Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A coroner must hold an inquest into the manner and cause of death of a person who—
(a) dies violently, or unnaturally, in unknown circumstances; or
(b) dies under suspicious circumstances; or
(c) dies and the death appears to be completely or partly attributable to an operation or procedure; or
(d) dies after having undergone an operation or procedure and in circumstances that, in the opinion of the Chief Coroner, should be better ascertained; or
(e) dies and a doctor has not given a certificate about the cause of death; or
(f) dies not having been attended by a doctor at any time within the period commencing 6 months before the death; or
(g) dies after an accident where the cause of death appears to be directly attributable to the accident; or
(h) dies, or is suspected to have died, in circumstances that, in the opinion of the Attorney-General, should be better ascertained; or
(i) dies in care or custody.
(2) A coroner has jurisdiction to hold an inquest into the manner and cause of death, outside the ACT, of a person, if—
(a) the person was ordinarily resident in the ACT; and
(b) the death happened in any of the circumstances referred to in subsection (1).
(3) A coroner has jurisdiction to hold an inquest even though—
(a) the body of the deceased—
(i) is not within the ACT; or
(ii) has been destroyed; or
(iii) is in a place from which it cannot be recovered; or
(b) in the case of a suspected death—the body of the deceased cannot be found.
(4) In this section:
"operation or procedure" means—
(a) an operation of a medical, surgical, dental or similar nature; or
(b) an invasive medical or diagnostic procedure.
Note A coroner may, or may not, conduct a hearing into a death (see div 5.1 (Hearings)).