VPRS 11769 Still Births Register

Full description

Registration of stillbirths did not come into operation in Victoria until some time in 1953 and has its authority under Section 3 of the Registration of Birth, Deaths and Marriages Act 1952 (No.5623). Prior to this date, however in accordance with the provisions of the Cemeteries Act of the (Commonwealth) Social Services Consolidation Act 1947, cases were notified to Registrars.

The provisions of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act required the registration of stillbirths. The particulars required for registration were completed (Second Schedule) and forwarded to the Government Statist.

This series comprises stillbirth registration forms received by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages during the period ?1953 to 1986.

It appears that the pre-1967 records were destroyed at some stage. the registrations numbers commenced again with 1 (one) each year, e.g., 1968: 1, 2, 3, etc.

Since 1986, stillbirths have been registered as any other birth. However, a block of numbers commencing from 95,000 were allocated to stillbirth registration each year. The numbering started again at 95,001 each year, e.g., 1987: 1, 2, 3, etc.