If there's an error on a death certificate, you can apply to have it corrected.
Refer to the ‘Evidence required’ tab for common changes and the evidence you’ll need to provide.
What we need from you
We'll ask you for the following:
1. Details of the person on the certificate
As a minimum, we ask for:
- Given name and family name
- Date and place of death.
2. The original death certificate
We ask you to return the original death certificate before we can issue a corrected version.
If you return the original certificate, the replacement is free. (You may need to pay postage and handling charges.)
If you don't return the original, you will need to:
- Pay for the new certificate, and
- Provide a statutory declaration explaining why you can't return the original
Learn more about how to digitise and upload documents.
3. Evidence to support the correction
The evidence we need depends on the correction you want to make.
For documents in a language other than English, provide an English translation by a qualified translator. Learn more about translated documents.
4. Proof of your identity
Acceptable documents
The easiest way to prove your identity is with your driver licence (if it confirms your residential address) and your Passport.
If you don’t have these, you can provide other identity documents.
To provide identity documents, send certified copies to us by post or by uploading.
Evidence required
The evidence listed below covers the most common correction requests. If you can't provide the evidence listed, we will contact you if we need more evidence.
If we hold the evidence (e.g. a birth certificate) you don't need to provide a copy of it.
| Correction | Acceptable evidence |
|---|---|
|
Any name on the certificate |
One of the following documents, showing the name that needs to be corrected:
|
| Date, place or cause of death |
Evidence of correct information from the certifying doctor, the coroner or a treating consultant. It may be in the form of:
|
| Date or place of marriage | Marriage certificate (interstate or overseas marriage). |
| Relationship status (married or divorced) |
One of the following:
|
| Relationship status and/or name of domestic (de facto) partner |
The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Regulations 2019 (External link) define 'domestic relationship'. For a death record, a domestic relationship includes both:
To add the name of a domestic partner, you must provide evidence that at the time of death:
|
| Previous children (names or ages) |
One of the following:
|
Timeframes and delivery
How long will it take?
Check our certificate turnaround times.
If it's urgent, apply online then contact us.
Fees and payment
The fees are non-refundable except as set out in our Refunds page.
Certificate fees
| Whereabouts of original certificate | Comments | Price |
|---|---|---|
| If you return the original death certificate |
No fee for certificate (There may be a postage and handling fee for the new certificate. Check Postage, below) |
$0.00 |
| If you do not return the original death certificate | The price of a legal death certificate applies | $51.40 |
Postage fees are additional.
Postage fees
We can’t refund postage fees if you decide to collect your certificate(s) in person.
Postage within Australia
| Type of certificate | Postage and handling method | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Legal certificate | Express post | $10.00 |
Postage outside Australia
| Type of certificate | Postage and handling method | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Legal certificate | International express | $54.10 |
See Australia Post (External link) for product details.
Check the Payment methods we accept.