Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Coroners Act 2008 - SECT 3

Definitions

3. Definitions



(1) In this Act-

Australian lawyer has the same meaning as in the Legal Profession Act 2004;
autopsy means-

   (a)  the dissection of a body (including the removal of tissue); or

   (b)  any other prescribed procedure in relation to a body- but does not
        include-

   (c)  a preliminary examination; or

   (d)  an identification procedure; body means-

   (a)  the corpse of a human being; or

   (b)  a part or parts of the corpse or remains of a human being- but does
        not include tissue removed from the corpse of a human being; child
        means a person under the age of 18 years; coroner means-

   (a)  the State Coroner;

   (b)  the Deputy State Coroner;

   (c)  a magistrate or acting magistrate assigned to be a coroner of the
        Coroners Court under section 93;

   (d)  a person appointed as an acting coroner of the Coroners Court under
        section 94; Coroners Court means the Coroners Court of Victoria;
        Council means the Coronial Council of Victoria established under Part
        9; Country Fire Authority means the Country Fire Authority established
        under the Country Fire Authority Act 1958; death includes suspected
        death; Notes 1. A still-birth, within the meaning of the
        Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996, is not a death. 2.
        See section 41 of the Human Tissue Act 1982 for a definition of death
        for the purposes of the law of Victoria. Deputy State Coroner means
        the Deputy State Coroner of the Coroners Court appointed under
        section 92; domestic partner of a person means-

   (a)  a person who is in a registered relationship with the person; or

   (b)  an adult person to whom the person is not married but with whom the
        person is in a relationship as a couple where one or each of them
        provides personal or financial commitment and support of a domestic
        nature for the material benefit of the other, irrespective of their
        genders and whether or not they are living under the same roof, but
        does not include a person who provides domestic support and personal
        care to the person-

   (i)  for fee or reward; or

   (ii) on behalf of another person or an organisation (including a government
        or government agency, a body corporate or a charitable or benevolent
        organisation); identification direction means a direction given by a
        coroner under section 24; identification procedure means any procedure
        performed in accordance with an identification direction; immediate
        family in relation to a deceased person, means spouse, domestic
        partner, son, daughter, parent, sibling, executor, personal
        representative or a person determined to be the senior next of kin
        under subsection (3); inquest means a public inquiry that is held by
        the Coroners Court in respect of a death or a fire; Institute means
        the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine established under the
        Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Act 1985; interstate coroner
        means a coroner of another State or Territory; interested party in
        relation to an inquest, means a person granted leave under section 56
        to appear at the inquest; judicial registrar means a judicial
        registrar of the Coroners Court appointed under Division 1A of Part 8;

medical examination means a preliminary examination, an identification
procedure or an autopsy; medical investigator means-

   (a)  the Institute; or

   (b)  a pathologist; or

   (c)  a registered medical practitioner under the general supervision of a
        pathologist; medical procedure means a procedure performed on a person
        by or under the general supervision of a registered medical
        practitioner and includes imaging, internal examination and surgical
        procedure; Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board means the
        Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board established under the
        Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958; parent, in relation to a child,
        includes-

   (a)  a step-parent;

   (b)  an adoptive parent;

   (c)  a foster parent;

   (d)  a guardian;

   (e)  a person who has custody or daily care and control;

   (f)  a person who has all the duties, powers, responsibilities and
        authority (whether conferred by a court or otherwise) which, by law,
        parents have in relation to children; pathologist means a prescribed
        registered medical practitioner; person placed in custody or care
        means-

   (a)  a person who is in the custody or under the guardianship of the
        Secretary to the Department of Human Services under the
        Children, Youth and Families Act 2005; or

   (b)  a child taken into safe custody under the
        Children, Youth and Families Act 2005; or

   (c)  a person who is deemed to be in the legal custody of the Secretary to
        the Department of Human Services under section 483 of the
        Children, Youth and Families Act 2005; or

   (d)  a person under the control, care or custody of the Secretary to the
        Department of Human Services or the Secretary to the Department of
        Health; or

   (e)  a person in the legal custody of the Secretary to the Department of
        Justice or the Chief Commissioner of Police; or

   (f)  a person in the custody of a member of the police force; or

   (g)  a person in the custody of a protective services officer appointed
        under Part VIA of the Police Regulation Act 1958; or

   (h)  a person detained in a treatment centre under a detention and
        treatment order made under section 20 of the Severe Substance
        Dependence Treatment Act 2010;

   (i)  a patient in an approved mental health service within the meaning of
        the Mental Health Act 1986; or

   (j)  a person who a member of the police force or prison officer is
        attempting to take into custody or who is dying from injuries
        sustained when a member of the police force or prison officer
        attempted to take the person into custody; or

   (k)  a person in Victoria who is dying from an injury incurred while in the
        custody of the State; or

   (l)  a prescribed person or a person belonging to a prescribed class of
        person; preliminary examination in relation to a body means any of the
        following procedures-

   (a)  a visual examination of the body (including a dental examination);

   (b)  the collection and review of information, including personal and
        health information relating to the deceased person or the death of the
        person;

   (c)  the taking of samples of bodily fluid including blood, urine, saliva
        and mucus samples from the body (which may require an incision to be
        made) and the testing of those samples;

   (d)  the imaging of the body including the use of computed tomography (CT
        scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan), x-rays, ultrasound and
        photography;

   (e)  the taking of samples from the surface of the body including swabs
        from wounds and inner cheek, hair samples and samples from under
        fingernails and from the skin and the testing of those samples;

   (f)  the fingerprinting of the body;

   (g)  any other procedure that is not a dissection, the removal of tissue or
        prescribed to be an autopsy; prescribed means prescribed by the
        regulations unless otherwise provided; principal registrar means the
        principal registrar appointed under section 97; registered medical
        practitioner means a person registered under the Health Practitioner
        Regulation National Law to practise in the medical profession (other
        than as a student);

registrar means the principal registrar, a deputy registrar or a registrar
referred to in section 97; reportable death has the meaning given by
section 4; reviewable death has the meaning given by section 5; Secretary to
the Department of Health means the Department Head (within the meaning of the
Public Administration Act 2004) of the Department of Health;

senior next of kin in relation to a deceased person, means-

   (a)  if the person, immediately before death had a spouse or domestic
        partner-the spouse or domestic partner; or

   (b)  if the person immediately before death did not have a spouse or
        domestic partner or if the spouse or domestic partner is not
        available-a son or daughter of or over the age of 18 years; or

   (c)  if a spouse, domestic partner, son or daughter is not available-a
        parent; or

   (d)  if a spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter or parent is not
        available-a sibling who is of or over the age of 18 years; or

   (e)  if a spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent or sibling is not
        available-a person named in the will as an executor; or

   (f)  if a spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, sibling or
        executor is not available-a person who, immediately before the death,
        was a personal representative of the deceased;

   (g)  if a spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, sibling,
        executor or personal representative is not available-a person
        determined to be the senior next of kin under subsection (3); sibling
        in relation to a person includes a half-brother, half-sister, adoptive
        brother, adoptive sister, step-brother or step-sister of the person;
        spouse of a person means a person to whom that person is married;
        State Coroner means the State Coroner of the Coroners Court appointed
        under section 91; the rules means rules of the Coroners Court; tissue
        has the same meaning as in the Human Tissue Act 1982.

(2) For the purposes of the definition of domestic partner in subsection (1)-

   (a)  registered relationship has the same meaning as in the
        Relationships Act 2008; and

   (b)  in determining whether persons who are not in a registered
        relationship are domestic partners of each other, all the
        circumstances of their relationship are to be taken into account,
        including any one or more of the matters referred to in section 35(2)
        of the Relationships Act 2008 as may be relevant in a particular case;
        and

   (c)  a person is not a domestic partner of another person only because they
        are co-tenants.





(3) For the purposes of paragraph (g) of the definition of senior next of kin,
a person is the senior next of kin if the coroner determines that the person
should be taken to be the senior next of kin because of the closeness of the
person's relationship with the deceased person immediately before his or her
death.

(4) In this Act-

   (a)  a reference to a function includes a reference to a power and a duty;
        and

   (b)  a reference to the exercise of a function includes, where the function
        is a duty, a reference to the performance of the duty.