This page is for young people under 18 years.
Its purpose is to help you find out what you need to know about getting a birth certificate.
Help
If you need help:
- A Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) team member can explain the process of getting a birth certificate to you. You can talk to us by phoning 132 842
- BDM’s Marguk-bulok koolin-ik Team (Aboriginal Outreach) is available to support community to access BDM services. You can email the team: bdm.koori@dgs.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window).
- You can ask someone you trust to help you apply
- Your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) can read more about getting a birth certificate.
Your certificate
Your birth certificate is an important document.
You might need your birth certificate to enrol in school or apply for a driver licence.
Anyone can apply for their own birth certificate.
You can apply for your birth certificate:
- Online at ‘get a birth certificate’
- Using a paper form and mailing it to BDM
- In person at a Justice Service Centre. You can find a Justice Service Centre location(opens in a new window) near you.
There are 4 steps you will need to complete to get your birth certificate.
1. Apply
You can fill in an online form or we can give you a paper form.
The form will ask where you were born and your parent(s)’ names.
If you apply online, you’ll need an email address.
There are some questions you must fill in if you apply online. This means that you might not be able to apply online if you don’t know all the information.
If you need a paper form, call 132 842.
2. Prove your identity
You’ll need to prove who you are by providing BDM with your identity documents. This is so we can make sure we are giving your certificate to the right person.
Examples of identity documents include:
- Medicare card
- Centrelink concession card
- School identification.
Find out about identity documents you can use.
If you don’t have identity documents, please contact us. There may be other documents that you can use.
3. Pay for the certificate
You will need to pay for your certificate.
For online applications, we accept credit/debit card or BPAY.
For paper applications, we accept cheque and money order.
If you need help paying for your certificate, we may be able to help you. For example, this might be if you are:
- Experiencing homelessness, or
- In out-of-home care.
If you’re experiencing hardship, you can ask us not to charge the fee for certain certificates or registrations. This is called a fee waiver. Find out about BDM’s Financial hardship and fee waiver.
You can contact us for more information.
4. Delivery times
This process takes time.
We’ll post your certificate to the address you put in your application.
Check our current processing times if you want to know more.
Download the fact sheets
Updated