7.1 In the event of an Incident occurring:
(a) Victoria Police and the Chief Investigator have statutory obligations to investigate incidents which are the subject of this MOU;
(b) Victoria Police will investigate Incidents with a view to meeting its coronial investigation obligations, to apply the law and where appropriate respond to complaints from interested parties and the public;
(c) the Chief Investigator may investigate Incidents either under the Transport Integration Act or the Transport Safety Investigation Act with a view to discharging the functions under the respective legislation, while noting that the decision to investigate under the Transport Safety Investigation Act rests with the ATSB; and
(d) Victoria Police and the Chief Investigator may seek expert and/or technical advice from each other as part of any investigation.
7.2 In the event of a concurrent investigation, either under the Transport Integration Act or Transport Safety Investigation Act, the Parties agree to cooperate and assist each other to the extent that is allowable by the applicable legislation. To this end, both Parties agree to:
(a) make contact to provide details of the investigators in charge at Victoria Police and the Chief Investigator;
(b) inform each other of protocols, processes, concerns or restrictions related to the site, evidence, access to information or issues related to the investigation process;
(c) coordinate, where possible, actions onsite to avoid duplication and to ensure that neither Party compromises the other Party’s investigation;
(d) discuss and negotiate the collection of physical evidence, information and material, recognising that for investigations under the Transport Safety Investigation Act the Chief Investigator may have priority access to evidential material pursuant to that Act; and
(e) seek to gather evidence from original sources in the first instance.
Updated