Recommendation 101
Eliminate the disparities in access to services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families, especially by reviewing the Australian birth registration process in order to ensure that all children are registered at birth
State
Poland
Issue
Equal access to services
Birth registration
Population group
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Children
Australian Government Agency and/or Jurisdiction
• Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• States and territories
• States and territories
Australia's Response
Accepts
Australia's Position
Birth registration is the responsibility of state and territory governments. The Australian Government also funded the mobile, Indigenous-led Pathfinders National Aboriginal Birth Certificate Program which provided free birth certificates to eligible applicants and assistance for registering their child’s birth. The program funded 7500 birth certificates between 2015 and 2017 in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The objective of the activity was to provide necessary registration and birth certificate documents for children to ensure they could access education.
For information about state and territory birth registration, visit:
- Australian Capital Territory – Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
- New South Wales – Office of Communities—Aboriginal Affairs
- Northern Territory – Office of Aboriginal Affairs
- Queensland – Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
- South Australia – Department of State Development, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation
- Tasmania – Department of Premier and Cabinet, Office of Aboriginal Affairs
- Victoria – Department of Premier and Cabinet, Aboriginal Victoria
- Western Australia – Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage