sheets, Mortality data series 2018, examine all closed case deaths due to injury, drug contribution and intentional self-harm reported to an Australian coroner in 2018. The series provides yearly data on each type of death to enable comparisons over time.

All NCIS fact sheets are publicly available on the NCIS website.

We acknowledge that this content may be distressing. If you or someone you care for is in need of assistance, support services are available.

A number of updates have applied to supplementary codes that support Australian coronial data on the NCIS:

• The January to March quarterly update for incident, residential and death address geocoding has been completed.
• Final ICD-10 codes for Australian 2017 cases and Revised ICD-10 codes for Australian 2018 cases have been added to the NCIS.

Find out more about this update in the release notes available on the NCIS website.

See System updates for further information.

Fatal facts edition 66 contains summaries of cases and recommendations made between July and September 2020.

A coroner may make recommendations following an investigation that relate to public health and safety to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Fatal facts is a unique NCIS service providing access to coronial recommendations from across all Australian states and territories. It contains cases closed by a coroner from 2000.

View Fatal facts

An average of 1013 opioid-related deaths are reported in Australia every year, according to an updated fact sheet released by the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) Unit today.

The fact sheet, Opioid-related deaths in Australia, examines all closed case deaths involving opioid drug contribution reported to an Australian coroner between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2018.

All NCIS fact sheets are publicly available on the NCIS website.

We acknowledge that this content may be distressing. If you or someone you care for is in need of assistance, support services are available.

Fatal facts edition 65 contains summaries of cases and recommendations made between April and June 2020.

A coroner may make recommendations following an investigation that relate to public health and safety to help prevent similar deaths in the future.

Fatal facts is a unique NCIS service providing access to coronial recommendations from across all Australian states and territories. It contains cases closed by a coroner from 2000.

View Fatal facts