New South Wales Consolidated Acts

HUMAN TISSUE ACT 1983 - SECT 31

31 Effect of authority under this Division

(1) An authority under this Division is sufficient authority for a medical practitioner (other than, where the authority was given by a medical practitioner, the medical practitioner by whom the authority was given):

(a) to conduct a post-mortem examination of the body of the deceased person referred to in the authority, and

(b) to remove from that person’s body such tissue as is necessary for the purpose of any such examination.

(2) An authority under this Division does not authorise any person to use any tissue removed from a person’s body for any therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes other than the purposes of the post-mortem examination.

Note: An authority under this Division is not required in respect of anything authorised by or under the Coroners Act 2009 (see section 36 (4) of this Act). An authority under Division 2 of Part 5 may be given to authorise the use, for therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes, of any tissue removed for the purposes of a post-mortem examination. An authority to use, for therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes, tissue removed for the purposes of a post-mortem examination is not required in respect of small samples of tissue that are retained in the form of tissue slides or tissue blocks (see section 34).