Cremation Act 1891 (SA)

ANNO QUINQUAGI'SIMC) QUARTO I QUINQUA-

GESILMO QUINTO

'VICTOR lEGINB.

A.D. 1801.

No. 520.

An Act to regulate the process of Cremation.

[ A s s e h d f o, Decelrzdev 19t4 1891.1

HERE>AS it is expedient to legalise the process of Cremation- Preamble.

Be i t Enacted by the Governor of tllr Province of South Australia, with the advice and consent of' the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the said province, in this present Parlia- ment assembled, as fbllows:

in its construction the word ' L Crematorium " shall mean a place interpretation. 1, This Act may be cited as the " Cremation Act, 1891," and Short title and

furnished with apparatus in accordance with the provisions of this Act for the purpose of reducing the human l~ody to ashes after

520

death, and such purpose is in this Act referred to as Cremation";

Prescribed " shall mean prescribed by regulations under this Act, ;

and Registrar," shall mean the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and

Marriages of the district in which the death occurred in respect of which the certificates mentioned in section 5 of this Act are re- quired or the person lawfully acting for such Registrar.

2. Subject to the conditions and provisions of this Act, a crema- Cmmatoriam~ be,

torium may be established by any person, provided the site and established.

plans of such crematorium be approved by the Board of Health as

constituted under the authority of the " Public Health Act, 1873,"

and that the apparatus to be employed for cremation be also

by such Board. But no crematorium shrtll be used for thc purpose

of cremation unless licensed in the prescribed manner by the

Governor.

3. Every

54' & 55" VICTORIA?, No. 520.

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Cremation Act.--1891.

Applioant to fulfil

oertain requirements.	3, Every applicant for a license for a crematorium must satisfy the Governor, by statutory declaration and by such other evidence
as the Governor may require-

(I.) That he is the owner in fee-simple of the site for such crematorium described in his application: or

(XI.) That he has the written consent to such application of such

owner: or

(111.) That, if such site be situated in any cemetery or burial- ground, he has the written consent to such application of tlle persons having the control and management of such cemetery or burial-ground:

(rv.) That notice of intention to apply for such licence shall

have been given by advertiscnlcnt nt least once in each week for eight successive weeks immediately preceding the date of such application in a public newspaper circu- lating in the city, town, or place within which i t is pro- posed to erect such crematorium: and

(v.) That no objection to the establishment of such crematorium shall have been lodged with the .Registrar of Births, I)c;~tlis, and Marriages of thc district &thin which such crematorium is proyoscd to be erected by any owner or occupier of auy house or land situated within one llunctred yards of the site of' such proposed crematorium; but this last condition shnll not apply to any crema- torium which it is proposed shad1 be erccted within any cemetery.

Cremation, &C., when 4, The cremation of the body of any huinan being, otherwise

illegal, &c.

than in a licensed crematorium, shall bc dcerned illegal and a

common nuisance.

Conditions of 5, The cremation of any hu~narl body after death shall not be

orernotion.	lawful unless the persou having chargc of such body or taking the	same to a crematorium shall lodgc with the person in charge of' such
crematorium a " Cremation Pcrmit," issued by the Registrar (which permit such Rrgistrar is hereby required, sibjeet to the provisions hereinafter contained, to grant in the prescribed form to any person demanding the same). But no such permit shall be issued by the Registrar-

(1.1 Unless upon the receipt by the Registrar of certificates from certificates stating that the practitioner giving the same had becn in professional attendance on the deceased, and both such certificates stating that the deceased died from natural causes: or two legally-qualified medical practitioners, one of such

(H.) Unlcss a legally-qualified medical practitioner shall, after a

post mortem examination of all the vital organs of the

deceased,

54' & 55' VICTORIW, No. 520. . -

Cremation Act. - 1891.

deceased, certify to the Registrar that the deceased died

from natural causes: or

(111.) Unless a Coroner or Justice of the Peace who has held an inquest or inquiry as to the cause of death of any person shall first have certified to the registrar that such cause has beell duly inquired into, and that no further examination of the body was necessary,

Provided always that in no case shall the Registrar issue any such permit until and unless the death of the person to be cremated shall have been duly registered as by law required. ,4nd if any Registrar shall issue any " Creniation Permit " without having first received the proper certificates as prescribed by this section, or if ally person in charge of any crenmtorium shall without any such Cremation Permit," or before receipt of the same, cremate or permit the cremation of any human body, such Registrar or person, as the case may be, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be fined in any sum not exceeding Five Hundred Pounds, or be imprisonedJwith or without such fine) for any term not exceeding two pears.

6, I t shall not be lawful, except as hereinafter mentioned, to R?latives, &C., Fay object to cremation

cremate the body of any deceased person if his widow or any of his ,,,,, where not

next of kin, whether under or above the agc of twenty-one years, or directed by deceased	person.
his cxccutors or any of them, shall object thereto; but in all cases where a deceased person shall have left an attested rnemorandurrl directing that his body shall be cremated, it shall be the duty of his executors or administrators to carry out his directions.

7, If any person, knowing that he has any pecuniary interest in Interested personsnot to give certificates.

the death of any other person in terms of any policy of life insurance, or that he is enfitled in expectancy of S;& death to any real or personal property, shall give or join in giving a certificate concerning the death of such person for the purposes of this Act, such first-mentioned person shall be guilty of felony, and may be

sentenced to penal servitude for any term not exceeding three years.

8, The At torney-General or any Stipendiary or Police Magis- ~ ~, " ~ ~; f ~ ~ ~ \ i o n,

trate may, in any case, when there shall appear to be reasonable &c.

cause for- doing so, by order in writing under his hand addressed

to the person in charge of any crematorium, forbid the cremation of

any human body after death specified in such writing, either

absolutely or until the viscera or any other organs have been

removed from such body and lodged in such manner and custody

as he may require; and if any person in charge of any crematorium

shall, in contravention of such order, cremate or permit the crema-

tion of such body, hc shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be

fined in any sum not exceeding Five Hundred Pounds, or be

imprisoned (with or without such fine) for any term not exceeding

three years.

9. The body corporate, authority, or persons in whom any ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ f t ~ m e t e r y

cemetery or burial-ground or the control and management thereof application for a is arematorim.

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Cremation A c t. 1 8 9 1.

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is vested for the time being, inay consent by their common seal or in writing under their hands and seals to the application for any site for a crematorium made by any person under this Act.

10, The Governor may frame regulations for giving effect to this Act, and such regulations may prescribe perlalties for their violation not exceeding Ten Pounds in any case, and on publication in the Gazette shall have the full force of law: Provided that any penalty so proscribed shall be recoverable in il suinnnary way before any two Justices or bcfbre a Stipendiary Magistrate, but only upon informa- tion laid with the sanction in writing of the Colonial Surgeon.

Governor, &C., to	11, Before any crematorium is licensed under this Act the scale of fees and by-laws applicable to and to be in force in such crema- torium must havc been approved of by the Governor; and no alteration in such scale of fees or by-laws shall have any force until so approved of; and no charge for cremation, other than a charge specified in a scale of fees so approved, shall be recoverable
approve of bp-laws.
in any Court.

I n the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, I hereby assent to

this Bill.

I<INrL'OIZE, Governor..

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Adelaide : By authority, C. E. BRISTOW, Government Printer, North-terrace.