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Legal requirements for hospitals, midwives and birthing centres

Overview only of the requirements for hospitals and midwives about registering a birth.

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:

Log in now (opens in a new window)

or

Register as a new user (opens in a new window)

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