Applying for a birth certificate

Integrated, original and post-adoption birth certificates

When a person is adopted, their original birth registration is cancelled. It is then replaced by a new birth registration with the details of the adoptive parents.

There are three types of birth certificates for someone who was adopted in Victoria:

The integrated birth certificate, which contains information on the child’s natural and adoptive parents. This is a legal birth certificate.
The original birth certificate, which contains information on the child’s natural parents. This is not a current legal birth certificate.
The post-adoption birth certificate, which contains information on the child’s adoptive parents. This is a legal birth certificate.

Integrated birth certificates

An integrated birth certificate is an alternative legal birth certificate. You can use it for the same purposes as a standard legal birth certificate.

An integrated birth certificate is a certificate that includes information about:

An adopted person’s parents at birth (where records are available), and
Their adoptive parents.

Original birth certificate

The original birth certificate can only be accessed by either:

the adopted person, or
a natural parent listed on the birth certificate.

The certificate will be marked to indicate that it is not a current legal birth certificate. It can't be used to establish a person's legal identity.

Applying for an original birth certificate

Post-adoption birth certificate

Adoptees born in Victoria

The post adoption birth certificate is also known as the legal birth certificate. It is applied for in the same way as a birth certificate for a person who was not adopted.

Learn more about getting a legal birth certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (BDM).

Adoptees born overseas

If you are seeking to have an adoption registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) for the purposes of obtaining a Victorian Birth Certificate, please download the form below and return it to adoptionsvic@justice.vic.gov.au.

If you were born overseas and adopted in Victoria, you can obtain a Victorian Birth Certificate by having your adoption registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM).

To have your adoption registered with BDM, download, complete and return the below form to adoptionsvic@justice.vic.gov.au.

Registration of Overseas Adoption for Victorian Birth Certificate Form

PDF 326.78 KB

Frequently asked questions

An adoption of a child finalised in a Hague Convention/Bilateral Arrangement country can now be registered by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. Once this has happened a birth certificate can be issued in relation to the child, upon the application of the adoptive parent(s).

For all new adoptions from 1 July 2013, Adoption Victoria will send a Memorandum of Adoption to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages containing the details of the child set out in Form 17 of Schedule 1, Regulation 30(2), Adoption Regulations 2019.
For eligible adoptions finalised before 1 July 2013, adoptive parents and adult adopted persons over the age of 18 years must complete a written application form available at the end of this Frequently Asked Questions document.
Upon receipt of the application attached with proof of identity, Adoption Victoria will make arrangements to recall your file, verify the details, and send a memorandum to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Adoption Victoria will also provide applicants with a copy of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Birth Certificate Application Form together with advice on how to obtain a birth certificate

Members of the Stolen Generations

If you are seeking a birth certificate and you are a member of the Stolen Generations, the BDM Marguk-bulok koolin-ik Team (Aboriginal Outreach) can provide support.

Contact the Marguk-bulok koolin-ik Team at bdm.koori@justice.vic.gov.au