Coroners Act 2003

The State Coroner may enter into an arrangement with a person who owns a prescribed tissue bank about giving the prescribed tissue bank, or a person acting for the prescribed tissue bank, access to documents that are section 7(4) reports for the purpose of ascertaining the following information about a deceased person from the documents—

the deceased person’s name;

the deceased person’s age;

a brief description of the circumstances of the deceased person’s death;

the deceased person’s previous medical information;Examples for paragraph (d)—

the name of the deceased person’s senior available next of kin;

an address, telephone number or other contact details of the deceased person’s senior available next of kin.

Without limiting what may be included in an arrangement, the arrangement may provide for how and where the prescribed tissue bank or person may access the documents.

The State Coroner may provide access to a document to the prescribed tissue bank or person under the arrangement.

Sections 52(1)(c), 53, 54 and 55 do not apply in relation to access to a document under the arrangement.

However, access to a document under the arrangement is otherwise subject to this division.

A fee prescribed under a regulation for access to an investigation document does not apply to a document accessed under this section.

A person who has been given access to a document under this section must not directly or indirectly disclose information in the document.Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

A person does not contravene subsection (7) if the disclosure—

is made in the performance of a function under the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979, including as a person acting for a prescribed tissue bank under the arrangement; or

is permitted or required under this or another Act.

In this section—access a document does not include obtain a copy of the document.