More than 500 people have donated their bodies to a research facility near Sydney, Australia, where forensic experts study decomposition. Shari Forbes, a professor of forensic science at the University of Technology Sydney, explains why she set up Australia's first human body farm.

60 Minutes Australia: The talking dead

27 June 2017 | 60 Minutes | Peter Stefanovic

Twelve months ago, crime fighters in Australia got a brand new weapon. It’s a little gruesome so it’s hidden away in a secret location in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, but already it is helping police solve murders and missing person cases. It’s Australia’s first body farm.

An exclusive look inside Australia's human body farm

18 October 2016 | Lateline | Matt Wordsworth

At a secret bushland location, just outside Sydney, a team of world class researchers is studying decomposing bodies and helping police investigate real life crimes.

Inside the secret Australian body farm helping real-life CSIs

18 October 2016 | ABC News | Matt Wordsworth

UTS scientists study decomposing bodies at Australia's only body farm.

Australia's first body farm flooded with donations

15 April 2016 | National Geographic | Cassie Crofts

Sydney will soon be home to a field of decomposing corpses – in the name of science.

Forensic scientist shares insights

24 January 2016 | Otago Daily Times | Rhys Chamberlain

Professor Shari Forbes shares the intricacies and research behind human body decomposition.

Australia’s first body farm on a quest to solve forensic mysteries

11 August 2015 | Australian Times UK | Estelle Vosloo

Donating your body to Australia’s body farm could help solve crimes.

Australia's first body farm: More than 30 people offer to donate their corpses

12 April 2015 | Sydney Morning Herald | Julie Power

More than 30 people have offered to donate their cadavers to Australia's first body farm since it was announced four months ago.

Lunch with new body farm queen, Shari Forbes

11 April 2015 | Sydney Morning Herald | Julie Power

The woman who will preside over Australia's first body farm could not be more normal.

What lies beneath: Sydney gets the southern hemisphere's first 'body farm'

31 January 2015 | The Guardian | Michael Safi

Knowledge of how human bodies decay is mostly based on US experiments, far from Australia’s unique climate and creatures. One university has found a way to tackle that. Welcome to Yarramundi.

Time to meet the body farmers: Sydney scientists will research human decomposition

19 November 2014 | The Daily Telegraph | Ian Walker

Bodies donated to science will be buried or dumped at the secret site for forensic researchers to study, in a bid to help police solve murders or missing persons cases using data gathered under Australian conditions.

Masters of Detection

13 June 2013 | The Sydney Morning Herald | Wendy Frew

By working out how the chemical compounds in odours emanating from a rotting corpse change over time and how they interact with each other, scientists can establish a “scent” profile of a decomposing human body that can be used in forensic investigations.

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