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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2344 ..

CORONERS (CONSEQUENTIAL PROVISIONS) BILL 1997

The Coroners (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1997 repeals the Coroners Act 1956 and amends other legislation as a consequence of the Coroners Bill 1997. With the repeal of the Coroners Act, the Coroners Bill will provide for inquests and inquiries in the Territory in the future.

In addition, the Consequential Provisions Bill amends the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978 to require that the authority of a deceased prior to his or her death or, after death, the authority of a senior relation of a deceased whose death was the subject of a coronial post-mortem is to be obtained before the body tissue of the deceased may be used for medical, therapeutic or scientific purposes.

The Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978 provides for donations of tissue after death for medical, therapeutic or scientific purposes. Where a deceased died within the coronial jurisdiction, provision is made for a Coroner to give authority for the use of body tissue of the deceased.

The Bill provides that, in non-coronial post-mortem examinations, the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978 requires that the authority of the deceased prior to death, or of the deceased's relations after death, must be given for the use of body tissue for therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes.

The same requirement of prior permission for the use of body tissue for research or other purposes should be necessary where the deceased was the subject of a coronial post-mortem. The amendment to the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978 in the Coroners (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1997 achieves this end.

I am grateful to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Council for indicating the need for this amendment to Territory law.

The Consequential Provisions Bill also amends the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1963 to transfer provisions in that Act more relevant to the coronial legislation to the Coroners Bill. I commend the Bill to members.

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