Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies if—
(a) a person becomes aware of a death that appears to be a reportable death; and
(b) the person does not reasonably believe that someone else has already reported, or is reporting, the death under subsection (3).
(2) Despite subsection (1)(b), a relevant service provider who becomes aware of a death in care as mentioned in section 9(1)(a) must report the death under subsection (3), regardless of whether someone else has reported or may report the death.
Note—
Under section 9(3), a person's death is a death in care even if the deceased person died somewhere other than the place where the deceased person ordinarily lived for the purposes of being in care.
(3) The person must immediately report the death to—
(a) if the death happened in the course of or as a result of police operations—the State Coroner or the Deputy State Coroner; or
(b) if the death is a death in custody—the State Coroner or Deputy State Coroner; or
(c) otherwise—a police officer or coroner.
Maximum penalty—25 penalty units.
(4) A police officer to whom a death is reported under this section must report the death to a coroner in writing.
(5) However, if a death is reported to a police officer because a cause of death certificate has not been issued and is not likely to be issued, the officer need not report the death to a coroner until satisfied that the cause of death certificate is not likely to be issued.
(6) A coroner to whom a death is reported must report the death to the State Coroner in writing.
(7) Nothing in this section prevents a person from reporting a death in the way mentioned in subsection (3) if the person considers the death may be a reportable death.
(8) In this section—
relevant service provider, in relation to a death in care, means the provider of the residential service mentioned in section 9(1)(a) in which the deceased person ordinarily lived for the purposes of being in care.
report includes report by email or fax.