The Justice Committee has called for public submissions on the Coroners Amendment Bill. The bill seeks to facilitate better access to justice for families interacting with the coronial system by making amendments to the Coroners Act 2006. The bill aims to reduce the distress caused to grieving families by reducing the time spent waiting for coronial findings.

The bill would amend the Act by:

· establishing a new position of a coronial associate, which could undertake many of the more straightforward functions, powers, and duties currently performed or exercised by coroners

· making it clear that coroners could record a cause of death as “unascertained natural causes” if they considered that the death was from natural causes and no further investigation was required under the Act

· enabling coroners to decide whether a coronial inquiry should include an inquest

· enabling coroners to issue written findings stating only the cause of death, and not the circumstances, if they considered that there was no public interest in making findings about the broader circumstances.

Tell the Justice Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on Wednesday 28 September 2022.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· Get more details about the bill

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates

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