Inside Australia's only 'body farm': The secret bush site in Sydney where corpses are left to decompose to help police solve murders - and 500 donors are waiting to get in (22 Pics)

The only 'body farm' outside the US is on a secret bushland site outside Sydney, below the Blue Mountains

The 4.8 hectare facility is surrounded by a 2.4 metre steel mesh fence topped with coils of razor wire

About 30 decomposing human bodies are left out on the ground covered by anti-scavenging cages

A further 15 bodies are buried at varying depths to replicate the conditions of makeshift or mass graves

About 500 donors from four Australian states have signed up to have their remains used at the facility 

Professor Shari Forbes, director of Australia's only 'body farm', standing in bushland containing the remains of donors who have left their bodies to science; within the pink tape are 30 human corpses left on the surface to decompose

Australia's only 'body farm' - the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research at the base of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney - is surrounded by a steel fence topped with coils of razor wire and is under constant CCTV surveillance

There is room for 200 plots in the heavily-wooded site of the only 'body farm' outside the United States, the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, at the base of the Blue Mountains in the Hawkesbury region of New South Wales

Professor Shari Forbes, director of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Research Facility, points to a shallow grave marked by flags at the 'body farm' she runs at the base of the Blue Mountains in the Hawkesbury region of New South Wales

A 1.8 metre steel fence topped with a further 60 centimetres of concertina wire surrounds the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, the only 'body farm' outside the six facilities operating in the United States 

Professor Shari Forbes, director of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, suits-up in protective clothing before entering the grounds of the 'body farm' where she is often the only living soul on the 4.8 hectare bushland site

Flags, pegs and tape within the grounds of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research - the only 'body farm' outside the United States - mark where a bodies have been buried or left on the surface to decompose 

One small demountable building, painted green to blend into its bushland surroundings sits in the corner of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research at the base of the Blue Mountains on the outskirts of Sydney

Professor Shari Forbes says there have been no security breaches at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, better known as the 'body farm', since it opened at the base of the Blue Mountains almost two years ago 

Professor Shari Forbes, director of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, says she finds her work environment peaceful rather than eerie: 'It's much better than sitting in an office,' the forensic scientist says

Pink tape and orange flags mark the location of shallow graves inside the heavily-secured Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, better known as the 'body farm', west of Sydney at the base of the Blue Mountains 

Professor Shari Forbes, director of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, stands in the bushland setting of the 'body farm'; the pink tape in the background marks where donated bodies have been left to decompose

Forensic scientist Professor Shari Forbes captures smells to conduct research into identifying an accurate chemical profile of decomposition odour at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, better known as the 'body farm'

Any part of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research - better known as the 'body farm' - marked with pink tape holds human remains left exposed in bushland as part of studies into the decomposition of human remains 

No signs point to the heavily-secured Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research in bushland at the base of the Blue Mountains but the only 'body farm' outside the United States is hard to miss in its tranquil surroundings 

Every person entering the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, the only 'body farm' outside the United States, must be cleared by the University of Technology Sydney, which owns and runs the research site

The military-grade security at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research in bushland at the base of the Blue Mountains has not been breached since the country's only 'body farm' opened almost two years ago 

Most of the donors to the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Research are elderly but some have been young people suffering terminal illnesses; pictured is a donor card carried by those who wish to bequeath their bodies to science 

'I confirm that this is my wish, after my death, to have my remains made available to the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology Sydney'; pictured is a donor card carried by those who wish to bequeath their bodies to research

Professor Shari Forbes, director of the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, walks towards a taped-off area of the country's only 'body farm' where human remains have been left on the surface to decompose

The taped-off bushland areas of the heavily-wooded Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research at the base of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, contain donated human bodies which have been left to decompose

The Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, better known as the 'body farm', is in a secret bush location at the base of the Blue Mountains, in the Hawkesbury region of New South Wales west of Sydney