Human Tissue Act 1985

Human Tissue Act 1985

This Act may be cited as the Human Tissue Act 1985.

This section and section 1 shall commence on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.

Except as provided in subsection (1), this Act shall commence on such day as may be fixed by proclamation.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – affected deceased person means a deceased person whose death is a reportable death within the meaning of the Coroners Act 1995; child means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years; coroner means a coroner within the meaning of the Coroners Act 1995; designated officer, in relation to a hospital, means a person appointed under section 4 to be a designated officer for that hospital; diagnostic purposes means the purposes of determining – the cause of a deceased person's death; or other medical issues, or the extent of other medical issues, relating to the health of a deceased person; hospital manager means the person that has the day-to-day administrative control of the hospital; next of kin means – in relation to a deceased child who was not married – a person referred to in paragraph (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of the definition of senior available next of kin; and in relation to any other deceased person – a person referred to in paragraph (b)(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of that definition; non-coronial autopsy means an autopsy that is authorised under Part IIIA; non-regenerative tissue means tissue other than regenerative tissue; regenerative tissue means tissue that, after injury or removal, is replaced in the body of a living person by natural processes of growth or repair; senior available next of kin means – in relation to a deceased child who was not married – where a parent of the child is available – a parent of the child; where a parent of the child is not available – a brother or sister of the child who has attained the age of 18 years and is available; or where no person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) is available – a person who was the guardian of the child immediately before the death of the child and is available; and in relation to any other deceased person – where the person, immediately before his death, was married or in a significant relationship, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003, and the person who was then his spouse or partner in the significant relationship is available – the person who was his spouse or partner; where no person referred to in subparagraph (i) is available – a son or daughter of the person who has attained the age of 18 years and is available; where no person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) is available but a parent of the person is available – that parent; or where no person referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii) is available – a brother or sister of the person who has attained the age of 18 years and is available; or where no person referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) is available and the deceased person is an Aboriginal person within the meaning of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 of the Commonwealth – a person who is an appropriate person according to the customs and the tradition of the community or group that the deceased person belonged to; therapeutic, medical or scientific purpose includes – the teaching of therapeutic techniques, medicine or science; and medical or scientific research; and any other purpose prescribed in the regulations for this definition; tissue includes an organ, or part, of a human body or a substance extracted from, or from a part of, the human body.

A reference in this Act to the transplantation of tissue shall be read as including a reference to the transplantation of any part of the tissue and to the transplantation of a substance obtained from the tissue.

For the purposes of this Act, the hospital manager, by instrument in writing, may appoint such medical practitioners as are necessary to be designated officers for the hospital.

A designated officer must not act in that capacity under Part IIIA in respect of a deceased person if the designated officer – before the deceased person's death, was involved in the provision of medical care to the person; or is likely to be involved in – the performance of a non-coronial autopsy on the deceased person; or the removal of tissue at such an autopsy.

In this Part, a reference to tissue shall not be read as including a reference to breastmilk, foetal tissue, spermatozoa, or ova.

Nothing in this Division prevents the removal in accordance with Division 5 of blood from the body of a person.

A person, other than a child, may give his consent in writing to the removal from his body of specified regenerative tissue (other than blood) –

for the purpose of the transplantation of the tissue to the body of another living person; or for use for other therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes.

A person, other than a child, may give his consent in writing to the removal from his body, at any time after the expiration of 24 hours from the time at which the consent is given, of specified non-regenerative tissue for the purpose of the transplantation of the tissue to the body of another living person.

A consent given under subsection (1) shall specify the time at which the consent is given.

A medical practitioner may certify in writing in relation to a consent given under section 7 or 8 by a person, being a consent the terms of which are set out in the certificate, that –

the consent was given in the medical practitioner’s presence;

the medical practitioner explained to the person before the consent was given the nature, consequences and risks of the removal from the body of the person of the tissue specified in the consent; and the medical practitioner is satisfied that – at the time the consent was given, the person had attained the age of 18 years; at that time, the person was of sound mind; and the consent was freely given.

Nothing in this Division prevents the removal in accordance with Division 5 of blood from the body of a child.

In this Division, a reference to a parent of a child shall not be read as including a reference to a guardian of a child or to another person standing in loco parentis to the child.