The Coroners Act 2003 requires that a person immediately after becoming aware of a death that is, or may be, a reportable death, must notify the State Coroner or SA Police. This legislation provides the State Coroner with the authority to hold an Inquest into an untimely or unexpected death.
An Inquest held by the Coroner may involve investigation that leads to the release of a Finding of Inquest
The Coroner’s Office provides the Finding of Inquest directly to the relevant government agency.
Finding of Inquests that are directed at SA Health are received by SA Health’s Legal and Legislative Policy Unit who disseminate them internally to the relevant departments.
The Coroner’s Finding of Inquests are also publicly available on the State Coroner’s website.
Some Finding of Inquests may include recommendations that aim to reduce the risk of a similar event re-occurring.
The Department of Health and Wellbeing Safety and Quality Unit is responsible for preparing a response to those recommendations directed at SA Health, on the Minister’s behalf.
25.(5) of the Coroners Act 2003 refers to a legal requirement for the Minister of Health and Wellbeing to provide a report to the Coroner and to Parliament in response to any recommendations that are directed at SA Health, The Act states.
25.(5) Each relevant Minister must, within 8 sitting days of the expiration of 6 months after receipt of a copy of a recommendation resulting from an inquest
(a) cause a report to be laid before each House of Parliament
(i) giving details of any action
taken or proposed to be taken in consequence of the recommendation; or
(ii) if no action has been taken or is proposed to be taken—giving reasons for not taking action or proposing to take action; and
(b) forward a copy of the report to the State Coroner.
If recommendations from the Finding of Inquest are directed at SA Health, a response from the Minister for Health must be provided to the Coroner within 6 months of the Inquest Finding being handed down (the release date), and then to Parliament within 8 sitting days (Parliament sitting days).
If the Coroner makes no recommendations, a briefing to the Minister is required and the Coronial file is then closed.
State Coroner’s Office
SA Health staff who need to contact the State Coroner’s Office in relation to a reportable death must ring the State Coroner’s office on (08) 8204 0600.
Policy
SA Health has developed the Coronial Process and Coroners Act 2003 Policy Directive (PDF 208KB) to provide SA Health employees and other organisations contracted to provide a health service with a better understanding of the Coroners Act 2003, and to give clear direction and guidance regarding their obligations.
Use of the information and data contained within this site or these pages is at your sole risk.
If you rely on the information on this site you are responsible for ensuring by independent verification its accuracy, currency or completeness.
This site includes links to other websites operated by community, business and government.
These linked websites will have their own terms and conditions of use and you should familiarise yourself with these.
All linked websites are linked 'as is' and the Government of South Australia:
does not sponsor, endorse or necessarily approve of any material on websites linked from or to this Site;
does not make any warranties or representations regarding the quality, accuracy, merchantability or fitness for purpose of any material on websites linked from or to this Site;
does not make any warranties or representations that material on other websites to which this site is linked does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any person anywhere in the world; and
does not authorise the infringement of any intellectual property rights contained in material in other websites by linking this site to those other websites.
If you use automatic language translation services in connection with this site you do so at your own risk.
The information and data on this site is subject to change without notice. The Government of South Australia may revise this disclaimer at any time by updating this posting.
The Government of South Australia, its agents, instrumentalities, officers and employees:
make no representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information and data contained on this site
make no representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy or usefulness of any translation of the information on this site or any linked website into another language
make no representations as to the availability of the site and the availability of websites linked from or to the site
accept no liability however arising for any loss resulting from the use of the site and any information and data or reliance placed on it (including translated information and data)
make no representations, either expressed or implied, as to the suitability of the said information and data for any particular purpose
accepts no liability for any interference with or damage to a user's computer, software or data occurring in connection with or relating to this Site or its use or any website linked to this site
do not represent or warrant that applications or payments initiated through this site will in fact be received or made to the intended recipient. Users are advised to confirm the application or payment by other means.