The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine
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For Medical Practitioners
What's a reportable death to the coroner?
Misconceptions
Coroners are not medical practitioners instead they are legal practitioners appointed as Judicial Officers with the legal responsibility to investigate particular types of deaths.
Coroners investigate somewhere between 10% and 20% of all deaths in Australia. Every Australian State and Territory has its own Coroners Act which sets out the deaths that must be reported to a Coroner. The reporting criteria are very similar but there are subtle differences in the legislation of some of the States and Territories.
All members of the public can report a death to the Coroner if they believe it is or may be reportable. However, Doctors and the Police have a special duty to report reportable deaths.
There are 6 commonly held misconceptions about reportable deaths that need to be clarified up front.
We often hear people say that the role of the Coroner is to investigate ‘suspicious’ deaths. This is WRONG. The word ‘suspicious’ does not appear in legal criteria for a reportable death in Victoria.
We often hear people say that if a person dies within 24 hours of admission to hospital this makes the death reportable to the Coroner. This is WRONG. There are no time based reporting criteria of this type.
We often hear people say that if a person dies within 24 hours (or some other time interval) of a surgical or medical procedure that this makes the death reportable to the Coroner. This is WRONG. There are no time based reporting criteria of this type.
We often hear people say that if a person has had a ‘fall’ this makes the death reportable to the Coroner. This is WRONG. The word ‘fall’ does not appear in the legal criteria for a reportable death in Victoria. The death is only reportable if the fall caused an injury and that injury directly or indirectly led to the death.
We often hear people say that if a death is reported to a Coroner then an autopsy will be performed. This is WRONG. Today the majority of the deaths reported to the Coroner are investigated without an autopsy.
We often hear people say that if a death is reported to a Coroner then an Inquest will be held. This is WRONG. Of the 6500 deaths reported to the Coroner each year only about 100 inquests are held in the Coroners Court.