“The recent discovery of hundreds of human body parts in the University of Cologne’s cellars shocked Germany’s academic community and raised broader questions about the rights of people who donate their bodies to medical science and the responsibilities of scientific organisations.

Medical schools traditionally relied on unclaimed corpses to dissect in anatomy class. Flickr/PCOM

“Cologne University staff reportedly discovered decomposing human corpses and large plastic buckets labelled ‘noses,’ ‘newborns’ and ‘shark head.’ Hygiene experts estimate the room might have been unused for a decade or more.

“While shocking, it’s not inconsistent with Victoria’s troubled history of dealing with human remains.

Historical Cadavers

“The British Anatomy Act of 1832 was the first government attempt to establish the ownership of corpses. It followed the public outrage at Burke and Hare’s scheme to provide freshly murdered corpses to anatomy schools. Other body snatchers were raiding new gravesites to meet the growing demand for fresh corpses.

“In 1862, when the first Australian medical school was established in Melbourne, corpses were in short supply. So the Victorian Parliament passed the Anatomy Act to legalise the collection and dissection of cadavers. Controversy soon erupted, with newspapers complaining the Act omitted to mention where the cadavers would be sourced. There was also concern that relatives weren’t given enough time – just 24 hours – to reclaim the bodies of their loved ones before they were dissected.

“At the time, the inmates of the main benevolent asylum in North Melbourne feared that after they died, their bodies would be taken, without consent and used (and abused) by medical students. They set up a petition against the Act demanding their bodies not be sent to the university but their concerns were ignored.

“In the same year, the parliament passed the Electoral Act of 1862, which disenfranchised any person receiving charity in a public institution. From then on, the inmates had effectively no say in the disposal of their bodies. Astonishingly, although many advocates agitated about this iniquity and argued for institutionalised Australians to be given the same rights as other citizens, the provision wasn’t discarded in Victoria until 1975. To continue reading this article from The Conversation, click here.