Designated Officers and Authorised Persons for Donation and Post-Mortem Examination Policy

Version 1.0 approved 14 July 2025

The Designated Officers and Authorised Persons for Donation and Post-Mortem Examination Policy sets out the mandatory requirements for complying with the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983 (SA) in relation to Designated Officer authorisations, and the appointment and management of Designated Officers and Authorised Persons.

Applicability

This policy applies to all employees and contracted staff of SA Health; this is all employees and contracted staff of the Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW), Local Health Networks (LHNs) including state-wide services aligned with those Networks, including SA Pathology, DonateLife SA and the Eye Bank of South Australia.

This policy applies in relation to:

  • Medical practitioners appointed to act as Designated Officers for a hospital or LHN and to authorise the following in relation to a person who has died in hospital or whose body has been bought into the hospital:
    • the removal of organs and tissues for specific purposes,
    • post-mortem examination for the purpose of investigating the cause of death of a person, and the use of tissue removed for post-mortem examination for therapeutic, medical, or scientific purposes, and/or
    • body donation for anatomical purposes.
  • Officers of the Eye Bank of South Australia, appointed by the Minister for Health and Wellbeing (the Minister) or their delegate, as Authorised Persons to remove eye tissue from deceased persons for the purpose of corneal transplantation.