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4.18. The registration of births and deaths in Australia has been compulsory since the middle of the nineteenth century when legislation was passed by the various colonies. Since Federation, each State has maintained its own system of registration governed by independent legislation. However, 'model legislation' aimed at providing a high degree of consistency at the national level is progressively being introduced by various States.

4.19. The collection, processing, compilation and dissemination of births and deaths data are the joint responsibility of the various State Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Registrars have the responsibility of administering the registration process, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics of producing statistics from relevant data. This cooperation between the State Registrars and the Australian Bureau of Statistics has a long history and has resulted in the availability of a long time series.

4.20. The process of birth registration is closely linked with the administration of hospitals and maternity clinics where an overwhelming majority of births in Australia take place. Although no country-wide statistics are kept on home births these are believed to comprise a very small portion of all births. By arrangement with the Registrars, birth registration forms are supplied to hospitals and clinics for distribution to parents.

4.21. Completed registration forms are either sent in by post or delivered to the Registrar. Some hospitals assist with the dispatch of completed forms to Registrars. Most registrations, however, are forwarded through the mail.

4.22. The Registrars are sometimes further assisted by hospitals and clinics which, in addition to distributing registration forms to parents, notify Registrars regularly of births which occur in those institutions. Mid-wives and doctors are also required to report births which they deliver away from hospitals and clinics. For those births known to Registrars (through the notification system and from other sources) but not registered within a prescribed time period, the Registrars remind the parent(s) or other qualified informants of their duty to register the birth. Reminders are sent by post to the persons concerned. (If there is no response the Registrar may register the birth with the information available). This reminder system together with the general recognition among the population that a birth certificate is an essential identification document, ensures almost complete registration of births.

4.23. The process of death registration is closely linked with the certification of cause of death and disposal of the body.

4.24. The law requires the medical practitioner who attended a deceased person before his or her death or examined the body after death, to sign a certificate of cause of death and to deliver or forward this certificate to the Registrar either directly or indirectly through the funeral directors or through the person responsible for completing the registration form. In all cases, registration of a death is not complete and the disposal of the body not permitted without a medical certificate or a document or order from the coroner. Although no systematic research has been conducted to assess the accuracy of death data, there is no reason to expect them to be deficient to any degree given the tight control over death registration and the disposal of bodies.

Accuracy

4.25. Comparison of estimates of the population of very young ages based on birth and death registrations with data from the Census provide some confirmation of the high quality of vital registrations in Australia.

4.26. The quality of data on birth and death occurrences are affected by the time lag between the date of occurrence and the date of registration. More information on these lags, and how adjustments are made to compensate for them, is provided in Appendix 2).

4.27. While improving, occurrences of Indigenous births and deaths are not fully identified through birth and death registrations, primarily through the difficulty in correctly identifying the Indigenous origin. Estimates of the coverage of Indigenous births and deaths can be made by comparing those registered with the number expected according to Census estimates of the Indigenous population and Indigenous fertility and mortality rates. However, this is made more difficult by the significant increase in the Indigenous population over each intercensal period. (This change in propensity to identify as Indigenous is detailed further in Appendix 5). As such, independent estimates of coverage have been made using both the 1991 and 1996 Censuses. The estimated coverage of Indigenous births and deaths are provided in Table 4.6 and Table 4.7 respectively.

	4.6: Estimated Percentage of Indigenous Births Registered as 'Indigenous'
		NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT	Aust.
	Based on 1991 Census
	1992	2	87	-	109	80	78	100	27	44
	1993	54	84	1	99	99	93	100	80	60
	1994	83	87	1	99	100	84	97	107	68
	1995	96	89	1	102	93	88	98	91	70
	1996	99	76	101	101	94	79	96	112	96
	1997	113	72	119	106	89	97	89	87	103
	Based on 1996 Census
	1992	1	81	-	96	83	56	100	18	37
	1993	39	78	1	87	103	66	99	52	51
	1994	61	80	1	87	104	60	97	70	57
	1995	70	82	1	90	97	63	97	60	59
	1996	72	71	79	89	98	56	95	73	81
	1997	82	67	93	93	93	70	88	57	87
	Source: Births, Australia, 1997 (3301.0).

	4.7: Estimated Percentage of Indigenous Deaths Registered as 'Indigenous'
		NSW	VIC	QLD (a) (b)	SA	WA	TAS (c)	NT	ACT	Aust.
	Based on 1991 Census
	1992	34	50	-	89	93	10	110	-	51
	1993	39	46	-	92	102	12	103	113	53
	1994	41	45	-	99	99	6	103	111	54
	1995	43	44	-	96	100	6	103	90	54
	1996	34	43	42	92	95	-	87	50	59
	1997	16	80	85	101	89	9	119	36	74
	Based on 1996 Census
	1992	19	27	-	61	73	5	93	-	34
	1993	22	25	-	62	81	5	87	62	36
	1994	23	24	-	67	78	3	87	61	36
	1995	24	24	-	65	79	3	87	50	36
	1996	19	23	29	63	75	1	73	28	39
	1997	9	43	58	68	70	4	100	20	49
	Source: Deaths, Australia, 1997 (3302.0).