The AFP is shining a spotlight on its disaster victim identification (DVI) specialists who deploy overseas to identify human remains following mass-casualty events impacting Australians and repatriate them to their loved ones.
The AFP DVI team was established in the early 1990s and rapidly deploys nationally and internationally when disaster strikes, be it natural or human-led.
Their role is to recover and identify victims of mass casualty events using internationally standardised and recognised processes.
The team has deployed overseas more than 15 times after mass-casualty events, including the 2002 Bali bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the downing of Flight MH17 in 2014, and the Whakaari/White Island volcano eruption in 2019.
The team, led by AFP DVI Commanders Inspector Rod Anderson and Dr Mark Tahtouh, consists of 150 AFP members located across Australia and internationally ready to rapidly deploy anywhere in the world.
Some members have expertise as crime scene examiners, fingerprint examiners or biologists, while others have policing and investigations expertise. The team work alongside DVI specialists, including forensic pathologists, odontologists, anthropologists and archaeologists.
The team often works alongside foreign law enforcement partners and DVI specialists, including some that don't speak English. To ensure consistency of DVI practices globally, the AFP and other agencies follow standardised INTERPOL guidelines.
There are five stages to identify human remains:
- Scene phase - The disaster zone is assessed for safety risks before bodies are recovered;
- Post-mortem phase - Human remains are scientifically examined in a mortuary through dental examinations, fingerprinting, DNA profiling and visual examinations for tattoos or scars;
- Ante-mortem phase - Family members of the deceased victim/s are interviewed to assist with identification. They may also provide DNA samples or items belonging to the deceased, such as jewellery and clothing, to assist with identification;
- Reconciliation phase - The post-mortem and ante-mortem evidence is reconciled to identify the deceased. If there is a match, the coroner will then decide when a body can be released to its family; and
- Debrief - DVI specialists undertake operational and psychological debrief sessions once the operation has concluded.
Four DVI members deployed to Port Vila, Vanuatu, for a week in December 2024 following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake caused widespread building damage and collapses.
The team, led by Inspector Anderson, provided advice and support to Vanuatu police and military forces on human identification and the dignified and respectful handling of deceased.
While there were no Australian victims, all victims were identified by local authorities and families provided visual identification.
In May 2024, Dr Mark Tahtouh deployed to Papua New Guinea to assist local authorities retrieve victims following a landslide in the Enga Province, which buried more than 150 houses in mud and rubble estimated to be up to eight metres deep.
It was believed entire families died in the landslide, which limited opportunities to collect ante-mortem evidence from close relatives.
Challenges such as compiling reliable lists of missing persons and accessing the site to retrieve bodies also became apparent. In the end, only nine bodies were recovered and visually identified.
Dr Tahtouh said DVI was not a quick or easy process, and potential misidentification was the biggest concern.
"Mass-casualty disasters are often accompanied with challenges in accessing the disaster zone, unfavourable weather conditions, and the destruction of information and communication technology (ICT) and basic services," Dr Tahtouh said.
"The sheer violence of a disaster can also make finding remains challenging. An example is the MH17 wreckage, which lay in a conflict zone and spanned over 125 square kilometres. It took three weeks for the first victim to be identified.
"The longer human remains are exposed to the elements and decomposing, the harder it is to retrieve viable forensic evidence.
"It can take months or years to identify remains and we understand how painful that can be for families. Our role is also to manage their expectations and provide emotional and physical support.
"Despite the horror and personal toll, it's incredibly powerful to return these victims to their loved ones and help bring even a small amount of solace during their grief."
