The coronial system in Queensland: the effects of new legislation on decision-making

The purpose of this article is to detail research completed in 2007 which investigated the way in which coroners made decisions in a death investigation, with a particular focus on their autopsy decision-making. The data were gathered during the first year of operation of a new Coroners Act in Queensland, Australia, which required a greater amount of information to be gathered at the scene by police, and this included a thorough investigation of the circumstances of the death, including statements from witnesses, friends and family, as well as evidence-gathering at the scene. This article addresses the outcomes of that increased information on coronial decision-making in three ways: first, whether or not the greater amount of information offered to coroners enabled them to be less reliant on full internal autopsies to establish cause of death; secondly whether certain factors were more influential in decision-making; and thirdly, whether the information gathered at the scene negates the need for full internal autopsies in many situations, irrespective of the decision-making by coroners.