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Death registration

Deaths in the ACT are registered under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997

A death registration statement must be lodged with Access Canberra after the burial or cremation has taken place.

Death registration statements are usually lodged by:

  • the funeral director
  • the person who arranged the disposal of the human remains.

If you are registering a death without a funeral director, please email BDMDeathsOnline@act.gov.au.

Deaths overseas

Deaths of Australian citizens overseas don’t necessarily need to be registered in Australia. Usually, the death is registered in the country the person died in.

There are some circumstances where an overseas death will be registered in Australia.

These registrations are generally performed by the registry in the Australian state or territory the person previously lived in.

Lodge a death registration statement

To lodge a death registration statement:

  1. Complete the Death registration statement [PDF 295KB] [DOCX 229KB]
  2. Submit it:

There is no fee for registering a death, but there is if you apply for a death certificate at the same time.

Read about death certificates.

Correcting the death register

An immediate family member of the deceased or the person who provided notification of the death can apply to correct information on the register.

If you want to fix a mistake on the register:

  1. Complete an Application to correct a register [PDF 180KB] [DOCX 176KB].
  2. Provide 3 forms of proof of identity, with at least one being Primary proof of identity.
  3. Provide evidence to support the correction.
  4. Submit it:

View acceptable proof of identity documents.

Read about death certificates.

Australian Death Notification Service

The Australian Death Notification Service allows you to notify multiple organisations that someone has died, using a single notification system.

This assists family and loved ones of the deceased to more easily manage transfer and closure of accounts.

Visit the Australian Death Notification Service website.

Historic death index

Access Canberra maintains an Historic death index.

The index provides limited information for deaths registered in the ACT more than 30 years ago.

The index contains the:

  • registration number
  • deceased’s surname and given names
  • date of death
  • deceased’s father’s surname and given names; and,
  • deceased’s mother’s surname and given names.

View the Historic death index.