Australian mining companies are linked to hundreds of deaths and injuries in Africa, which can go unreported at home... An investigation by ICIJ, in collaboration with 13 African reporters, uncovered locally-filed lawsuits, violent protests and community petitions criticising some Australian companies. In all, reporters counted more than 380 employees, subcontractors and community members in 13 countries who died in accidents or incidents linked to the companies since the beginning of 2004... More were horribly disfigured or injured while working at Australian mines or during community protests... The companies involved deny that they were responsible... But Tracey Davies...with the Centre for Environmental Rights in Cape Town, South Africa, says she has seen a pattern of poor behaviour by Australian mining companies, a sentiment echoed by employees, villagers, tribal leaders, members of parliament and activists across Africa.  "There is a very strong perception that when Australian mining companies come here they take every advantage of regulatory and compliance monitoring weaknesses, and of the huge disparity in power between themselves and affected communities, and aim to get away with things they wouldn't even think of trying in Australia," she said. [refers to Paladin Energy, Aquarius Platinum]