Section 13 of the Coroners Act requires all deaths to be notified to the Police
13 Duty to report deaths
(1) A person who finds a body in New Zealand must report the finding to a Police employee as soon as practicable unless the person believes that the finding is already known to the New Zealand Police, or will be reported to a Police employee by another person.
(2) A person who learns of a death of a kind described in section 14 must report that death to a Police employee as soon as practicable unless the person believes that the death is already known to the New Zealand Police, or will be reported to a Police employee by another person.
(2A) However, subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in any case in which the death was a result of assisted dying under the End of Life Choice Act 2019.
However, many deaths are expected "natural causes" deaths and are not routinely reported.
As a minimum, unexpected deaths in the community should be referred to the police.
The police may attend the scene to examine the body and review the circumstances of the death for possible foul play.
Police will often confirm the identity of the deceased, and will arrange for a health practitioner (such as a nurse or ambulance paramedic) to verify that the person is dead.
If there is any doubt about the identity or the circumstances of the death, the police may refer the case to the Duty Coroner.