Tasmanian Consolidated Acts Tasmanian Consolidated Acts
(1) Except as otherwise expressly provided therein, nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring a medical practitioner or a qualified nurse to take a sample of the blood or urine of any person, or carry out a medical examination of any person.
(1A) For the purposes of this section, a sample of blood or urine may be divided into 3 parts at the time it is taken or given or at any subsequent time.
(2) Where a medical practitioner has refused to take, or refrained from taking, a sample of the blood of a person for the purposes of this Act, or has refused to make, or refrained from making, a medical examination of a person for those purposes, on the grounds that to do so would, in his opinion, be prejudicial to the proper care or treatment of that person, he shall, if so requested by a police officer –
(a) express an opinion on the question whether that person has or, if he is in hospital, had, at the time of his admission to the hospital, alcohol or a prescribed illicit drug in his body; and
(b) to the best of his ability answer any relevant questions put to him by the police officer in relation to that question.
(3) Where a medical practitioner or qualified nurse takes a sample of a person's blood or urine for analysis for the purposes of this Act it is the duty of that practitioner or nurse to comply with the following provisions of this section so far as they are applicable to him.
(4) Where regulations under this Act prescribe the manner in which a sample of blood is to be taken that sample shall be taken in that manner.
(4A) Where regulations under this Act prescribe an amount of blood which constitutes a sample, less than that amount may be taken if a medical practitioner or a qualified nurse certifies that it was not possible to obtain the prescribed amount due to the medical condition of the patient at the time.
(4B) If a sample of blood that is less than the prescribed amount is taken in accordance with subsection (4A), that smaller sample is to be taken to be sufficient for the purposes of this Act.
(5) The sample of blood or urine shall be divided into 3 parts, each part being enclosed either –
(a) in a container issued for that purpose by an approved analyst who is a State Service officer or State Service employee; or
(b) in the case of a sample of blood, in a container forming part of a blood sampling kit of a type approved by the Governor by notice in the Gazette.
(5A) Each container into which a part of the sample of blood or urine is placed shall be labelled in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5B) One of the containers containing a part of the sample of the blood or urine shall, as soon as practicable after it has been taken, be tendered to the person from whom it was taken, unless he is in custody, and, if he is in custody, shall forthwith be delivered to a police officer.
(5C) The containers containing the other 2 parts of the sample of blood or urine shall, within 10 days, be delivered to an approved analyst.
(6) If a sample of blood or urine is taken from a person in accordance with section 12(1) (person incapable of consenting), a police officer must–
as soon as the police officer considers it is practical to do so having regard to the person's physical condition.(a) give written notice to the person that the sample was taken; and
(b) tender to the person the part of the sample referred to in subsection (5B); and
(c) give written notice to the person that he or she may object to the sample being analysed, but in that case the person will be guilty of an offence under this Act–
(7) . . . . . . . .
(8) . . . . . . . .
(9) . . . . . . . .