Births, Deaths and Marriages

Australian Birth, Death and Marriage records are held individually by each state. All states except Tasmania and the Northern Territory have searchable online indexes available. 

Tasmanian records are held on CD which is available for purchase.  All online indexes are free. Northern Territory certificates can be ordered online however you need to know the record details.

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Australian Capital Territory

Prior to 1930, BDMs in the ACT were registered in New South Wales, click here

Online services include applications for birth, death and marriage certificates for people in the ACT.  In general terms where a birth occurred more than 100 years ago, a marriage occurred over 75 years ago, or a death occurred more than 30 years ago, the limitations imposed upon applicants are less stringent. There is no search function for the indexes online so best to find the certificate details by searching elsewhere such as Ancestry.com.au and then request the certificate.

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Queensland

Records include

  • births that took place more than 100 years ago
  • marriages that took place more than 75 years ago
  • deaths that occurred more than 30 years ago

After viewing search results, you can purchase a certificate and obtain all the information available.

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New South Wales

After viewing search results, you can purchase a certificate and obtain all the information available. By supplying a registration number, you get a discounted fee of $31.00 (normally $44.00).

Registry records available in the link above range from 1856 to ...

  • births over 100 years
  • deaths over 30 years
  • marriages over 50 years.

Early church records (1788 - 1855 baptism, marriage, burial)

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Victoria

The registry records can be searched free online. The results will give you an extract of the record and you can then proceed to purchase full details in post or downloadable image format.

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Western Australia

The registry offers free online historic index searching of births, deaths and marriages from 1841.

The online registry records cover:

  • Births (1841-1923)
  • Deaths (1841-1993)
  • Marriages (1841-1948)

You can order records found by completing the order application and posting to them with your fee (about $31 for historical records). Historical records cover Births that occurred more than 100 years ago, deaths that occurred more than 30 years ago and marriages that occurred more than 75 years ago. These have no access conditions and do not require identification.

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South Australia

While the SA Government Office hold the records, Genealogy SA has a free online search facility available.  The search also includes links to newspaper obituaries and notices.  You can order copies of results found from Genealogy SA for a small fee (scans of their microfiche records), or order specific lookups.  The online search of BDM will provide a registration number which can also be used to order records from the registry.

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Tasmania

Tasmanian BDM records are centralised in one online database called the Tasmanian Names Index. Copies of original documents can be ordered on request and include -

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Northern Territory

Online services include applications for birth, death and marriage certificates for people in the NT.  There is no search function for the indexes online so best to find the certificate details by searching elsewhere such as Ancestry.com.au and then requesting the certificate. 

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National

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[Last updated August 2024]