Australian coroners fake info on Indian deaths

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 02 July 2009, 21:19 IST   |    49 Comments
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Australian coroners fake info on Indian deaths
Bangalore: Over 54 students from overseas died of various reasons in Australia last year of which nearly half were Indians. The public officials tried to hide details of the deaths, to protect the lucrative $15.5 billion education market in the country, 'The Age' in Melbourne reported. The report published, claims the toll to be much higher than what the federal government had admitted. The State and Territory Officials, under the National Coroners Information System (NCIS), moreover, have refused to comply with an application submitted by the daily, which inquired about the data on deaths of overseas students in the year ended November 2008, the paper said. A spokeswoman for Victorian Coroner, Jennifer Coate said "The information would not be made public because it was not exhaustive. The nationality and occupation of someone who has died is not required to be automatically recorded." The refusal came after the NCIS's previous indications of making the information available, the report said. On questioning in the Parliament, the government said that in February 51 overseas students died in that year, with 34 dying of "unknown" causes. Fourteen cases were cited as accidents and three as death from illness. But, an investigation by The Age has established that the death toll is around 54 which is higher than 51 with mostly Indians, Korean and Chinese. Nearly half were Indians, holding one-fifth of the total student visas at that time, the report said. Opposition Immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone informed that she sought the data in February because foreign-student organizations suspected under-reporting of deaths. "Citing 34 deaths as unknown is an extraordinary statistic," she said. The government figures did not display suicide cases. Commenting on the issue, Chris Nyland, an expert on International Education, Monash University, said "There is a need for a federal advisory body on student safety. Mandatory statistical reporting of international students' deaths must also be done. If an overseas student dies in Australia, the education provider is not required to give a the cause of death when it reports the matter to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, in present situations. Witnessing the uncontrollable situation, External Affairs Minister of India, S M Krishna, is planning to visit Australia to address the situation.

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