Cremations Act 2003
An Act to regulate the process of cremating human remains
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Cremations Act 2003.
2 Commencement
This Act commences on the day that the Coroners Act 2003 commences.
3 Definitions
The dictionary in the schedule defines particular words used in this Act.
4 Cremations this Act does not apply to
(1)This Act does not apply to the cremation of—(a)human remains that have been buried for 1 year or more; or(b)parts of a human body—(i)taken during a medical procedure or autopsy; or(ii) used at a school of anatomy for the study and practice of anatomy; or(c)Aboriginal human remains as defined in the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 or Torres Strait Islander human remains as defined in the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003.(2)In this section—school of anatomy see the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979, section 4.
5 Permission required for cremation
A person must not cremate human remains unless the person has a permission to cremate the remains, in the approved form, that was issued by—(a)if an autopsy of the remains was conducted under the Coroners Act 1958 or Coroners Act 2003—the coroner who ordered the autopsy or, if that coroner is unavailable, another coroner; or(b)otherwise—an independent doctor.Maximum penalty—140 penalty units.
5A Permission to cremate given by interstate coroner
(1)This section applies if an interstate coroner for another State gives permission, under a law of that State, to cremate human remains.(2)A person who cremates the human remains in Queensland under the permission does not commit an offence against section 5 if a doctor has—(a)examined the remains and made any necessary inquiries; and(b)issued a certificate that the doctor is satisfied the remains do not pose a cremation risk.(3)In this section—interstate coroner, for another State, means a person who may exercise the functions of a coroner under a law of that State.
6 Getting permission to cremate
(1)The following persons may apply for a permission to cremate the human remains of a deceased person—(a)a close relative of the deceased person, either personally or through an agent;Example of an agent—
a funeral director(b)a personal representative of the deceased person, either personally or through an agent;Note—
Under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, schedule 1, a personal representative of a deceased person is the executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate.(c)if no-one mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) applies for a permission to cremate—another adult, either personally or through an agent, who has a satisfactory explanation as to why those persons did not apply and why the adult is applying.(2)The application must be made in the approved form.(3)The way that an application may be sent to the coroner or independent doctor includes by fax or other…