Under the provisions of the Coroners Act 1997 the ACT Coroner conducted an inquiry into the origin, cause and circumstances of the fires which destroyed and damaged property in the ACT in January 2003 and inquests into the deaths of four people who died in the fires.
Coroner Maria Doogan presided over the inquiry and handed down her findings and report on 19 December 2006.
This webpage provides access to Coroner Maria Doogan's report (volume I and volume II), inquiry transcripts, witness list as well as submissions and media releases. Also available is a link to the Inquiry into the Operational Response to the January 2003 Bushfires by Ron McLeod.
Also included is the ACT Supreme Court judgment, R v Coroner Maria Doogan; ex parte Peter Lucas-Smith and Ors [2005] ACTSC 74, which dealt, in part, with the question of apprehended bias.
