Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995

This Act is the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

The objects of this Act are to provide for—

the registration of births, deaths and marriages in New South Wales, and

the registration of adoption information, and

the registration of changes of name and the recording of changes of sex, and

the keeping of registers for recording and preserving information about births, adoptions, deaths, marriages, registered relationships, changes of name and changes of sex in perpetuity, and

access to the information in the registers in appropriate cases by government or private agencies and members of the public, from within and outside the State, and

the issue of certified information from the registers, and

the collection and dissemination of statistical information.

In this Act—

adult means a person who is 18 or above or, although under 18, is or has been married.

birth includes a stillbirth.

birth certificate means a certificate issued under section 49 in relation to a person’s birth.

birth registration statement see section 14.

change of name includes an addition, omission or substitution.

child includes a stillborn child.

corresponding law means a law of another State that provides for the registration of births, deaths and marriages.

death does not include a stillbirth.

disposal of human remains means—

cremation of the remains, or

burial of the remains (including burial at sea), or

placing the remains in a mausoleum or other permanent resting place, or

placing the remains in the custody of an educational or scientific institution for the purpose of medical education or research, or

removal of the remains from the State (but not if the remains have been cremated or are taken from the State by sea and buried at sea in the course of the voyage).

exercise a function includes perform a duty.

function includes a power, authority or duty.

funeral director means a person who carries on the business of arranging for the disposal of human remains.

prohibited name means a name that—

is obscene or offensive, or

could not practicably be established by repute or usage—

because it is too long, or

because it consists of or includes symbols without phonetic significance, or

for some other reason, or

includes or resembles an official title or rank, or

is contrary to the public interest for some other reason.

recognition certificate, for Part 5A—see section 32A.

registrable event means a birth, adoption or discharge of adoption, change of name, change of sex, death or marriage.

registrable information means information that must or may be included in the Register¹.

Register see section 43.

registering authority means an authority responsible under a corresponding law for the registration of births, deaths and marriages.

Registrar means a Public Service senior executive, within the meaning of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013, employed as the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

sex descriptor, for Part 5A—see section 32A.

State includes a Territory.

stillbirth means the birth of a stillborn child.

stillborn child means a child that exhibits no sign of respiration or heartbeat, or other sign of life, after birth and that—

is of at least 20 weeks’ gestation, or

if it cannot be reliably established whether the period of gestation is more or less than 20 weeks, has a body mass of at least 400 grams at birth.

Note.

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

Notes in the text of this Act do not form part of this Act.

Note.

¹See section 43 (2)

This Act and the regulations apply to a relationship that the Registrar determines may be registered under the Relationships Register Act 2010 in the same way that they apply to a registrable event.

The Registrar is, in the exercise of functions under this Act, subject to the control and direction of the Minister.

The Registrar’s general functions are—

to establish and maintain the registers¹ necessary for the purposes of this Act and the Relationships Register Act 2010, and

to maintain the integrity of the Register and to seek to prevent identity fraud associated with the Register and the information extracted from the Register, and

to administer the registration system established by this Act and ensure that the system operates efficiently, effectively and economically, and

to ensure that this Act is administered in the way best calculated to achieve its objects.

Note.

¹The registers are collectively referred to as the “Register”. See section 43.

Persons may be employed in the Public Service under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 to enable the Registrar to exercise the Registrar’s functions under this Act and the Relationships Register Act 2010.

The Registrar may engage persons under a contract to provide services to enable the Registrar to exercise the Registrar’s functions under this Act and the Relationships Register Act 2010, including engaging persons through a labour hire arrangement.

The Registrar may delegate to an authorised person any of the Registrar’s functions under this Act and the Relationships Register Act 2010, other than this power of delegation.

A delegate may sub-delegate to an authorised person any function delegated by the Registrar if the delegate is authorised in writing to do so by the Registrar.

In this section—

authorised person means the following—

a Public Service employee, within the meaning of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013,

a person engaged under a contract to provide services to enable the Registrar to exercise the Registrar’s functions under this Act or the Relationships Register Act 2010, including a person engaged through a labour hire arrangement,

a person prescribed by the regulations.

The Registrar is to have a seal.

The Registrar may issue a certificate or other document under the Registrar’s signature and seal, or under a copy of the Registrar’s signature and seal produced by stamp or machine imprint or by some other method authorised by the regulations.

If a document produced before a court or an administrative authority or official is apparently under—

the Registrar’s signature and seal, or

a copy of the Registrar’s signature and seal produced by stamp or machine imprint or by some other method authorised by the regulations,

the court, authority or official must presume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the document was properly issued under the Registrar’s authority.

Judicial notice is to be taken of the Registrar’s seal.

The Minister may enter into an arrangement with the Minister responsible for the administration of a corresponding law providing for—

the exercise by the Registrar of functions of the registering authority under the corresponding law, and

the exercise by the registering authority under the corresponding law of functions of the Registrar under this Act.

When an arrangement is in force under this section—

the Registrar may exercise, to the extent authorised by the arrangement (but subject to the conditions of the arrangement), the functions of the registering authority under the corresponding law, and

the registering authority under the corresponding law may exercise, to the extent authorised by the arrangement (but subject to the conditions of the arrangement), the functions of the Registrar under this Act and anything done by the registering authority under this paragraph is taken to have been done by the Registrar under this Act.

An arrangement under this section may—

establish a database in which information is recorded for the benefit of all the participants in the arrangement, and

provide for access to information contained in the database, and

provide for payments by or to participants in the arrangement for services provided under the arrangement.