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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-30 Daily Xml
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Parliamentary Committees

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE: INQUIRY INTO STILLBIRTHS

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. G.A. Kandelaars:

That the report of the committee, on its inquiry into stillbirths, be noted.

(Continued from 23 November 2011.)

The Hon. S.G. WADE (19:48): It is with pleasure that I rise to support the motion to note the report of the Legislative Review Committee on stillbirths. The referral emanated from the motion of the honourable member for Davenport in the other place on 15 September 2010. As the Hon. Mr Evans detailed in his speech, the impetus for this inquiry was the case of Ms Myf Maywald. Ms Maywald had called for a change to the law regarding how coroners are allowed to investigate cases related to stillbirths.

At the outset, I acknowledge the courage of Ms Maywald and other members of the public engaged in our inquiry whose lives have been touched by stillbirths. At the time of Ms Maywald's child's death, an investigation was being undertaken by the Women's and Children's Hospital; however, the Coroner could not undertake an investigation because the jurisdiction of the coroner does not cover in utero deaths. This caused much distress to Ms Maywald and has caused distress to others in her circumstances. The Hon. Mr Evans noted in his speech:

The loss of a child is traumatic for those families involved. In Myf Maywald's case, the trauma is added to because the Coroner was unable to investigate the death of her child. Obviously, it adds to the trauma for those families who find themselves in her situation.

On behalf of the council, I would like to thank the Hon. Ian Evans and Myf Maywald for bringing these issues to the attention of the parliament. I would like to thank the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars, as our Presiding Member, and the other members of the committee for working through what were extremely distressing circumstances in some cases and quite complex issues, both in terms of the management of medical services and the operation of the law.

I commend the report to the council because I believe that the committee has come up with a key proposal which appropriately balances the need for, shall we say, coronial investigations in exceptional cases without opening the floodgates such that the Coroner's Court would be overburdened. There is a need to provide for coronial inquests from time to time, but it is unusual. I draw the attention of the council to recommendation 6 which reads:

That the Attorney-General take steps to amend section 21(1)(b) of the Coroner's Act 2003 to allow for a coronial inquest into stillbirths of unexpected, unnatural, unusual, violent or unknown cause.

For members not familiar with the Coroner's Act, that is not the normal reportable deaths category in the Coroner's Act, but I commend the committee and particularly our researchers for seeing the opportunity through section 21(1)(b) to provide access to the coronial jurisdiction.

We received a number of submissions, and it would be fair to say that even those who did not support expanding the coronial jurisdiction conceded that there were some circumstances in which a coronial investigation may be of benefit. These included so-called intrapartum stillbirths where an infant can be shown to have been alive immediately prior to delivery but is delivered stillborn.

In exploring opportunities to expand the coronial jurisdiction in a measured, cautious way, the committee considered the language to describe reportable deaths which talks about deaths which are of unexpected, unnatural, unusual, violent or unknown cause. In evidence before the committee, the Coroner and Deputy Coroner gave evidence which suggested that that formulation would be reasonable and would fit within the test already applied by the Coroner in relation to reportable deaths.

Under section 21(1)(b)(iv) of the Coroner's Act 2003, an inquest is available if the State Coroner considers it necessary or desirable to do so or on the direction of the Attorney-General in the case of certain events such as the disappearance of a person or a fire or accident that causes injury to a person or property. The committee suggests that if this provision was amended to include stillbirths of unexpected, unnatural, unusual, violent or unknown cause, that would be an appropriate expansion of the jurisdiction and would give the Coroner the discretion as to whether or not to hold an inquest. A person who considers that an inquest is warranted could then petition either the Coroner or the Attorney-General for an inquest into the stillbirth.

I commend that recommendation to the house. It is the key recommendation of the report. There are a number of recommendations which talk about the improvement of support services, particularly to people who experience stillborn children, and the way that the health system as a whole can operate more efficiently. I commend all of those to the house but I think in terms of the key issue that we are asked to address, which is the appropriate limits of the coronial jurisdiction, I would suggest to the house that the committee has come up with a proposal well worthy of consideration. I commend it to the Attorney-General and to the honourable member for Davenport, who raised the issue originally in this parliament. I would hope that we would have the opportunity to consider the expansion of the jurisdiction in the not too distant future. I support the motion that the report of the committee be noted.

Motion carried.

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