Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be very brief in my comments on this bill. The bill amends the Registration of Deaths Abroad Act 1984 to resolve the current anomaly with respect to depths of Australian citizens overseas and to clear up some of the current confusion which can cause quite a deal of concern for Australians as they come to grips with the death of a loved one overseas and, importantly, with the settlement of estates associated with that particular person.

The amendment seeks to simplify the process for registering an overseas death by permitting the appointment of a federal Registrar of Deaths Abroad. The circumstances in which the registration of a death overseas may need to occur include: where a foreign government will not issue a death certificate for the death of an Australian citizen, perhaps because there is no body or some other extenuating circumstance; or where a state or territory government refuses to register a death abroad in similar circumstances. The amendments will allow the Registrar of Deaths Abroad to register deaths which could have been registered under the law of a state or territory where the state or territory concerned has provided notice that it will not register such deaths. Such circumstances could include, as I said earlier, the fact that a body has not been recovered or a foreign government will not issue a death certificate.

Currently the act provides that the registrar is not authorised to register a death that may be registered under the law of the state or territory. However, a new paragraph 8 (2)(b) permits the registration of such deaths on the condition that the state or territory registrar concerned notifies the registrar of its decision not to register the death. Under current arrangements, applicants can remain in procedural limbo, as they negotiate with a state or territory government or registrar to register a death overseas. This amendment is intended to simplify that process by providing clear authority for the registrar's discretion where the appropriate notification has been provided.

The principal amendments to the bill are to: provide the foreign minister with the flexibility to appoint a state or territory registrar as the registrar for deaths abroad; validate the prior appointment of the ACT Registrar-General as the registrar for deaths abroad and any previous registrations of deaths under the Registration of Deaths Abroad Act 1984; allow the registrar to register deaths that could have been registered under the law of a state or territory where the state or territory concerned has provided notice that it will not register a death; and remove any references to 'registering officers' from the RDA act to ensure that only the registrar can register deaths under this particular act.

As I said, this is a simple amendment but is one that is necessary to clear up this anomaly, to provide more certainty for Australian families who may be coming to grips with the death of a loved one overseas and to ensure that, importantly, they can have a death, in extenuating circumstances overseas, registered as quickly as possible by the registrar appointed by the foreign minister.

I commend the bill to the House.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In summing up, the bill amends the Registration of Deaths Abroad Act 1984. This is an important measure to prevent the families of those who have died overseas from being unable to register the deaths of their loved ones. The purpose of the amendments is to correct an anomaly which had left some applicants in procedural limbo, unable to register the overseas deaths of family members. These amendments will once more allow the ACT Registrar-General to act as the registrar of deaths abroad. The amendments will also provide the foreign minister with the flexibility to appoint any state or territory registrar as the registrar of deaths abroad.

Overall, this bill seeks to simplify the process for registering overseas deaths, and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.