New South Wales Consolidated Acts

HUMAN TISSUE ACT 1983 - SECT 34

34 Act does not prevent specified removals of tissue

(1) Without affecting the operation of any other Act or law, this Act does not operate so as to prohibit:

(a) the removal of tissue from the body of a living person in the course of medical, dental or surgical treatment carried out by a dentist or a medical practitioner in the interests of the health of the person and:

(i) except as provided by subparagraphs (ii) and (iii)-with the consent (express or implied) given by or on behalf of the person,

(ii) where it is not reasonably practicable for the dentist or medical practitioner to seek that consent and the dentist or medical practitioner is not aware that that consent has been refused-without that consent, or

(iii) in circumstances in which the dentist or medical practitioner is of the opinion that the person is in imminent danger of dying and that the removal of the tissue is necessary for the preservation of the life of the person,

(b) the use of tissue so removed for the purposes of the medical, dental or surgical treatment,

(b1) the use, for therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes, of small samples of any tissue that is lawfully removed from the body of a person (whether living or deceased) and retained in the form of a tissue slide or tissue block which enables microscopic examination of the tissue,

(b2) the retention of tissue lawfully removed from the body of a person (whether living or deceased) in prescribed circumstances for such period as the regulations authorise for the purpose of obtaining an authority under this Act to use the tissue for therapeutic, medical or scientific purposes,

(b3) the use of small samples of any tissue that is lawfully removed from the body of a person (whether living or deceased) for the purpose of carrying out analyses or tests:

(i) that are part of a program (including any quality assurance program, quality control program, audit or evaluation) to ensure, or improve, the quality of services carried out at or by a hospital, a forensic institution, a laboratory, an educational or research institution or a supplier of blood or blood products, or

(ii) that are necessary for the delivery of services carried out at or by a hospital, a forensic institution, a laboratory, an educational or research institution or a supplier of blood or blood products or for the accreditation under any Act of a hospital, a forensic institution, a laboratory, an educational or research institution or a supplier of blood or blood products,

(b4) the provision of a gamete by a living person to an ART provider in accordance with the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 ,

(c) the embalming of the body of a deceased person, or

(d) the preparation (including the restoration of any disfigurement or mutilation) of the body of a deceased person for the purpose of interment or cremation.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) allows the removal of blood from a person in contravention of Part 3.