Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity Act 1994 (Tas)

Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity Act 1994

An Act to establish the Council of Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity, to enable the Council to investigate obstetric and paediatric mortality and morbidity and to give, receive and retain information in respect of such matters and for related purposes [Royal Assent 10 May 1994]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity Act 1994 .

2. Commencement This Act commences on a day to be proclaimed.

3. Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – born alive means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a viable foetus in which, after that expulsion or extraction, the heart was beating; child death means the death of a person who has not attained the age of 18 years; committee means a committee established under section 9 ; Council means the Council of Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity established by section 4 ; employee means a person whose services are made available to the Council under section 10 (a) or (b) ; function includes duty; information means any information – (a) in, or derived from, a document; or (b) provided orally; late maternal death means the death of a woman more than 42 days but less than one year after the cessation of pregnancy – (a) resulting from an obstetric cause or another cause aggravated by an obstetric cause; and (b) irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy and the location of the foetus within the woman's body; maternal death means the death of a woman while pregnant, or within 42 days after the cessation of pregnancy – (a) from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the pregnancy or its management; and (b) irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy and the location of the foetus within the woman's body; midwife means a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Tasmania) in the midwifery profession; perinatal death means – (a) the death of a viable foetus at any time up to the moment of its complete expulsion or extraction from its mother; and (b) the death of a child born alive where the death occurs before the twenty-ninth day after the date of the birth; register means the perinatal register or other register maintained by the Council under section 14 ; regulations means regulations made and in force under section 20 ; relevant Minister means the Minister administering the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997 or the Minister administering the Disability Services Act 2011 , as the case may require; Secretary means Secretary of the Department; viable foetus means a product of conception – (a) of at least 20 weeks' gestation or such lesser number of weeks gestation as may be prescribed by the regulations; or (b) of a weight of not less than 400 grams or such lesser weight as may be prescribed by the regulations.