Coroners Act 2003

This section applies if a prescribed tissue bank is a party to an arrangement under section 54AA to access section 7(4) reports.

Before an autopsy is performed on a body, the prescribed tissue bank, or a person acting for the prescribed tissue bank, may conduct an external examination of the body for the purpose of assessing whether the body is suitable for the removal of tissue for the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979.

However, subsection (2) does not apply if the State Coroner, the coroner who is investigating the death, or a person acting for the prescribed tissue bank is aware that the deceased person had, during his or her lifetime, objected to the removal after death of tissue from his or her body.

A person who conducts the examination must comply with—

any directions of the coroner; and

any guidelines issued by the State Coroner about the conduct of the process by which donor suitability for the removal of tissue under the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979 is assessed.

However, to the extent that a direction conflicts with the guidelines, the person must comply with the direction.

In this section—tissue see the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979, section 4(1).