A message from the Registrar
The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (BDM) registers life events for all Victorians. This includes:
- Establishing the legal identity of our youngest Victorians
- Maintaining records of births, deaths and marriages
- Issuing certificates; registering relationships
- Marrying couples
- Providing important health and population data
- Helping people recognise and evidence their legal and lived identity, and
- Helping people commemorate their life events.
At BDM, we are passionate about serving the Victorian community. Our tagline is “recognising the significance of life events”. We need to register these events, but not distract from the celebration or commemoration - to not get in the way. The best way we can do this is to deliver a timely, accurate and easy to use service.
We also need to recognise when we should offer additional support. To do that, we need to understand, respect and embrace the huge diversity of background and circumstances of Victorians.
Finally, we need to continue to adapt and evolve to ensure we meet the Victorian community’s expectations. We remain focused on how we can continuously improve our services, as the Victorian community changes and grows.
This customer service charter outlines our commitment to you and the service goals that you can expect from us.
Our commitment to you
We are committed to delivering timely, reliable and accessible services. Where possible, we focus on your needs and preferences. We aim to meet community expectations, working within our legal obligations.
We are also committed to:
- Making our services available online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Ensuring our services are easy to use and accessible to all
- Providing services in ways that support customers experiencing disadvantage
- Recognising individual and family diversity
- Delivering services that are culturally safe and appropriate
- Attending community outreach events so that we can provide local and flexible services
- Making sure our policies and processes meet our legal obligations, are transparent and are easy to understand.
Our service delivery standards
Communication
Our communication will be consistent, clear and simple.
We will communicate:
- What you may need to provide when using our services
- The legislation and policies that govern how we operate
- Information about delays or interruptions to our service delivery.
When communicating with customers, our staff will:
- Be polite and professional
- Treat you fairly, with dignity and respect.
Service delivery
Our website will show the current processing times for our services.
Processing times means how long it will take to assess your application.
Our service delivery goals are to:
- Process all compliant certificate applications within 7 days
- Process all compliant registrations within 28 days (noting required cooling off periods)
- Contact Victorian Marriage Registry customers within 7 days of receiving their ceremony booking
- Contact Family History: Ask an Expert customers within 5 days of receiving their enquiry
- Contact data customers within 7 days of receiving their request.
What you can do
When engaging with BDM, please:
- Provide accurate, timely and complete information so that we can meet these goals and commitments. ‘Complete’ information means an application or registration that:
- Meets the proof of identity requirements (including evidence of eligibility) and
- Has any other supporting documents that may be required
- Let us know about any relevant needs or circumstances, so that we can best support you with our services.
- Treat our staff, service partners and other customers with dignity and respect.
Your privacy
We are committed to respecting and maintaining your privacy. This includes the way we collect, use, disclose and manage personal and health information. We respect the information you provide to us.
You can find more information about our Privacy policy. Learn more about access to BDM’s records.
Contacting us and sharing your feedback
Your feedback helps us improve our services. We have several ways for you to engage with us to share your suggestions and resolve issues or concerns.
See our contact options on our Contact us page.
We will respond to written complaints within 20 days from receiving them.
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