Obligation to report deaths
12 Obligation to report deaths
In this section:
person held in care means:
(a) a child who is in the CEO's care as defined in the Care and Protection of Children Act 2007; or
(b) a patient who, under the Mental Health and Related Services Act 1998 is in custody whether in a hospital or temporarily removed from a hospital.
person held in custody means:
a person in the custody or control of:
a police officer; or
(ii) a member of the Police Force of a State or another Territory of the Commonwealth or of the Australian Federal Police; or
the Commissioner of Correctional Services; or
a sheriff appointed under the Sheriff Act 1962; or
a person detained in:
(i) a custodial correctional facility (as defined in section 11(1)(a) of the Correctional Services Act 2014); or
a detention centre approved under the Youth Justice Act 2005;
and includes a person in the process of being taken into or escaping from:
(c) the custody or control of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); or
detention in a place mentioned in paragraph (b).
reportable death means:
a death where:
the body of a deceased person is in the Territory; or
the death occurred in the Territory; or
the cause of the death occurred in the Territory;
being a death:
(iv) that appears to have been unexpected, unnatural or violent or to have resulted, directly or indirectly, from an accident or injury; or
that occurred during an anaesthetic; or
(vi) that occurred as a result of an anaesthetic and is not due to natural causes; or
(vii) of a person who, immediately before death, was a person held in care or custody; or
(viii) that was caused or contributed to by injuries sustained while the person was held in custody; or
of a person whose identity is unknown; or
(b) the death of a person who ordinarily resided in the Territory at the time of death that occurred at a place outside the Territory where the cause of death is not certified by a person who, under a law in force in the place, is a legally qualified medical practitioner.
(1A) For the definition of person held in custody in subsection (1), a person is also taken to be held in custody if he or she:
(a) is detained anywhere in the Territory by a person authorised to do so under any Act or law in force in the Territory, including a law of the Commonwealth; or
(b) is in the process of escaping from detention mentioned in paragraph (a).
(2) A person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a reportable death has not been reported must report the death as soon as possible to a coroner or police officer.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
(3) A medical practitioner who is present at or after the death of a person must report the death as soon as possible to a coroner if:
the death is a reportable death; or
(b) the medical practitioner does not view the body of the deceased person; or
(c) the medical practitioner is unable to determine the cause of death.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
(4) If more than one medical practitioner is present at or after a death and one of them reports it to a coroner, the other medical practitioners need not report the death but must give to the coroner investigating the death any information that may help the investigation.
(5) The death of a person held in care or custody immediately before death must be reported to a coroner as soon as possible by the person under whose care or in whose custody the deceased person was held.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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