Media Release | 29 November 2019
ABORIGINAL BIRTH REGISTRATION GETS A BOOST
The traditionally low registration of Aboriginal births in NSW is being addressed through a campaign by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM).
BDM Registrar Amanda Ianna has today announced Aboriginal birth registrations have jumped from 35 per cent to more than 65 per cent within the required 60 days since the ‘Our Kids Count’ campaign was launched in April 2018.
“Birth registration is a vital step in creating a legal identity and accessing government services such as schooling and Medicare.” Ms Ianna said.
“We are proactively getting out to regional and remote communities to help Aboriginal communities and we’re so pleased with the success of the campaign.”
Teams from BDM are visiting two remote community areas alongside other agencies such as Service NSW, Revenue NSW, Energy & Water Ombudsman, and Aboriginal Services Unit in Justice to improve cross-agency collaboration and to help with birth registration, the payment of fines and a range of other services.
Up-coming events include:
- North-western area of NSW near Broken Hill – visiting Wilcannia on 3 December, Menidee on 4 December followed by Dareton on 5 December.
- North-eastern NSW at Baryulgil and Malabugilmah on 3 December and then the Northern Rivers area at Casino on 4 December.
“These events are often asked for by the community members themselves and we are delighted to be able to help them.” Ms Ianna said.
“The face-to-face approach at events makes government services accessible to the people who need these services the most and is responsive to their challenges.”
