More than 30 people have offered to donate their cadavers to Australia's first body farm since it was announced four months ago.
To be called the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (or AFTER for short), the facility to study the decomposition of human corpses will operate within a 48-hectare bush site owned by the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in the lower Blue Mountains.
Offers flowed after the university announced the facility, said UTS Professor Shari Forbes, a forensic scientist and expert on decomposition, who will head the facility.
Although AFTER's infrastructure is expected to be ready early next year, the timing of its operations will depend on when the first donor dies. The facility – the first in the southern hemisphere – will use only recently deceased corpses because it has been designed to study human decomposition in an Australian environment.
Up until now, Australian scientists have studied pig cadavers on the site to get an approximation for how the human body decomposes in local conditions and when subjected to local insect activity. From next year, as many as six donated human cadavers will be exposed to the elements or buried in shallow graves.
To allay public fears about the project, Professor Forbes is a regular speaker at community groups and Rotary Clubs. After a presentation to Windsor Rotary in March, the club's newsletter reported that it was an "extremely interesting (and at times a bit gruesomely illustrated) presentation".
Professor Forbes stressed AFTER would be situated well away from other properties, fully fenced with high-security screening and constantly monitored by CCTV. A manager will be present during working hours.
Paul Barber, Windsor Rotary's club secretary, said everyone had been "fascinated but nobody was alarmed". He didn't think anyone had followed up by offering their corpses to the facility. The names of those who have offered to donate their corpses to AFTER are confidential.
Each corpse will be covered with a grate to prevent scavengers from distributing the body and bones. The remains will be returned to each family later for burial or cremation, depending on the wishes of the deceased.
A local resident, Ben Feszczuk, who recently retired as Penrith Police Commander, said the body farm was a great idea.
"I am an old homicide investigator, and all that stuff that comes out of this work adds to the knowledge and the database of different things about decomposition. It can help solve crime. There are a myriad of things we look at to determine the last movements of the deceased, and it is critical to lock in death to a particular time," he said.
Ranging from forensic scientists to anthropologists, as many as 30 different researchers from 10 institutions, including the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Wollongong and the Australian Federal Police, will study the corpses on a weekly or daily basis.
I am an old homicide investigator, and all the knowledge and the database of different things about decomposition, can help solve crimes.Ben Feszczuk
Those seeking to donate their bodies to the facility currently have to provide a signed note, in addition to the usual form used to donate a body to science, indicating that they would like their body to be used at the body farm. The corpses of those who die before the facility opens will be used, if permission has been granted, by students studying anatomy and other sciences at UTS.
Professor Forbes said the ethical use of donated human cadavers for scientific studies was vital for the success of human death investigations here and overseas, including neighbouring countries where Australia sent emergency response teams in times of disaster.
"The scientists and police involved in this research are confronted by death on a regular basis and understand the moral and ethical significance of working with human cadavers, just like doctors and medical students," she said.
UTS will hold a free public lecture on body farms, asking the question whether the research can also help scientists relieve human suffering