A new law which should make access to inquests easier for journalists has come into force.

The Coroners (Inquest) Rules 2013, which came into effect on 25 July, state that there is a right to advance notice of inquests, which the Newspaper Society has long been campaigning for.

The regulations state that the date, time and place of an inquest hearing should be made public prior to its commencement and that inquests should generally be opened in public.

Press and public can only be excluded from inquests in the interests of national security or, in the case of pre-inquest hearings only, the interests of justice.

In recent years, the NS and regional editors have opposed the threat of increased inquest secrecy and tighter controls over press access and reporting, with a succession of submissions and meetings with ministers and officials, as well as a meeting with the Chief Coroner.