No 327
House of Representatives
Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Coroners Amendment Bill
Chris Penk, in Committee, to move the following amendments:
Clause 10
In clause 10(2), delete new section 64(2B) (page 5, lines 17 to 19).
Clause 16
Delete clause 16(1) (page 8, lines 10 to 13).
This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Coroners Amendment Bill. This amendment reverses the Bill’s intent that the coroner need not provide information about the circumstances of deaths where the coroner considers that there is no public interest in doing so. A critical function of the coroner remains the investigation of sudden deaths, including the circumstances of death. Making public recommendations is important so that the chances of similar deaths occurring are reduced. The Bill’s proposed amendments to the Coroners Act 2006 will shortcut this function, leaving a single individual (that is, the coroner) to determine in a single matter what is in the public interest. This decision will be made by a coroner who does not necessarily know the circumstances of death left unreported in similar fashion in any similar matters, thereby denying the coronial system as a whole being able to establish patterns of circumstances in which deaths are caused.