April 24, 2017
Coroner’s Act missing cultural dimension
A Maori health worker says changes are urgently needed to allow whanau timely access to tupapaku.
Parliament’s Maori affairs committee is looking at the issue, less than a year after the Coroner’s Act was changed.
Naida Glavish says while there were some positive changes such as the new mortuary service, in other areas additional bureaucratic hurdles were thrown up.
She says the cultural dimension is still overlooked.
"We understand there are some cases where they have to take their time to ensure there was no foul play. However, some times there are unnecessary delays, like the release and access of tupapaku from hospitals, where there are hours of waiting for a duty manager to sign off," she says.
Naida Glavish says a tangihanga starts at the time of death, not when the tupapaku is released by the coroner or the police.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH NAIDA GLAVISH
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