Request for a coronial inquest to be ordered by the court
Proper construction of s 24 of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA)
Deceased died whilst an in-patient at a public hospital following diagnosis of brain cancer
Quick Take
1The power of the Supreme Court under s 24(3) of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA) to order that an inquest be held is not a standalone discretionary power; it is conditioned on the coroner having had jurisdiction to investigate the death under s 19(1), which requires the death to be or potentially be a 'reportable death'.
2The definition of 'person held in care' in s 3 of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA) is prescriptive and exhaustive; it does not extend to a patient admitted as a voluntary inpatient at a public hospital, even where the hospital exercised significant practical control over the patient's movement, treatment pathway, and family access, including through guardianship orders.
3The death of a patient from a diagnosed terminal illness (glioblastoma) while an inpatient at a public hospital, where the medical certificate of cause of death records the cause as that illness, does not appear to have been unexpected, unnatural, violent, or to have resulted from injury within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of 'reportable death', notwithstanding concerns raised about the standard of care provided.
