INTERVAL BETWEEN OCCURRENCE AND REGISTRATION

Of the 295,700 births registered in Australia during 2009, 88% occurred in 2009. A further 9% occurred in 2008, and the remainder (3%) occurred in 2007 or earlier. It is expected that some births, particularly those that occur in November and December, may not be registered until the following year, however as the total number of births has remained relatively stable over recent years, it is likely that the net effect will be small.

For Australia, and for most states and territories, this pattern has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. However, Queensland is an exception, where the proportion of births registered in the year of birth has declined to approximately 80% over recent years. This may be due to the Queensland Registry embarking on various projects to improve the timeliness and completeness of the data provided to the ABS (see paragraphs 29 and 30 of the Explanatory Notes for further information). These projects have improved the completeness of occurrence data, however, finalisation of previously incomplete forms may have also affected statistics based on year of registration, as published in this publication.

Of the 65,900 births registered in Queensland during 2009, 81% occurred during 2009, 13% during 2008 and 7% in earlier years. The high proportion of registered births that occurred in previous years is attributable to recent changes to the timeliness of registration of births at the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the undertaking of a 'Retrospective Births Project', which resulted in the completion and registration of a large number of previously unregistered births (see paragraphs 29 and 30 of the Explanatory Notes for further information).

The length of time between the occurrence and registration of a birth can be derived by comparing the date of birth to the date of registration. Between 2005 and 2009, the average registration lag in Australia increased from 2.2 months to 2.5 months. This increase was largely driven by the increased registration lag in Queensland, which increased from 3.3 months in 2005 to 4.9 months in 2009. Following improvements in Queensland Registry business processes and systems introduced during 2009, and the conclusion of the 'Retrospective Births Project', registration lags in Queensland may decline in the future.

Births to Indigenous women

In general, the lag between the occurrence and registration of a birth is greater for births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women than for all births. Of the 11,500 births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women registered during 2009, 69% occurred in 2009, with the remainder occurring in 2008 or earlier years. As with total births, the registration lag for births registered in Queensland to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has been influenced by both the 'Retrospective Births Project' and other administrative changes. In 2009, half of the 4,000 births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women registered in Queensland occurred in 2008 or earlier (see paragraph 38 of the Explanatory Notes for further information).

For Australia, the average interval between the occurrence and registration of births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women for 2009 was 11.2 months, up from 7.3 months in 2005. In 2009, Queensland recorded the longest registration lag (18.5 months), while Tasmania and the Northern Territory recorded the smallest (1.7 and 2.4 months respectively).

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