BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION ACT 1996 - SECT 12 Notification of births

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION ACT 1996 - SECT 12

    (1)     When a child is born in the State, the responsible person must give notice of the birth to the Registrar including any particulars required by the Registrar.

Penalty:     10 penalty units.

    (2)     Notice under subsection (1) may be given—

        (a)     in writing; or

        (b)     in any other manner approved by the Registrar by notice published in the Government Gazette.

    (3)     The notice must be given—

        (a)     in the case of a child born alive, within 21 days after the birth;

        (b)     in the case of a still-birth, within 48 hours after the birth.

    (4)     When notice of a still-birth is given, the responsible person must also give the Registrar a doctor's certificate, in a form approved by the Registrar, certifying the cause of foetal death.

    (5)     The doctor's certificate referred to in subsection (4) must be completed by—

        (a)     the doctor responsible for the professional care of the mother at the birth; or

        (b)     a doctor who examined the body of the still-born child after the birth.

    (6)     In this section—

"responsible person" means—

        (a)     in the case of a child born in a hospital or brought to a hospital within 24 hours after birth, the chief executive officer of the hospital; or

        (b)     in any other case—

              (i)     the doctor or midwife responsible for the professional care of the mother at the birth or a doctor who examined the body of the still-born child after the birth; or

              (ii)     if no doctor or midwife was in attendance at the birth, any other person in attendance at the birth.

Division 2—Registration of births