Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

This is a lapsed bill without amendment from the previous parliament. The Registration of Deaths Abroad Amendment Bill 2016 will amend the Registration of Deaths Abroad Act 1984—the RDA Act. The main purpose of the amendments is to allow the RDA Act to correct an anomaly in current registrations of deaths abroad which has left some applicants in procedural limbo, unable to register the overseas deaths of family members. These amendments will provide clear authority for the Registrar of Deaths Abroad to exercise its discretion where a state or territory has provided notice that it will not register a death. Often this occurs because the deceased was not domiciled in the state or territory at the time of death.

This is an important measure which will once again allow the families of those who have died overseas to register the deaths of their loved ones. These amendments also provide the Minister for Foreign Affairs with continued authority to appoint any state or territory registrar, including the ACT Registrar-General, as the Registrar of Deaths Abroad. Overall, this bill seeks to simplify the process for registering overseas deaths, and I therefore commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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