Has the Western Australia Coroner published formal rulings for other high-profile deaths and how long did those take?
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Executive summary
The Western Australian State Coroner routinely publishes formal findings and rulings in high-profile deaths: the Coroners Court posts inquest findings publicly and maintains lists of delivered findings [1] [2] [3]. How long those investigations take, however, is not fixed — the court’s published guidance and reporting show that coronial inquiries commonly run for months and frequently exceed a year for complex or inquested matters, while systemic backlog and mandated inquests can extend timelines further [4] [5] [6].
1. The coroner publishes formal rulings in high-profile cases — and they are accessible
Western Australia’s Coroners Court explicitly publishes inquest findings and maintains an inquest-findings index and an inquest list, demonstrating that formal rulings are routinely made public once delivered; recent entries and multi-person inquest findings are listed on the court’s website [1] [2] [3]. Media reporting confirms that those formal rulings include detailed adverse findings and recommendations in high-profile deaths — for example, the coroner delivered extensive findings and recommendations into the death of Indigenous teenager Cleveland Dodd, which were reported publicly [7]. Legal commentary likewise notes that coronial findings are published on the Coroners Court website, reinforcing that publication of rulings in significant matters is standard practice [8].
2. Typical timelines: months, often longer than a year for complex matters
The Coroners Court’s own “Coroner’s Process” guidance warns that a coronial inquiry “will take months and often can take longer than 12 months, particularly where the death is due to unnatural causes” and that an inquest, when required, extends the timeframe further [4]. The court’s Coronial Investigation Timeline page presents median timeframes and a flowchart for a non-inquest coronial finding, making clear that published timelines are guidance rather than guarantees and that the path from report of death to published finding involves multiple steps — police investigation, post-mortem reporting, and the coroner’s analysis [5]. Taken together, those official sources establish that while some findings may be completed within months, many high-profile or complex investigations routinely stretch beyond a year.
3. Backlog and mandated inquests: structural reasons timelines lengthen
The Office of the State Coroner’s annual reporting has explicitly flagged a backlog of coronial cases and the resource and reform issues that shape timing, noting mandated inquests (such as deaths in care) that must be held and which contribute to workload and delay [6]. Archivists and court records show that coronial work can be record‑heavy and historically variable in availability, reinforcing that administrative constraints and statutory requirements influence how quickly formal rulings are produced and published [9] [6]. Legal overviews underscore that coroners may need to refer matters to prosecutors or police, add further examinations, or hold public hearings — all of which lengthen the interval to a formal published finding [8].
4. High-profile example confirm practice but not uniform timing
Recent, publicized coronial findings — such as the Cleveland Dodd inquest reporting detailed adverse findings and many recommendations — illustrate that high-profile deaths do receive full coronial findings and public recommendations; however, reporting and the court indexes do not supply a simple single-number “how long” for every high-profile case, and available sources do not provide a consistent elapsed-time figure for specific recent inquests [7] [1] [2]. The court’s inquest lists and inquest-finding pages show when findings are delivered and made available, but timelines vary case by case and the publicly available guidance frames timelines as medians and approximations rather than guarantees [3] [5].
5. What this means: yes to publication, no simple universal timeline
The evidence is clear that the WA coroner publishes formal rulings for high-profile deaths and that those rulings are available via the Coroners Court and covered by media and legal commentary [1] [2] [8] [7]. The duration from report to published finding, however, is necessarily variable: routine non-inquest findings have median guidance timelines, many coronial inquiries “take months and often can take longer than 12 months,” and mandated or complex inquests and backlog pressures frequently extend that period [4] [5] [6]. Public reporting of particular cases confirms publication of findings but does not provide a universal elapsed-time standard applicable to every high-profile death [7] [3].