BDM commits to making it easier for Aboriginal people to access our services.
Here are some of the ways we provide culturally-safe services to Aboriginal Victorians.
Aboriginal Outreach Team
Jessica Gobbo (née Dudley) is our Aboriginal Relationships Officer. Jessica is a proud Wardandi & Bibbilmun (Noongar) woman working off-country.
Our Aboriginal Outreach Team are trained to provide specialised support to Aboriginal customers who need help accessing our services.
You don't need to wait until you've applied for a certificate before you contact them.
To get in touch, Aboriginal customers can email bdm.koori@justice.vic.gov.au (External link).
Community visits
The Aboriginal Outreach Team can also visit your community. These visits can help mob access our services including:
- Registering births
- Applying for birth, death and marriage certificates
- Changing your name.
This is part of BDM’s Strong identity, strong spirit campaign.
If you'd like the team to visit your community, please fill in our request form.
Help with fees (our fee waiver policy)
If you’re experiencing hardship, you can ask the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages not to charge the fee. This available only for certain certificates or registrations. This is called a fee waiver application.
For help, Aboriginal customers can email bdm.koori@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)
Watch the Aboriginal Relationships Officer video
Watch the video above on the role of BDM's Aboriginal Relationships Officer. You can read the transcript of this video.
Acknowledgement of Country
We aim to make our registry service centre as welcoming as possible to Aboriginal people. Our service centre greets visitors with:
- A plaque acknowledging the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Owners of the land
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on proud display.
BDM staff also mark key events such as Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.
Coolamon strategy 2019-2021
Our Coolamon Strategy drives our work with Victoria’s Aboriginal community.
The purpose of the strategy is to:
- increase access to BDM services for members of Victoria’s Aboriginal community
- ensure that BDM continuously improves upon its service delivery to Aboriginal customers.
It also discusses our work with community bodies and other agencies to:
- help Aboriginal community members know about BDM services, financial assistance and culturally-sensitive support
- support Aboriginal community members during difficult times in their lives.
Language use
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in Victoria have diverse cultures.
On this website we use these terms:
- ‘Koori’ and ‘Aboriginal’ to refer to the Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander people of Victoria
- 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia.
The word ‘family’ has many different meanings. Use of the words ‘family’ and ‘families’ is all-encompassing. It acknowledges that a variety of relationships and structures can make up a family unit. These include family-like or care relationships and extended kinship structures.
The word ‘boorai’, meaning ‘baby’ or ‘child’, comes from the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.
The word ‘mob’ is used to refer to a group of Aboriginal people associated with a particular place or Country. It is used to connect and identify Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and where they are from. Mob can represent a family group, clan group or wider Aboriginal community group.
Providing feedback
We welcome feedback and suggestions from our Aboriginal customers and stakeholders.
To provide feedback, or suggest other ways we can support Aboriginal people, please contact:
The Aboriginal Outreach Team
Email: bdm.koori@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)
Making a complaint
To make a complaint about our Aboriginal services, see Feedback, complaints and review of decisions
About the photos on this page
Top photo
Left to right: Colin Mitchell (Gunditjmara & Wemba-Wemba), Matilda Mitchell (Gunditjmara, Wemba-Wemba & Yorta-Yorta), Meerah Sehgal (Yorta-Yorta) and Marie Sehgal (Yorta-Yorta). Photo by Michael Jalaru Torres (Djugun & Yawuru).