Coroners Act 2009

For the purposes of this Act, a relative, in relation to a person who has or is suspected to have died, is an adult who is—

the spouse of that person, a parent of that person, a person who stands in loco parentis to that person, a guardian of that person or a child of that person, or

if there is no relative, as defined in paragraph (a), of that person—a brother or sister of that person.

A reference in subsection (1)(a) to the child of a person includes, if the person was in a de facto relationship, or a domestic relationship within the meaning of the Property (Relationships) Act 1984, a reference to the following—

a child born as a result of sexual relations between the parties to the relationship,

a child adopted by both parties,

in the case of a de facto relationship between a man and a woman, a child of the woman of whom the man is the father or of whom the man is presumed, by virtue of the Status of Children Act 1996, to be the father (except where the presumption is rebutted),

in the case of a de facto relationship between 2 women, a child of whom both of those women are presumed to be parents by virtue of the Status of Children Act 1996,

a child for whose long-term welfare both parties have parental responsibility (within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998).

A reference in subsection (1)(a) to a parent includes a reference to a party to a relationship referred to in subsection (2) of which the deceased, or suspected deceased, was by virtue of subsection (2) a child.