Starting your search ....

Welcome to the Australian Genealogy Blog. I’m taken the site offline for a couple of weeks while I reorganise what I want to do with the site. I’ve decided that while I will keep the fortnightly blog articles on the site, I will also include a monthly podcast which will allow me to discuss in further detail various items pertaining to genealogical research in Australia.

The beginning ….

Like with any form of genealogical research, you must start with yourself and work you way back. You will know your birth details and that of your parents so you’ve already got 2 generations covered (or perhaps more if you have children, grandchildren etc). What about your grandparents and earlier ancestors? If you don’t know their dates of birth etc and they were born in Australia, the easiest thing to do is (if they are not around anymore), is to get their details from their birth, marriage or death certificate.

Below are the details of each birth, death and marriage registry is Australia which you can contact to obtain official certificates. Some have free online indexes which will allow you to search ancestors even further back.

New South Wales: http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/
Western Australia: http://www.justice.wa.gov.au/
Victoria: http://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/home
Tasmania: http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/
South Australia: http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/births.htm
Queensland: http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/bdm/home.htm
Northern Territory: http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/graphpages/bdm/index.shtml
Australian Capital Territory: http://www.rgo.act.gov.au/bdm.shtml

The price of obtaining a birth, death of marriage certificate varies across the states. However, many registries offer a discount on the standard cost if the certificate is for family history purposes (ie: quotes the registration number). Personally, I have ordered a number of certificates and have been very happy with the information provided to me. The length of time it takes for the certificate to reach you varies depending on the state registry ordered from. The longest I’ve had to wait is about 2 ½ months.

If you do not wish to order a certificate, another alternative is to get a transcribed copy of the certificate. There are a number of professional transcribers across Australia who will often be able to transcribe certificates for less cost than purchasing the original.

I hope this article gives a good starting point for those beginning their research in Australia.

The next article will be about the resources available at the National Archives in Canberra.