Page 3283 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
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MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General and Minister for Health) (10.45): Members of the Assembly will recall that on 17 June 1993 I tabled an exposure draft of the Coroners (Amendment) Bill for community comment and consultation. The exposure draft of the Bill, which was prepared to give effect to the Government's response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and in consequence of a review of the Coroners Act, allowed for community involvement as to the manner in which the recommendations of the royal commission were to be implemented in the Territory by amendment of the Coroners Act. Following the period of consultation, the draft Bill was revised and on 16 December 1993 I introduced the resulting Coroners (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) 1993 into the Assembly. The Standing Committee on Legal Affairs took a reference to inquire into and report on the Bill, and in June of 1994 it issued its report on the Bill. I thank the committee for its detailed consideration of the Coroners Bill and for the support given for the Government's means of implementing the relevant recommendations of the royal commission.
In its report the committee makes five recommendations about the content of the Bill and related matters. These recommendations, which are generally agreed, are addressed in detail in the Government's response. The only recommendation to which I need to refer specifically is recommendation No. 3 - that proposed new section 35 in clause 25 of the Bill, which would allow the coroner to make available "statements" to persons with a sufficient interest, be made clearer. Proposed section 35 currently provides that "a coroner may make available any statement that the coroner intends to consider to any person with sufficient interest". The committee considered that the word "statement" has the potential to limit the evidentiary material that a coroner might make available to a person. The Government agrees with the committee's concerns on this. In order to ensure that this is not the case, it is proposed to replace the proposed section 35 with a new section 35 which may more clearly indicate that a coroner may make available any document or evidence intended to be considered at an inquest or inquiry. The Government later today will be asking the Assembly to consider an amendment to section 35 proposed to be inserted by clause 25 of the Bill to widen the terms of the proposed provision. I am, in fact, circulating those amendments at this stage, before the vote this afternoon.
Madam Speaker, again I thank the committee for its consideration and for the cooperation between the committee and the department. I present the Government's response to report No. 5 of 1994 of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs.
MR HUMPHRIES (10.47), in reply: Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues and the Attorney for their comments on this report. I also thank the Attorney for having generally responded positively to the recommendations of the committee. I have noted the report which he kindly provided to me. I think that it will make it clear that the sort of evidence which a person might wish access to in the course of a coronial inquiry can be very much broader than simply a document. It may be some other piece of evidence that is relevant to that inquiry. We are all aware of the great trauma that is involved in any coronial inquiry when someone has died in unusual circumstances. To make that process as open and as transparent as possible should be our goal in the way in which we deal with the legislation that underpins this process. I think that we go a step towards achieving it with the legislation generally, so I welcome the amendment which the Attorney has referred to.
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