1. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra

2. After the Tsunami – Harnessing Australian Expertise for Recovery The Human Face of Disaster Professor James Robertson National Manager Forensic & Technical Australian Federal Police

3. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra Australian Support to Tsunami disaster in Thailand Thai authorities request assistance with disaster victim identification (DVI) process. Chair of Australasian DVI Committee, FA Julian Slater, activates plan and Australian DVI group deployed on 29 December. Australian Federal Police (AFP) coordinates the Australian assistance and deploys consumables in support of operation.

4. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra Australian Support to Tsunami disaster in Thailand (cont’d) FA Karl Kent assumes role of Joint Chief of Staff (COS) answering to Police General Nopidol. COS responsible for coordination of all international assistance. During first three weeks over 30 countries deploy over 400 people to assist with DVI.

5. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra Australian Support to Tsunami disaster in Thailand (cont’d) DVI process consists of five phases, scene, ante-mortem, post-mortem, reconciliation and repatriation. First task confronting DVI teams at the various scenes is to prepare deceased for post-mortem examination and place bodies in refrigerated containers. Forensic Major Incident Room (FMIR) stood up in Canberra. In initial weeks in order of 40 staff work in Thailand and an equal number in Canberra. Role of missing persons units around Australia is critical in establishing an accurate list of missing persons and collection of ante-mortem material.

6. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra Australian Support to Tsunami disaster in Thailand (cont’d) Working with DFAT list of possible missing persons is reduced from thousands to now 27. 21 Australians have been identified and repatriated and grave concerns are held for a further 6. The Thai Government estimate the total number of deceased to be 5,393. There are likely to be many bodies which are never recovered and the DVI process will continue for many more months.

7. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra Australian Support to Tsunami disaster in Thailand (cont’d) To date, over 100 Australians have contributed to the DVI effort. This has included representatives from all States and Territories in Australia, from police and non-police organisations. Included are forensic officers, specialist police DVI personnel, pathologists, odontologists, scientists, missing persons staff, family liaison officers, psychologists, counsellors and chaplains.

8. National Academies Forum – 31 March 2005 - Canberra