Coroners Act 2003

This

Act may be cited as the Coroners

Act 2003.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

anaesthetic means a local or general anaesthetic, and includes the administration of a sedative or analgesic;

body of a dead person means the whole, or any part, of the body (whatever its physical state may be);

coroner means—

the

State Coroner; or

a

Deputy State Coroner; or

any other coroner appointed under Part

2;

Coroner's

Court or Court means the Coroner's Court of South Australia;

corresponding authorisation, in relation to the body of a dead person, means an authorisation under a corresponding law by a coroner (within the meaning of that corresponding law) that corresponds to an authorisation—

for the release of the body of the dead person from the control of the coroner; or

for the disposal of human remains in respect of the body of the dead person;

corresponding law means—

the

Coroners

Act 1997 (Australian Capital Territory);

the

Coroners

Act 2009 (New South Wales);

the

Coroners Act 1993 (Northern Territory);

the

Coroners

Act 2003 (Queensland);

the

Coroners

Act 1995 (Tasmania);

the

Coroners

Act 2008 (Victoria);

the

Coroners

Act 1996 (Western Australia);

death in custody means the death of a person where there is reason to believe that the death occurred, or the cause of death, or a possible cause of death, arose, or may have arisen, while the person—

was being detained in any place within the State under any Act or law, including any Act or law providing for home detention (and, for the purposes of this paragraph, a detainee who is absent from the place of his or her detention but is in the custody of an escort will be regarded as being in detention, but not otherwise); or

was in the process of being apprehended or was being held—

at any place (whether within or outside the State)—by a person authorised to do so under any Act or law of the State; or

at any place within the State—by a person authorised to do so under the law of any other jurisdiction; or

was evading apprehension by a person referred to in paragraph (b);

or

was escaping or attempting to escape from any place or person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);

Deputy

State Coroner—see section 5;

investigator means—

a police officer; or

a person appointed under this Act to be an investigator;

legal practitioner has the same meaning as in the Legal

Practitioners Act 1981;

medical practitioner means a person registered under the Health

Practitioner Regulation National Law to practise in the medical profession (other than as a student);

premises means any land, building, structure, vehicle, vessel or aircraft;

reportable death means the State death (other than a State death to which subsection (2) or (2a) applies) of a person—

by unexpected, unnatural, unusual, violent or unknown cause; or

on an aircraft during a flight, or on a vessel during a voyage; or

in custody; or

that occurs during or as a result, or within 24 hours, of—

the carrying out of a surgical procedure or an invasive medical or diagnostic procedure; or

the administration of an anaesthetic for the purposes of carrying out such a procedure, not being a procedure specified by the regulations to be a procedure to which this paragraph does not apply;

that occurs at a place other than a hospital but within 24 hours of—

the person having been discharged from a hospital after being an inpatient of the hospital; or

the person having sought emergency treatment at a hospital; or

where the person was, at the time of death—

a protected person under the Aged and Infirm Persons' Property Act 1940 or the Guardianship and Administration Act 1993;

or

in the custody or under the guardianship of the Minister or Chief

Executive under the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017;

or

a patient in an approved treatment centre under the Mental

Health Act 1993 or the Mental

Health Act 2009;

or

a resident of a licensed supported residential facility under the

Supported

Residential Facilities Act 1992;

or

accommodated in a hospital or other treatment facility for the purposes of being treated for drug addiction; or

that occurs in the course or as a result, or within 24 hours, of the person receiving medical treatment to which consent has been given under Part 5 of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1993 or Part 2A of the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act 1995;

or

where no certificate as to the cause of death¹ has been given to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages; or

that occurs in circumstances prescribed by the regulations;

State includes—

the sea that is within the adjacent area in respect of the State (as defined for the purposes of the Coastal

Waters (State Powers) Act 1980 (Cth)); and

the airspace above that sea;

State

Coroner means the person holding or acting in the office of State Coroner under Part 2;

State death means the death of a person—

that occurred in the State; or

where the place of death is unknown but it is reasonably possible that the death occurred in the State; or

where the body of the person is in the State; or

a cause of which occurred, or possibly occurred, in the State; or

where, at the time of death, the person was ordinarily a resident in the

State; or

in the case of a death on an aircraft or vessel—where the flight or voyage was to a place of disembarkation in the State.

For the purposes of this Act, the death of a person is not reportable if—

the person dies outside of the State; and

a coroner under a corresponding law has issued a corresponding authorisation in respect of the body of the dead person.

For the purposes of this Act, the death of a person is not reportable if the death occurs as a result of the administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance in accordance with the Voluntary

Assisted Dying Act 2021.

For the purposes of this Act, a reference to the circumstances of an event may be taken to include matters related to or arising out of the event or its aftermath.

Note—

1 See section 36(3) of the Births,

Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996.

There will be a State Coroner.

The

State Coroner will be appointed by the Governor.

A person is not eligible for appointment as the State Coroner unless he or she is a magistrate.

The

State Coroner—

will be appointed for a term of 7 years, and on conditions, determined by the Governor; and

is, on the expiration of a term of office, eligible for reappointment;

and

will be paid a salary and allowances determined by the Remuneration

Tribunal.

Each

Magistrate is a Deputy State Coroner for the purposes of this Act.

The

Governor may appoint a legal practitioner of at least 5 years standing to be a coroner.

A coroner appointed under this section will be paid the fees (if any) fixed by regulation.

The

State Coroner has the following functions:

to administer the Coroner's Court;

to oversee and co-ordinate coronial services in the State;

to perform such other functions as are conferred on the State Coroner by or under this Act or any other Act.

In the absence of the State Coroner from official duties, responsibility for performance of the State Coroner's functions during that absence devolves on a Deputy State Coroner nominated by the Attorney-General.

The

State Coroner may delegate any of the State Coroner's administrative functions or powers (other than this power of delegation) under this

Act or any other Act to—

another coroner; or

the principal administrative officer of the Coroner's Court; or

any other suitable person.

A delegation under this section—

must be in writing; and

may be conditional or unconditional; and

is revocable at will; and

does not derogate from the power of the State Coroner to act in any matter.

The

Attorney-General may, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a person to be an investigator for the purposes of this Act.

The

Attorney-General must provide each investigator appointed under this section with a certificate of identification in a form approved by the Attorney-General.

On ceasing to be an investigator, the former investigator must surrender the certificate to the Attorney-General.

Maximum penalty: $2 500.

An investigator must produce the certificate (or, in the case of a police officer not in uniform, his or her warrant card) at the request of any person in relation to whom the investigator is exercising powers under this Act.

The

Coroner's Court of South Australia is established.

The

Coroner's Court is a court of record.

The

Coroner's Court will have such seals as are necessary for the transaction of its business.

A document apparently sealed with a seal of the Court will, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be taken to have been duly issued under the authority of the Court.

The jurisdiction of the Coroner's Court is to hold inquests in order to ascertain the cause or circumstances of the events prescribed by or under this Act or any other Act.

In ascertaining the cause or circumstances of an event, the Coroner's

Court is to promote the public interest in open justice which may include, without limitation—

the public identification of a person, public sector agency or other organisation involved in the event, in particular in circumstances where it appears that such a person, agency or organisation caused or contributed to a death; or

requiring a person, public sector agency or other organisation to provide information about and explain their action or inaction in the circumstances of the event; or

assessing, subject to this Act, the accountability and responsibility of a person, public sector agency or other organisation involved in the event.