Record series
Database for the Management and Control of Coronial Investigations
VPRS 11901
1988 - present
Closed
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
State Coroner's Office ( VA2807 ): 1988 - present
Agencies responsible for this record series: State Coroner's Office ( VA 2807 ): 1988 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1988 - present
Series in custody:
1988 - 2004
Contents in custody:
1988 - 1998
Function / Content
This system comprised a database application for the management of coronial investigations. The system managed many of the activities undertaken by or for the State Coroner, including receipt of reports of reportable deaths, receipt and disposal of bodies, conduct of autopsies and conduct of formal investigations.Information recorded for each case included:
* case number
* surname
* date reported
* date of receipt of the body
* place of death
* personal details of the deceased
* name of the person who last saw the deceased
* name of the person who found the deceased
* deceased's doctor's name
* summary of the police report (police form 83)
* court number (Melbourne was court number 19)
* incident type (suicide, report, single vehicle collision, etc.)
* case classification(s) or type(s)
* case status
* status date (i.e. the date of the last event in the case)
* initials of the allocated Coronial staff member
* case summary
* finding.
For some country cases, the only information recorded was surname, completion date and case type.
Information recorded for cases going to inquest included, in addition to the above:
* witnesses' names and addresses
* notifications to solicitors
* listing dates
* file movements.
The case numbers mentioned above were used as file numbers in VPRS 10010 Body Cards and the inquest numbers were used as file numbers in VPRS 24 Inquest Deposition Files.
How to use the records
The only aspect of this system held by PROV is a set of printed outputs from the database that constitute an index to VPRS 24 Inquest Deposition Files and VPRS 10010 Body Cards. The index links the name of the deceased to a case number and is arranged in alphabetical order by surname within each year.To find file numbers for Inquest Depositions 1985 and earlier you will need to consult the "Inquest Index, Victoria 1840 - 1985", available in PROV reading rooms on CD-ROM. It was compiled from original indexes and published by Macbeth Genealogical Services in 2000. The database can also be found in public libraries and genealogical and historical societies.
Recordkeeping system
The use of VPRS 11901 to control the range of Coronial activities is subject to further research. However, it has been established that the screens available to Coronial staff included those for:* recording an incident
* admitting a body
* recording the identification of a body (i.e. how and by whom a body was identified)
* release of a body
* recording cause of death
* ordering autopsies and procedures
* applications to the Coroner, e.g. objections to autopsies
* reports, including generation of standard letters and summonses
* recording interested parties, e.g. witnesses, next of kin, executor, etc.
* listing for hearing
* completing or reopening cases
* requesting briefs, statements and extensions.
The remainder of this series description, apart from the final two paragraphs, is confined to describing the control of VPRS 10010 and VPRS 24.
On receipt of a report of a death a case number was allocated and a Body Card file, identified by the case number, was raised. Every reported death or fire received a separate case number. The case number comprised the next available number from an annual single number sequence. The year portion of the number represented the year in which the report was received - usually, but not necessarily, the year of the death.
Cases were also classified on receipt. The classifications comprised three-character alphabetical codes denoting case types. A case could have more than one classification code. For example a death might have involved an anaesthetic (code ANA) and a surgical intervention (code MED). Case codes were altered if further information required it. Case codes were recorded on the body card file.
If, on the basis of the autopsy report and known circumstances of the death, the death were found to be of natural causes, there would generally be no further investigation. The relevant records would be filed on the body card file in VPRS 10010.
The records were also filed on the body card file if the Coroner decided to hold a chambers hearing. Body card files pertaining to chambers hearings contained records gathered for the investigation such as reports from witnesses, medical personnel, relevant experts and other persons involved. If the Coroner's finding were appealed the records relating to the appeal were also filed on the body card file.
Cases that proceeded to inquest retained their case numbers. However, an inquest could relate to more than one death or fire. Inquest numbers were allocated, and inquest files compiled, on completion of the inquest. Inquest numbers were allocated from an annual single number sequence - not the same sequence as the case or body card numbers - in which the year portion of the number represented the year of the inquest.
Thus, in summary, for every case there was a body card file, identified by the case number and including the case classification code, in VPRS 10010. For cases that went to inquest, there was also an Inquest Deposition file, identified by the inquest number, in VPRS 24. However, note that an Inquest Deposition file could pertain to more than one case.
Coronial officers controlled and retrieved relevant body cards or Inquest Deposition files by means of alphabetical lists printed from the database. The lists were sorted in surname order, with fires listed under "F" and unidentified bodies listed under either "A" - e.g. "An Unknown Male" - or "U" - e.g. "Unknown Male". The lists comprised four columns. The middle two were for the surnames and given names of the deceased, the left column was for the inquest number, and the right column was for the case number.
The relationship between VPRS 11901 and VA 4277 Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine is subject to research.
The relationship between VPRS 11901 and the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) is also subject to research. The NCIS was developed primarily as a research tool for coroners and those directly investigating coronial deaths on behalf of the coroner. It was developed by the Monash University National Centre for Coronial Information (MUNCCI), a consortium that included the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. At the time of writing, September 2004, more information about the NCIS could be found at the MUNCCI website, www.vifp.monash.edu.au/ncis/
