CORONERS ACT — STATUTORY REVIEW REPORT
670. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the findings of the Statutory
review of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA): Final report tabled in July 2021.
(1) Has the next
recurrent review of the act commenced?
(2) When is the
next review of the act expected to be completed?
(3) Are
post-mortem examination reports routinely being provided to hospitals?
(4) If no to (3),
when did this cease and when was the Attorney General first made aware of this
decision?
(5) Further to (4),
why did this cease and which stakeholders were consulted in relation to this
decision?
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question. I provide the following answer based on information provided
to me by the Attorney General.
(1) No.
(2) As soon as
practicable, taking into account various factors, including, but not limited
to, government priorities and resources,
consideration and possible implementation of any prior review recommendations,
and the time period that has elapsed since the last review was completed.
(3) Not at
present.
(4) The practice
ceased in December 2020 after an instruction issued by the State Coroner. The
Attorney General is unaware of the precise date, but he was aware by May 2021.
He supports legislative change to the Coroners Act 1996 in order for
post-mortem reports to be provided to hospitals or medical services, without
the informed consent of the senior next of kin, to enable clinicians to better
understand the circumstances leading to their patient's death. The
Attorney General intends to bring the legislative provisions addressing this
issue to Parliament.
(5) The reasons
for the decision and any consultation are a matter for the State Coroner.
However, the Attorney General is advised that the State Coroner issued the
instruction after obtaining legal advice.