Expert Consultancy

Expert Opinion

Our staff provide expert forensic medical opinions for: injury interpretation; interpretation of medical services patients’ records and clinical notes; assistance with determining seriousness of injury; alcohol read back calculations; and assessment and opinion regarding driving under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.

The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine is unable to liaise with private individuals. All requests for an expert opinion must be submitted by a legal representative, or the police with a current, appropriate email address.

Contact: expert.opinion@vifm.org

Clinical Forensic Medicine

  • injury interpretation
  • electrical death and injury investigations
  • adult and child physical and sexual assault
  • clinical pharmacology (alcohol, drugs and driving skills)
  • custodial medicine
  • medico-legal issues in hospital medicine, general practice and emergency medicine
  • traffic medicine including fitness to drive.

Forensic Pathology

  • injury interpretation
  • cause of death
  • reconstruction of events around death in circumstances of homicide or suspicious deaths
  • advice in civil matters relating to workplace disease, death and injury
  • medical aspects of disaster management and Disaster Victim Identification.

Forensic Toxicology

  • testing for illicit, prescription and ‘over the counter’ drugs
  • interpretation of illicit, prescription and ‘over the counter’ drug concentrations
  • human pharmacology/pharmacokinetics
  • post-mortem drug interpretation
  • toxicology laboratory design, management, and operations
  • laboratory quality systems

Forensic Radiology

  • the conduct of clinical radiology investigations and procedures
  • forensic interpretation of clinical radiological studies
  • interpretation of post-mortem radiographic examinations
  • mortuary radiology design and operations including imaging protocols
  • forensic radiology equipment specifications
  • mortuary radiology management and administration
  • post-mortem radiology quality control including audit
  • occupational health and safety for mortuary-based radiology services
  • radiological imaging in disaster management and disaster victim identification.

Forensic Anthropology

  • identification of human remains
  • skeletal injury investigations
  • post-mortem changes to the human body
  • the investigation of clandestine graves
  • the investigation of mass graves
  • disaster management and Disaster Victim Identification

Forensic Odontology

  • craniofacial injury
  • craniofacial superimposition
  • dental trauma
  • comparative dental characteristics
  • human identification
  • bite mark analysis
  • review of community dental services
  • disaster management and Disaster Victim Identification.

Forensic Mortuary

  • emergency management including community fatality management
  • mortuary design and operations
  • mortuary management and administration
  • mortuary quality management
  • mortuary occupational health and safety
  • mortuary aspects of disaster management and Disaster Victim Identification.

Forensic Molecular Biology (DNA)

The molecular biology staff of the Forensic Services Division can provide scientific expert opinions across a range of fields relating to DNA analysis and interpretation including: testing of new or historic samples and the interpretation of the test results from other laboratories.