Sourced from the Powerhouse Museum. Gift of Australian Consolidated Press under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme, 1985
Historical timeline
1855-1870
The civil registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in NSW. The Act, entitled An Act for Registering Births, Deaths and Marriages 1855 passed on 3 December 1855 and came into effect on 1 March 1856.
In 1856, the General Registry (also known as the Office of the Registrar General) for NSW was set up at 24 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.
1871-1880
The first amendment to the 1856 Act is passed in 1875 declaring the marriage of a man with the sister of his deceased wife as valid.
In 1879, the Clergy Returns Transfer Act 1878 was passed. The Act required baptism, marriage and burial registers from 1825 to 1855 that were held by the Church of England Bishop in Sydney be handed over to the Registry.
1881-1900
From 1895, marriage registrations were required to include the age and birthplace of the parties, their parents' names, and occupation of their fathers. These details were required from the 1855 Act; however, while they appeared in a church register, they did not appear in the official records.
The different Acts relating to the regulations of births, deaths and marriages were combined to the Marriage Act 1899 and Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1899.
1901-1910
The Legitimation Act 1902 was passed. The Act meant that children born out wedlock could be legally recognised if their parents later married. An illegitimate child's birth registration would be updated to include the father's name, and date of marriage. This was allowed if there was no legal impediment to marriage prior to the child's birth.
1911-1920
In 1912, the Registrar General wrote to church authorities asking that they allow him access to their pre-1856 registers and marriage registers from 1856 to 1895, so that complete reconciliation could be made between Registry and church records. This allowed the Registry to add missing entries from church records and complete the missing fields in the marriage registers. After decades of work, this project was never completed.
In 1918, the widespread use of notification forms for registering events came into effect. Before this, most events were registered following verbal advice from the informant.
1921-1930
In 1924, formal adoptions were introduced under the Child Welfare Act 1923. Before this, adoptions were private arrangements made by families, doctors, and community organisations that did not have to be registered. However, some declarations were made by foster parents to record their details on a child’s birth registration from 1913.
1931-1940
The Marriage (Amendment) Act 1934, which validates certain marriages before Registrars, was passed. It detailed that marriages celebrated by a District Registrar are no longer considered invalid if, at the time of the marriage, the bride did not live within the district of the Registrar.
1941-1950
In 1944, provision was made for the issue of extracts or short certificates from the registrations. The Registry had been issuing extracts for many years, but it was not until 1944 that the practice was authorised.
Legal change of name was noted in the margin of a birth entry, and an extract issued in the name appearing in the marginal note.
1951-1960
A new registration system was introduced in 1951 where the original registers from District Registrars’ offices in the Sydney district were sent to the Sydney Head Office, and no copies were kept locally.
Photographing entries for the purpose of issuing certified copies began.
1961-1970
The Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961 was introduced enabling 'natural' parents who were unable to legitimate their child because of a legal impediment to their marriage at the time of the child's birth, to use the provisions of this Act to make the child 'legally' theirs.
1971-1980
Parents, regardless of marital status, could register a birth in person or by mail and add a father's details any time after registration.
Before 1971, non-married parents had to attend a Registry office to complete the registration forms in person, while married parents could lodge the registration by mail. Also, if a birth was registered without a father's details, there was no provision to add these details later.
1981-1990
In 1982, over 2 million microfiche copies of the index were created for pre-1900 records of baptisms, births, burials, deaths and marriages. This was a laborious process where each page had to be individually filmed.
From 1985, consent to marriage was valid for 6 months prior to the ceremony instead of 3 months.
1991-2000
The Department of Attorney General & Justice was divided, and the Registry stayed with the Attorney General's Department from 1991.
From 1992, the Registry became non-budget dependent (a trading enterprise).
A fully computerised registration and certificate production system was implemented. Over the next 4 years, hard copy birth registrations from 1952 to 1991 were converted to electronic records.
2001-2010
A birth card was launched in 2001, a credit card sized birth extract that includes a digital photograph and signature. However, it was only produced until 2008 when the Roads and Traffic Authority introduced the NSW photo card.
2011-2020
The Department of Attorney General and Justice was created in April 2011, with the Registry part of this Department.
On 11 November 2011 (11/11/11), there were 101 Registry weddings across all locations, while on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12) the Registry conducted 123 weddings.
2021-now
In 2021 and 2023, the Registry conducted Have Your Say surveys to seek customer feedback on commemorative certificate designs they would like to see included in the range.
As a result, the birth and marriage commemorative collections were refreshed, with the introduction of several new certificates. These included Indigenous Art, Rainbow Families, Bluey, the Chinese Zodiac collection, Soccer Australia, and Emma Memma, which features Auslan finger spelling of the recipient’s name.