ABSTRACT
Crime scene investigation in Australia is practised differently in all jurisdictions and the responsibility for scene investigation will include, a combination of, or all of, the following types of incidents and examinations:
• vehicle (car, bicycle, motor cycle, boat, aircraft) accidents; • vehicle (number falsification and restoration, vehicle parts identification and head-
light examination in vehicular accidents) identification; • accidental (multitude of circumstances including misadventure) death; • suicidal (multitude of circumstances) death; • homicidal (multitude of circumstances) death; • sudden (with or without suspicious circumstances) death; • forced entry onto premises (houses, factories, shops, shopping malls, garages,
garden sheds); • forced entry into money containers (safes and automatic teller machines – ATMs); • theft (including thief traps); • fraud (scientific examination of documents excluding handwriting identification); • sexual assault (touching, penetration, ejaculation – with or without violence); • assault with a weapon (hammer, screw driver, axe, knife, firearm, piece of
timber); • difficult victim identification (mummification and putrefaction); • disaster victim identification (dealing with multiple casualties); • fire scene investigation; • explosion scene investigation; • drug investigations (importation of drugs, plantations, clandestine laboratories); • firearms offences (scene examinations);
identification); and
• identification and recovery of micro and macro physical evidence including the location, visualisation and recovery of fingerprints and other latent marks.
