Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will release a new Access Policy later this year. This policy governs the way people access records and the manner the Registry distributes the information it holds. Specific to family historians, the new access policy will state that the restriction period for birth records will increase from 75 years to 100 years. Restriction periods surrounding death and marriage records will remain unchanged, 10 years and 60 years respectively. Changes to the policy are driven by a need to better protect personal information held by the Registry as well as bring the Victorian registry in line with national standards. Additionally, life expectancy has risen since the last access policy review and without an increase in the access period of birth records a growing portion of the Victorian community would be left exposed to identity related crimes. Further information and a release date of the new access policy will be made available