AGY-4764 | Sydney Coroner

Full description

It appears that the office of Coroner at Sydney commenced with the appointment of George Milner Slade, as coroner to the Sydney district on 19 October 1821. (1)

The origins of the Coroner in New South Wales date back to the second commission issued by Governor Phillip in 1787, which authorised him to appoint coroners as well as justices of the peace. (2) However, at this time a coroner had to assemble the requisite 'jury' of twelve people for an inquest to take place, which on occasion proved rather difficult, particularly in the sparsely populated areas. (3)

The first statute passed concerning coroners was an 'Act to provide for the attendance of Medical Witnesses at Coroners Inquests and Inquiries held by Justices of the Peace' in 1838, which allowed a coroner to summon a qualified medical witness in cases where the deceased was unattended at the time of death. Or alternatively, if at the time of death, the deceased had been attended by a medical practitioner, then the coroner could summon the medical witness to the inquest. (4)

Despite the improvements that this enactment precipitated, in 1840 there were still only seven coroners in the colony of New South Wales. (5) The role of the Coroner was expanded in 1861 with the 'Act to empower Coroners to hold Inquests concerning Fires'. (6) In the same year Coroners were empowered to grant bail to those people charged with manslaughter from the inquests that they had held. (7) The Coroners Act 1898 (Act No.8, 1898) dealt with the attendance of medical witnesses at inquests and inquiries, and the general power and authority of Coroners. (8)

By 1901 Coroners, and Deputy Coroners, had been given the powers and duties of Justices of the Peace. Conversely, police magistrates were given the powers to act as Coroners. Strangely, the Coroners Act 1901 (Act No.54, 1901) allowed Coroners, if they deemed it necessary or desirable, to carry out inquests into deaths on Sundays, which previously had not been allowed. (9)

The Coroners Act of 1912 (Act No.36, 1912) repealed most of the preceding Acts in an attempt to "consolidate the enactments relating to Coroners inquests, and to magisterial inquiries into the cause of death." (10) A major development of this Act was that Coroners could now 'sit alone', meaning they were not required to conduct inquests with a jury in attendance. (11)

Legislation concerning a Coroner’s duties didn’t change until the amendment of the Coroners Act 1960 (Act No.2, 1960), which dealt with how coroners were appointed, the jurisdiction of Coroners, and post mortem examinations. (12)

Inquests and inquiries were next held pursuant to the Coroners Act, 1980 (Act No.27, 1980) which was proclaimed on 27 June 1980. (13)

Inquests and inquiries from 2010 were held pursuant to the Coroners Act 2009 (Act No.41, 2009) which was proclaimed on 1 January 2010. (14)

Endnotes
1. NRS 1286 Returns of the Colony 1822.
2. Golder, Hilary. High and Responsible Office - A History of the NSW Magistracy, Sydney University Press, 1991, p.117.
3. Ibid., pp.117-118.
4. ‘An Act to provide for the attendance of Medical Witnesses at Coroners Inquests and Inquiries held by Justices of the Peace’, (1 Vic. No.3, 1838), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1838, pp.758-760.
5. Golder, op.cit., p.118.
6. ‘An Act to empower Coroners to hold Inquests concerning Fires’, (24 Vic. No.10, 1861), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1861, pp.3335-3336.
7. ‘An Act to enable Coroners to admit Bail to persons charged with Manslaughter’, (24 Vic. No.18, 1861), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1861, p.3345.
8. ‘Coroners Act 1898’, (Act No.8, 1898), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1898, pp.68-72.
9. ‘Coroners Act 1901’, (Act No.54, 1901), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1901, p.409.
10. ‘Coroners Act 1912’, (Act No.36, 1912), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1912, p.714.
11. Ibid., p.714.
12. ‘Coroners Act 1960’, (Act No.2, 1960), Public Statutes of New South Wales 1960, pp.6-41.
13. New South Wales Government Gazette, 27 June 1980, p.3211.
14. Commencement Proclamation under the Coroners Act 2009 No 41 (2009 No 544); NSW Legislation Website, 27 November 2009.