Coroners (Records Retention) Regulations 2012

Coroners Act 2010

(Sections 8(1) and 49)

Coroners
(Records Retention)
Regulations 2012

2025 REVISED EDITION

(2 June 2025)

[20 April 2012]

Citation

1.  These Regulations are the Coroners (Records Retention) Regulations 2012.

Prescribed period for preservation of medical records, etc.

2.  For the purposes of section 8(1) of the Act, the prescribed period is 6 years commencing from the time of death of any person occurring on or after 20 April 2012.

Types and form of records and documents to be retained

3.—(1)  The medical records and healthcare records required by section 8(1) of the Act to be retained must be —

(a) inscribed, stored or otherwise fixed on a tangible medium; or

(b) stored in an electronic or other medium,

and must be retrievable in perceivable form.

(2)  The other documents required by section 8(1) of the Act to be retained include, in addition to a document in writing —

(a) any graph or drawing;

(b) any photograph;

(c) any label, marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms a part, or to which it is attached by any means whatsoever;

(d) any disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom;

(e) any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disc or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; and

(f) any paper or other material on which there are marks, impressions, figures, letters, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them.