A large number of State and Federal government departments have extensive access to the information recorded in the register. In some cases the information is made available pursuant to express statutory authority given under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1973 while in others permission is granted by the Principal Registrar in accordance with agreements made under the Statistics (Arrangements with States) Act 1956-1958 (Cth). Access is currently obtained on computer tape or through facilities made available for officers to peruse all the registered material, but in the future it could be available on-line by linked computers. Such government access represents one of the major functions of the Registry as the information examined is essential for statistical purposes (for example, causes of death and perinatal statistics). Other departments, such as the Commonwealth Department of Social Security, gain access to the information for the purposes of facilitating or checking the accuracy of claims to pensions. The Principal Registrar has informed the Commission that no information is released until "the necessary assurances regarding confidentiality and destruction or safe storage of the information" are obtained.
The Commission is tentatively of the view that no change in law or practice is required. However, those providing information for registration should be informed of the extent of government access to the information, perhaps by a notice appearing on the form of application for registration. We are aware of the issues of privacy which some members of the public may wish to raise. These include questions about the need to obtain all the information currently required to be notified and whether the registered information should be so freely available to government departments. The capacity for on-line computer access also raises issues which are different from those raised by the manual retrieval of information. We seek submissions on these matters.
Members of the public gain access to the registered information by ordering certificates. The choice in birth certificates is between a full certificate or an extract, the extract being restricted to details of forename, surname and date and place of birth. The Act provides that any person who applies in writing and supplies a sufficient reason, shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be issued with a certificate. The word "sufficient" is not defined. In practice the Registry will not issue a birth certificate unless the person named in the register applies directly or unless there is express authority given by that person. Birth certificates of people who have died will not be supplied without the consent of the next-of-kin of the deceased (unless the death occurred a long time ago). Death certificates will only be issued to members of the family or a solicitor or legal representative of the deceased. In respect of recent deaths, where members of the deceased's family are still alive, this practice excludes genealogists unless, of course, they are related.
The question is whether this control is necessary. Some argue that the registered information should be freely available to any searcher who is willing to pay the prescribed fee for the appropriate certificate. Such open access is available under the English Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. If restrictions are to remain, it may be appropriate for guidelines to be set for what is a "sufficient" reason to entitle the issue of a certificate.
A related issue is whether the full copy birth certificates should continue to contain information which reveals whether or not the child's parents were married to each other at the time of birth. The Commission has received complaints that this information can be distressing. The cause of distress is not that the certificate contains information from which others may learn of the child's illegitimacy but that often it is the source from which the child first learns of the circumstances of its birth.
The Commission is of the tentative view that such details should continue to be required and recorded by the Registry, but that the forms of the certificates should be more flexible. Applicants should be able to obtain a certificate omitting any detail which is unnecessary for their purpose in requesting it.
Although the stigma of having been born outside marriage may be diminishing, in the Commission's view it is not the function of the Registry to play any part in reshaping public attitudes. To deny access to this or any other information which is currently available on the register would be to fetter the many public and private functions the Registry serves. However, the greater flexibility in style of certificates which computerization makes possible, should enable those who are embarrassed by any detail recorded, to have the detail omitted. People should be able to order an "almost full" certificate which satisfies the purpose for which they require it.
