The breakdown of the Sydney siege

THE LINDT CAFE SIEGE: HOW DID IT START?

* 0945 December 15 - Self-styled sheik Man Haron Monis, 50, walks into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney's central business district carrying a sports bag containing a gun.

* A black flag with Arabic writing on it is pressed up against a window and hostages are seen with their arms in the air inside the cafe. Police immediately establish an exclusion zone around the cafe.

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE?

* 1100 - The Sydney Opera House is evacuated after reports of a suspicious package. Parts of the CBD are locked down, the State Library and CBD court houses are evacuated and Martin Place railway station is shut. People in the building above the Lindt cafe are evacuated via ladder.

* 1130 - The National Security Committee of Cabinet convenes. Prime Minister Tony Abbott issues a statement reassuring the public that security agencies are trained to handle these kinds of situations.

* 1200 - NSW police issue a statement saying there's an armed incident at Martin Place and that specialist officers are trying to make contact with those inside a cafe.

*1400 - NSW Premier Mike Baird and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione address the media in the first of rolling press conferences as the crisis unfolds.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CAFE?

*1530 - Three men dash from the cafe.

*1700 - Two more people, apparently young female staff from Lindt Cafe, flee the cafe.

*1800 - The gunman reportedly demands an Islamic State flag and a conversation with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

*0100 December 16 - The gunman is identified as Monis.

*0200 - A third group of hostages runs from cafe. A few minutes later two more men and two women race to safety.

*0220 - Rapid gunfire echoes around Martin Place as heavily-armed police storm the cafe in numbers. Some hostages are released and an injured woman is carried from the scene.

*0225 - A second volley of shots erupts before the cafe fills with police and paramedics.

*0530 - Commissioner Scipione and Premier Baird confirm three people are dead, including the gunman.

WHO WERE THE HOSTAGES?

Seventeen of the 18 hostages have been named. They are:

*Katrina Dawson, 38, a barrister at Eight Selbourne Chambers.

*Tori Johnson, 34, a manager at the Lindt cafe.

*John O'Brien, 82, retiree and tennis enthusiast

*Stefan Balafoutis, a Sydney lawyer.

*Paolo Vassallo, Lindt cafe worker

*Elly Chen, Lindt cafe worker

*Jieun Bae, Lindt cafe worker.

*Marcia Mikhael, 43, a Westpac employee.

*Julie Taylor, a barrister at Eight Selborne Chambers.

*Harriette Denny, 30, Lindt cafe worker.

*Viswakanth Ankireddy, Indian IT company worker.

*Joel Herat, Lindt cafe staff member.

*Paolo Vassallo, Lindt cafe worker.

*Fiona Ma, University of Queensland student

*Jarrod Hoffman, 19, part-time Lindt cafe worker.

*Puspendu Ghosh, Westpac IT manager.

*Selina Win Pe, Westpac worker.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HOSTAGES?

*John O'Brien, Stefan Balafoutis, Elly Chen, Jieun Bae and Paolo Vassallo escaped on Monday.

*Two other groups of hostages fled just before police stormed the cafe early on Tuesday morning.

*Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson were killed in the siege. Four hostages were injured.

WHAT WAS THE AFTERMATH?

*Tens of thousands of flowers fill Martin Place as a tribute to the victims of the siege.

*Funerals are held in Sydney for Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.

*Media reports emerge that the bullet that struck Ms Dawson was fired by police.

*NSW Premier Mike Baird announces permanent memorial to siege victims will be built in Martin Place.

*A coronial inquest into Lindt Cafe siege is announced for January 29.

WHAT WILL THE CORONIAL INQUEST INVESTIGATE?

*The inquest will determine how the deaths occurred, what contributed to them and whether they could have been prevented.

WHAT OTHER INQUIRIES ARE UNDERWAY

*A joint federal and stage government review will investigate how Monis was granted citizenship and whether national security powers could have been used more effectively to prevent his actions. It will also examine how the NSW justice system dealt with Monis, who was out on bail despite his long criminal history.

*Inquiries into the siege by NSW and federal police and ASIO are also said to be underway.