The parents of a dead seven-year-old girl have stopped a coroner from carrying out an autopsy on the child's body on the basis that it would be distressing.

The family's lawyer said the case has created a legal precedent, because it balanced the parents' wishes, which were not on cultural or religious grounds, against the wish of a forensic pathologist.

Sarah Traynor died last month after becoming entangled in a skipping rope, which was tied to a swing set in her backyard in Bairnsdale, south-east of Melbourne.

The Supreme Court heard a coroner's decision to order a post-mortem examination on Sarah's body had horrified her parents.

The Traynor family argued it was clear their child's death was caused by an accident.

"They were very distressed at the prospect of an autopsy being undertaken on their daughter," the family's lawyer, Dr Ian Freckleton, SC, told ABC radio's PM program.

"She was a child who didn't like medical procedures and they are still dealing with their grief over what was a truly awful accident."

The lawyer acting for the coroner had argued an autopsy was necessary for the coroner to fulfil its statutory obligation in determining the cause of death of "a young child who died in extremely unusual circumstances" and provide recommendations that could prevent any further deaths the same way.

The lawyer noted Sarah had been a healthy girl and her hanging had not been witnessed by anyone.

But Supreme Court Justice John Digby said there was no evidence to suggest foul play or suspicious circumstances.

The evidence showed Sarah had died from neck compression and a computed tomography (CT) scan had not shown anything suspicious.

'New ground'

"This case very much reaffirms the proposition that where there are not circumstances that suggest that something untoward has occurred, and where there is opposition to it, then all things being equal, an autopsy ought not to proceed," Dr Freckleton said.

He added cases like this occur from time to time and the balancing exercise between the public interest in identifying the cause of death and the family wishes can be difficult.

"Quite a bit of the time, the cases have been those involving people of the Jewish faith, or Indigenous people, where there are particular considerations in relation to the body and especially in relation to speedy burial," he said.

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"In relation to Indigenous, often the view of the surviving family members is that it is vital that the deceased be buried whole and unmutilated, as they would put it, because otherwise the person will be separated from their spirit."

However, Dr Freckleton said Sarah's case has created something of a precedent.

"This was a case which balanced the distress of the parents, which wasn't on cultural or religious grounds, against the wish of a forensic pathologist and also the coroner to know the exact mechanism of death," he said.

"So it is new ground that has been covered, and a quite a significant precedent that has been set."

On Monday the judge ordered no autopsy be performed and that Sarah body be released to her parents for burial.

A spokeswoman for the coroner's court says it will not appeal the decision and will facilitate the judge's orders as soon as possible.

"It is more and more being recognised that an autopsy can be a distressing and upsetting intervention in relation to deceased persons," Dr Freckleton said.

"The autopsy rates in Australia have dropped substantially in recent years, partly out of a recognition of that reality, and partly because of improving technology, which allows MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) and CT scans to be done upon deceased persons and substantial information to be gleaned from those."