The Christchurch mosque attacks inquest explained

A six-week coronial inquest into the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks began today — why is it happening and what does it hope to answer?

The coronial inquest into the shootings follows the criminal prosecution of terrorist Brenton Tarrant and a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attack.

Its aim is to try and answer the questions many still have about what happened on March 15, 2019, says Federation of Islamic Associations chairperson Abdur Razzaq.

"There's no blame here," he told Breakfast this morning. "It's [about] learning the lessons."

Razzaq said the inquest will finally give people the chance to ask questions.

Because the terrorist admitted his crimes, there was no trial. The Royal Commission of Inquiry also didn't allow for survivors and the families of the 51 victims to ask questions about what happened that day.

Razzaq said the inquest is "personally important for many people because they're going to find out what happened to their loved ones".

He said the major questions those people still have are around the timeline of events on the day of the attacks, the expert medical reports, and what specifically happened to victims.