Justin Clancy welcomes signs of Coronial Benefits for Border

6 August 2020

Clancy Welcomes Signs of Coronial Benefits for Border

Member for Albury Justin Clancy MP is pleased that work with the Coronial Taskforce is delivering early signs of progress which will benefit the Albury Electorate in cases where a funeral is delayed due to a requirement for a coroner’s report.

“I have been speaking with local families and funeral directors about the issue of delays in some funerals where there are legal requirements to confirm the cause of death,” said Mr Clancy.

“There is a shortage of qualified forensic pathologists, combined with a long-standing rationalisation of where coroners should be located. Something has to be done to deliver a faster result and to ease the distress on families who have lost a loved one in circumstances where forensic inquiry is necessitated by law.”

Mr Clancy, who has been working with the NSW Coronial Taskforce and Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke and Member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr, state there are already a number of improvements:

• Reduced reporting of natural deaths. Reforms to the Coroners Act reforms commenced in late January this year, removing the requirement to report a death to the coroner where the deceased had not seen a medical practitioner in the 6 months prior to death.
• Amendments also now enable commencement of preliminary medical examination without the need for a coronial direction.
• Investigations are underway into technology solutions to facilitate information sharing between Police, Justice and Health on coronial matters. Forensic Medicine is currently building a new Forensic Medicine Information System.
• Better communication with families. Forensic Medicine has recruited additional Forensic Social Workers and is engaging with funeral directors, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Muslim communities about their needs.
• Planning is underway for better triaging and faster decision making within the Coronial Case Management Unit, with potential expansion to regional NSW in response to COVID-19.

Mr Clancy advises that the Coronial Taskforce is due to present a report before the end of the year.