This page contains news items for the current calendar year. You can also read news items from 2008.
Medical Practitioners only: Coroners Act 2008
The
Coroners Act 2008 (Vic) comes into operation from 1 November 2009. This has meant minor changes to Births Deaths and Marriages Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) forms. These forms will be supplied to doctors from 1 November. For more information about the Act visit the
Coroners Court of Victoria.
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Update: Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act
The
Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (the Act) must commence by 1 January 2010.
Commencement of the Act will lead to several changes to Registry functions. These include:
Birth Registration
- Recognising the birth mother's female partner as a parent on the child's birth certificate. To do this:
- (for births registered after the Act commences) the mother and her female partner must complete a Birth Registration Statement. The hospital or midwife will provide this form to the parents at the time of birth to register their child's birth.
- (for births registered before the Act commenced) the mother and her female partner must complete a Registry application form to amend the child's birth record.
- Recognising the commissioning parents in a surrogacy arrangement as the parents on their child's birth certificate. The commissioning parents must first obtain a Substitute Parentage Order from the County or Supreme Court.
- A question on the Birth Registration Statement will confirm that the child is donor conceived.
Donor Registration
The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will:
- Maintain the Central Register and the Voluntary Register. This function is currently performed by the Infertility Treatment Authority. Records will be transferred to the Registry when the Act becomes operational.
- Process applications from eligible parties for information held on the Central Register and the Voluntary Register.
- Refer applicants seeking identifying information (such as name and address of a donor) for compulsory counselling before releasing the information.
- Collect information from clinics who perform donor treatment procedures and from doctors who perform artificial insemination for inclusion in the Central Register.
Download the
Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act FAQs (PDF document, 395 KB, 3 pages)
Further information about all processes and application forms will be available on this site when the Act commences.
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Regulatory Impact Statement
Relationships (Fees) Regulations 2009
The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (the Registry) maintains the Relationships Register under the
Relationships Act 2008.
The Government is proposing to make the
Relationships (Fees) Regulations 2009 (the proposed Regulations) to prescribe fees for the administration of applications to:
- register a registrable relationship
- revoke the registration of a registered relationship
- add registrable information to the Relationships Register
- issue a certificate based on information held in the Relationships Register.
The Registry has prepared a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) in accordance with section 11 of the
Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 that examines the costs and benefits of the proposed Regulations. The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission assessed the RIS as adequate (RIS Appendix D).
If you would like to make a submission in response to information provided in the RIS, please do so in writing by 4pm on Tuesday 20 October 2009. The Registry will not consider any parts of submissions that seek to revisit the decisions already announced by Government in relation to the registration of registrable domestic relationships or registrable caring relationships.
Download the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) (PDF document, 570 KB, 37 pages).
Alternatively, please email Ms Lisa Carney at lisa.carney@justice.vic.gov.au if you require a copy of the RIS.
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Registry fee changes
From 1 July 2009 some Registry fees have increased.
Please note there is no increase to fees relating to the relationships register, historical index searches, the purchasing of uncertified images, historical CD or DVD ROM products.
View the updated list of
fees for products and services.
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2009 Aboriginal Community Information Sessions
Births, Deaths and Marriages will be hosting a series of Aboriginal Community Information sessions during May and June 2009, helping Aboriginal people register a birth or apply for a birth certificate.
The team will visit:
Bairnsdale
10 June 2009 - Gippsland East Aboriginal Cooperative, 1.30pm - 3.30pm
Contact - Rod Norman - Tel 03 5150 1500
Ballarat
4 June 2009 - Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative, 10.30am - 3pm
Contact - Merv Atkinson - Tel 03 5331 4528
Echuca
16 June 2009 - Njernda Aboriginal Cooperative, 11am - 3pm
Contact - Paula Murray - Tel 03 5440 4108
Geelong
24 June 2009 - Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative, 11am - 4pm
Contact - John Bell - Tel 03 5564 1014
Heywood
23 June 2009 - Windamara Aboriginal Cooperative, 1.30pm - 4.30pm
Contact - John Bell - Tel 03 5564 1014
Lakes Entrance
10 June 2009 - Gippsland Lakes Community Health, 10am - 12 noon
Contact - Rod Norman - Tel 03 5150 1500
Mildura
28 May 2009 - Sunraysia TAFE Mildura, 10am - 2pm
28 May 2009 - MADEC, 2.30pm - 4.30pm
29 May 2009 - Mildura Aboriginal Cooperative, 10am - 3pm
Contact - Raylene Harradine - 03 8684 1741
Morwell
11 June 2009 - Central Gippsland Aboriginal Health and Housing Cooperative, 10am - 2pm
Contact - Rod Norman - Tel 03 5150 1500
Robinvale
27 May 2009 - Robinvale Resource Centre, 10am - 5pm
Contact - Charmain Bell - Tel 03 5032 2994
Sale
9 June 2009 - Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation, 1pm - 4pm
Contact - Anne Marie Frawley - Tel 03 5143 1644
Shepparton
17 June 2009 - Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative, Time TBC
Contact - Joanne Atkinson - Tel 03 5832 1580
Swan Hill
Tuesday 26 May 2009 - Swan Hill Aboriginal Health Service, 2pm - 6pm
Contact - Charmain Bell - Tel 03 5032 2994
Warrnambool
22 June 2009 - Kirrae Health Service Framlingham, 12.30pm - 4pm
23 June 2009 - Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative, 9.30am - 12 noon
Contact - John Bell - Tel 03 5564 1014
Note. Times and venues subject to change. Telephone the local contact to confirm session details.
Registering a child's birth is important - it's about their future.
Download an
event poster (PDF document, 1,180 KB, 1 page) or
information flyer (PDF document, 1,099 KB, 2 pages).
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New website, same address
Welcome to the Registry's new-look website.
This website has been redeveloped with a new design, content and structure to help users find the information they need quickly and easily.
While the website address is the same, some links and bookmarks have changed. Links relating to genealogical searches and online certificate applications are the same.
The new-look site also has some additional features including a 'popular pages' menu on the right-hand side of the screen and enhanced accessibility features for users with visual needs. Minor updates to the online certificate application system and the collection of uncertified images have also been introduced.
This is the first in a series of updates that will make the site easier to use and addresses a number of suggestions made by users.
We encourage you to continue providing any comments on the new website via our
feedback form
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Victorian Bushfires 2009
To assist victims of the Victorian bushfires, the Registry has created a special
application form for people seeking replacement birth, marriage or change of name certificates. (PDF document, 43 KB, 2 pages).
The Registry also provides answers to frequently asked questions about
applying for replacement certificates (PDF document, 25 KB, 1 page) and
registering a death and applying for death certificates (PDF document, 26 KB, 2 pages).
Other sites of interest include
Centrelink,
Department of Human Services,
Legal Aid,
State Coroner's Office and
VicRoads.
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Australia's Army War Dead DVD
Order the Registry's latest family history product: Australia's Army War Dead DVD.
Find out how to
submit a photograph to the War Dead project.
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