This page provides an overview only of the requirements for hospitals and midwives about registering a birth.
For full requirements, refer to relevant legislation including the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996.
As a 'responsible person', you must notify the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages within 21 days of a birth.
A 'responsible person' is:
- For a child born in a hospital (or brought to a hospital within 24 hours of birth) - the chief executive officer of the hospital
- For a child not born in hospital - the doctor or midwife who attended at the birth.
If the birth is a stillbirth, you must notify the Registrar within 48 hours. This must be accompanied by a doctor's certificate of the cause of foetal death.
The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 does not provide for the doctor to charge a fee for this.
To notify the Registrar:
or