The South Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (SAAEH) wrote to the SA attorney general, Kyam Maher, on March 7 2024, urging him to consider a proposal for the mandatory reporting of homelessness deaths to the coroner.
SAAEH’s letter, which was reported on by the Guardian, follows requests from homelessness groups in New South Wales and Victoria earlier this month to implement mandatory coronial reporting. Such reforms would give states visibility over most cases where someone experiencing homelessness has died.
Whilst our understanding of why homelessness occurs has improved over
South Australian Alliance to End Homelessness
time, the exclusion of mandatory recording of homelessness deaths to the
coroner has left a concerning gap in efforts to protect some of our State’s
most vulnerable.
In line with the representations that have been made in a number of other states, the South Australian Alliance to End homelessness (SAAEH) is urging the South Australian Government to make a minor amendment to the Coroners Act stipulating that the death of a person experiencing homelessness is reportable to the Coroner.
Recent media
- NSW contemplates mandatory coronial reporting of homelessness deaths as part of policy rethink – Guardian Australia, 21 February 2024
- South Australia considering making reporting of homelessness deaths mandatory – Guardian Australia, 9 March 2024
A3HN | Australian Health, Housing & Homelessness Network 