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The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 (the Act) requires the Registrar to protect the privacy of the people to whom its records relate. In addition, the Information Privacy Act 2000 and the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 contain provisions requiring the protection of an individual's privacy.
Section 47 of the Act requires that the Registrar maintain an access policy outlining the conditions under which individuals and organisations may access Registry records.
Restrictions to access Under the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages' Access Policy, the following restrictions apply:
- birth and change of name records are restricted from public access for 100 years or until the person has passed away, whichever is the later;
- marriage records are restricted from public access for 60 years or until both parties to the marriage have passed away, whichever is the later;
- death records are restricted from public access for 10 years.
The Access Policy also indicates who may access restricted records and the Registry's requirements for access to be granted.
The Registrar may reject an application for access to a record if the applicant does not meet the requirements of the Access Policy.
Review of the Registrar's decision A person whose interests are affected by a decision of the Registrar under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 or the Relationships Act 2008 may apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a review of the decision.
An application for review must be made to VCAT within 28 days of:
- the day on which the decision is made
- the day on which the statement of reasons is given to the person or the person is informed under section 46(5) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic) that a statement of reasons will not be given.
Downloading the Access Policy The Access Policy is available for download in the following sections:
- Access 01.0 – 03.0: Policy Background (PDF document, 29.5 KB, 3 pages)
- Access 04.0: Information Released by the Registry (PDF document, 25.1 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 05.0: Periods of Restriction (PDF document, 17.0 KB, 1 page)
- Access 06.0: Applications (PDF document, 17.4 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.0 – 07.01: Access to Birth, Change of Name, Death and Marriage Records (PDF document, 16.6 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.02: Registered Person (PDF document, 18.3 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.03: Applicant with consent from the Registered Person (PDF document, 11.4 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.04: Parents (PDF document, 19.3 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.05: Children applying for parents' information (PDF document, 28.8 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.06: Next of Kin (PDF document, 26.5 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.07: Legal Practitioners (PDF document, 32.2 KB, 3 pages)
- Access 07.08: Domestic Partners and Ex-Spouses (PDF document, 22.0 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.09: Consulates and Foreign Governments (PDF document, 28.5 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.10: Public Trustees (PDF document, 24.4 KB, 3 pages)
- Access 07.11: Executors (PDF document, 18.9 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.12: Search Agents (PDF document, 21.7 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.13: Welfare Agencies (PDF document, 17.3 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.14: Administrators, Legal Guardians and Powers of Attorney (PDF document, 24.4 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.15: Government Agencies and Departments (PDF document, 23.5 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.16: Law Enforcement Agencies (PDF document, 21.2 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.17: Funeral Directors (PDF document, 28.4 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.18: Medical Researchers (PDF document, 23.7 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.19: Historical Researchers (PDF document, 22.7 KB, 2 pages)
- Access 07.20: Genealogists (PDF document, 25.5 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.21: Data Cleansing (PDF document, 17.7 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.22: Financial institutions (PDF document, 18.7 KB, 1 page)
- Access 07.23: Primary carers of a person under care (PDF document, 18.6 KB, 1 page)
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