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REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES
(AMENDMENT) BILL 1992
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament)
The object of this Bill is to amend the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages
Act 1973:
· to create a permanent register of stillbirths; and
· to provide for the formal recognition of a child who is stillborn by providing for
the issue of a certificate in relation to the child; and
· to amend the definition of a stillborn child to accord with the definition used for
medical purposes.
The Bill includes the reforms relating to stillbirth recommended in the Law Reform
Commission's 1988 report "Names: Registration and certification of births and deaths".
The Commission recommended that the registration provisions of the Act be amended
to meet the emotional needs of families by creating a permanent public record of the
child's existence and by providing formal recognition of the child by way of certificate.
The amendments remove the distinction between the official recognition of a child
who is stillborn and of a child born alive. The register of stillbirths will be kept in the
same way as the register of births and will be permanent. The register will not be public,
but a certified copy of, or an extract from, the information entered on the register will be
available on request.
The registration of stillbirths is used as a means of collecting data for medical
research into pen-natal death. However, there is an inconsistency between the legal
definition of a stillborn child (which refers to a child who did not breathe after delivery)
and the definition used for the purposes of medical research and statistics (which
stresses the absence of a heart beat after delivery). The proposed substitution of the
definition of a stillborn child adopts a recommendation of the Law Reform Commission
regarding the definition, and facilitates the collection of accurate medical statistics, by
removing the distinction.
Clause 1 specifies the short title of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on the date of assent.
Clause 3 is a formal provision giving effect to the Schedule of amendments.
Clause 4 states that the explanatory matter contained in Schedule 1 does not form
part of the Act.
Schedule 1 makes the amendments described above. The main amendments are
explained in detail in the Bill in the explanatory note relating to the amendment. Other
items of the Schedule make consequential amendments to certain provisions of the Act
to achieve conformity between the registration of births and the registration of
stillbirths. The amendments relate to the creation of an index, the recording of additional
information, the alteration of the register and to errors in or alterations to certified
copies of, or certified extracts from, the stillbirth register.