Register a birth

Girl names

• Charlotte
• Olivia
• Isla
• Amelia
• Harper
• Matilda
• Mia
• Hazel
• Willow
• Grace

Boy names

• Oliver
• Theodore
• Noah
• Henry
• Hudson
• Luca
• Leo
• William
• Charlie
• Jack

Parents have the right to choose the name of their child. However, when considering names, the Registrar-General must refuse to register a name that:

• is obscene or offensive
• is too long
• includes symbols without phonetic significance—for example, brackets (), colons (:), question marks (?), quotation marks (“), numbers, at symbols (@), plus signs (+)
• includes or resembles an official title or rank—for example Duchess, Sergeant, Doctor, MP (Member of Parliament)
• is a statement—for example, Save Mother Earth
• is a political slogan
• is otherwise contrary to the public interest.

The prohibited name policy includes detailed advice about what kinds of names are prohibited.

If your baby was delivered before 20 weeks, or if the number of weeks is unknown and your baby weighed less than 400g, we cannot register the birth. However, you can commemorate your family's loss with an early pregnancy loss recognition certificate.

Intersex is a term used to describe a baby’s born sex characteristics—physical, chromosomal or hormonal—where they do not conform to typical male or female traits.

If your baby's sex characteristics  are different to the typical male or female traits—such as some intersex variations or differences of sex development—you have 180 days to register their birth.

This gives you time to talk with your baby’s doctor(s), and intersex community support—before making an informed choice about the sex to record on their birth certificate.

For support you may like to reach out to InterLink and Intersex Peer Support Australia or another group.

To sign the registration electronically, you will need your wallet or purse to help you verify your identity.

When you have completed the steps to verify your identity this is your electronic signature for the online submission of your child’s birth registration.

You will not need to download and print a paper form if you sign electronically.

If you do not order a certificate when you register your baby’s birth you will need to provide proof of ID in the future to get a birth certificate

If you can't verify your identity online (or don't want to), download the completed form. To complete the registration process, you will need to:

• Print the completed registration form.
• Have both parents complete and sign the declaration section of the form, and another adult (18 or older) witness your signatures.
• Submit your registration form to us, either
  • by post
  • in person.

You do not need to send us proof of ID.

When we receive an order for a birth certificate with a birth registration, we do not need your proof of ID.

If you do not order a certificate when you register your baby’s birth you will need to provide proof of ID in the future to get a birth certificate.

Completing your child’s birth registration and applying for their birth certificate on a smart device may be convenient.

However, keep in mind that the built-in settings, browser and history or cookies on your smart device may create their own issues.

If you are getting a message that your shopping cart is empty:

1. Don’t provide identification again.
2. Follow the shopping cart link only.

Your order should be there to checkout, if you made a certificate selection.

Your certificate order has not gone through if you were unable to complete the payment online and money has not come out of your account. You can use the PDF application form and apply by post or in person.

Submit your application and payment for a birth certificate to us:

• by post to Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, PO Box 15188, CITY EAST  QLD   4002
• at one of our agents at a Queensland Magistrates Court or Queensland Government Agent Program (QGAP) office (except the Brisbane Magistrates Court).

If you didn't sign the birth registration with an electronic signature, post the registration and certificate application forms to:

Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
PO Box 15188
CITY EAST  QLD  4002

If you didn't sign the birth registration with an electronic signature, take the completed and signed application forms to either:

• the Brisbane registry customer service centre at Level 32, 180 Ann Street, Brisbane
• one of our agents at a Queensland Magistrates Court or Queensland Government Agent Program (QGAP) office (except the Brisbane Magistrates Court).

If you applied for a certificate, it will be posted to you as soon as the birth registration has been processed.

If you are unable to complete the application forms online, you can use the PDF application forms and submit them by post or in person.

Download and complete the:

• birth registration application form
• birth certificate application form.

Processing your baby’s registration form can take up to 10 business days. If you order a birth certificate when you register your baby’s birth, we will post the certificate to you as soon as the birth registration has been processed.

Urgent processing of a registration is not available when registering your baby. We do suggest secure certificate delivery services if you order a birth certificate.

When ordering a certificate, the total cost is calculated when you fill in the application form online.
You can pay:

• online
• by credit card (MasterCard or Visa)
• at the customer service centre
• by EFTPOS or credit card
• with a business account cheque
• with a bank cheque
• with a money order
• by post
• within Australia
• by credit card
• with a business account cheque
• with a bank cheque
• with a money order
• from overseas
• by credit card.

We will accept cash at the customer service centre but prefer contactless payments such as EFTPOS or credit card.

We do not accept personal cheques or cheques issued from outside Australia (in any currency).

Make Australian-drawn cheques and money orders payable to 'Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages'.

Application fees

Postage fees

Standard postage is included in the price when you order a certificate to be sent by mail.

You can choose to have your certificate sent by express or registered post for a fee.

We value identity protection, so we recommend that you choose registered post. This ensures your certificate's delivery can be tracked and delivered to you more securely within Australia.

International registered mail is used for overseas deliveries. However, this can’t be tracked and signing on delivery is only available in some countries.

We make sure your certificates leave our office in good condition.

After it’s collected from our office, we do not have control over or responsibility for any damage done to a certificate in the post.

Contact us using our general enquiry form.

You need to contact Australia Post first to find out where your certificate is.

If Australia Post tells you that your certificate has been lost or not delivered, contact us using our general enquiry form.

The fee you pay is for you to submit your application and for us to review it.

You will lose the fee paid if we refuse your application or you cancel it after we have started to review it.

Please read our refund policy.

Do not try to register your child’s birth again.

If you think the birth may already be registered or had trouble submitting the online registration, contact us.

Please email M-BDM-Online-Birth-Registration@justice.qld.gov.au we will help you with your child's registration.

If you have submitted your child’s birth registration online in the last 2 days and have found a mistake, email M-BDM-Online-Birth-Registration@justice.qld.gov.au.

If you submitted it more than 2 days ago, to correct a birth certificate request a review of the certificate.