Queensland Consolidated Acts

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION ACT 2003 - SECT 5

5 Notification of birth

(1) For each child born in Queensland, the responsible person must give a notice, in the approved form, to the registrar.

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.

(2) The responsible person is—

(a) if the child was born in a hospital, or brought to a hospital within 24 hours after birth—the person in charge of the hospital; or

(b) otherwise—

(i) a doctor present at the birth; or

(ii) if a doctor was not present at the birth—a midwife present at the birth; or

(iii) if neither a doctor nor a midwife were present at the birth—a person, other than the mother, present at the birth; or

(iv) if the mother was alone at the birth—the mother; or

(v) if the mother dies or abandons the child—the person who takes physical custody of the child, for example, a person who discovers the child with the body of the mother.

(3) The notice must be given within 2 working days after the birth.

(4) A person need not comply with subsection (1) if someone else has complied with subsection (1) .

(5) For subsection (1) , a responsible person who is the person in charge of a hospital must give the notice electronically unless the registrar reasonably considers—

(a) it would be impractical to do so because the hospital is located in an area that does not allow for giving the notice electronically; or

(b) other exceptional circumstances do not allow for giving the notice electronically.