ACTIn ForceAct
Coroners Act 1997
70Viewing of body etc
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 70
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Coroners Act 1997.
70 Viewing of body etc
(1) The coroner holding an inquest into a death in care or death in custody
must, if requested to do so by a member of the immediate family of
the deceased or a representative of that member, authorise—
(a) the viewing of the body of the deceased by the member or a
(b) an inspection of the scene of the death by the member or a
(c) the member or a representative of that member to be present at
any post-mortem examination conducted on the body; or
Part 6 Deaths in care and deaths in custody—additional provisions
(d) the same or another doctor to conduct a further post-mortem
examination on the body;
unless the coroner believes, on reasonable grounds, that it would not
be in the interests of justice to do so.
(2) If a coroner does not give an authorisation under subsection (1) the
coroner must give written notice of the decision and the reasons for
the decision—
(a) to the person by whom the request was made; and
(b) if the deceased was an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
person—to an appropriate local Aboriginal legal service.