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Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

Q. What transactions can I do with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages?
A. You can Apply for a Certificate, Search the Historical Index, Purchase an Historical Index and Obtain Information about the Registry.

Q. Can I order a certificate from overseas?
A. When you order certificates from overseas you will need to provide your complete address in the two 'Address' boxes. You will need to type something in the 'State' and 'Postcode' boxes, but this will be ignored. International orders will only be sent by standard post (air mail).

Search Historical Index

Use the step by step instructions below to help you perform your search. You might want to print this screen to assist you whilst you are doing your search. For advice or information on how to search your family tree, contact your local genealogy society.

1. Introduction.

The introduction provides you with general information about the transaction, including the years you can search from and the cost to perform the transaction. Choose the Continue button on the screen to start the transaction.

Q. What years can I search?
A. The 'Search Historical Index' transaction allows you to search indexes of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Victoria, Australia from 1836 to 1985 (Deaths), up to 1924 (Births) and to 1939 (Marriages). Certificates after these dates are protected by the privacy act. You can still purchase these certificates if you have enough information about the person on the certificate by using the 'Purchase Certificate' transaction on maxi or by putting in an application form to BDM.

Q. What is the Family Group?
A. The family group index links parents and children together. It includes some events not registered in Victoria - eg marriages or childbirths overseas.You can also look up family groups for couples who married or began having children in Victoria up to 1860.

Q. What does it cost?
A. You will be charged only for the number of result screens that you view (99 cents per screen including GST). Each screen contains a maximum of 10 records. Each certificate purchase costs - $17.50 as from 1st July, 2002 and is GST exempt.
WE DO NOT SET UP AN ACCOUNT FOR YOU.

2. Payment Details.

You will be asked to enter your credit card details and the spending limit. Choose the Continue button to go on.

Q. What is the spending limit?
A. A spending limit is set so you will never accidentally spend too much money. It is the maximum you want to spend on the search. You do not have to spend all of this amount, you can finish whenever you want and will be charged only for the amount spent searching. When you reach your spending limit you will be given the option to increase it, or finish the transaction. If you purchase a certificate this is an additional cost and does not come off your spending limit.

3. Select the Search Database.

There are currently two databases to search from. They are the Family Group Index and the Historical Index. The Historical Index contains all the birth, death and marriage records. The Family Group Index links parents and children together. A combination of searches on the two databases will produce the best results. Choose the Continue button to go on.

4. Input Query.

You will need to input the details about the person/people you are searching for. When you have entered the information, choose the Continue button to go on.
Some hints to help you with your query:
Don't enter too many details. It is better to find too many records and then refine your search.
The database has been collated by volunteers and there may be spelling errors when translating from the older handwritten certificates. Try different spellings for names.
Names are also abbreviated so try using the asterisk (*) as a wild card; eg. If you enter M* it will search for all words starting with the letter M.
OR lets you search for more than one word; eg. Mary OR John will search for all the results with Mary or John.
NOT lets you exclude names; for example M* NOT Mary will search for all the names starting with M except Mary.

5. Search Status Message.

Every time you do a search you will be told how many results have been found. If your search has found thousands of matches, you can go back and refine your search before you view the results. There is no charge associated with this. Once you say Yes on this screen to view the results, the charges will commence.

Q. What if my search is unsuccessful?
A. If your search has found no results, choose No to go back and change your search.

Q. What if I find too many records?
A. If your search finds too many results, choose No to go back and narrow your search down.

Q. When do the charges apply?
A. After you have viewed the summary screen, and choose 'Yes' to view the results, the charging starts.

6. Search Results List.

You now have the results from your search. The first record on the screen explains the format of each record. You might want to write down the format to remind you what each field means. Use the Next and Back buttons to move between the pages of results. You can purchase a certificate for each record found by using the button next to the record. At the bottom of the screen are buttons to start a new search or finish searching and finalise the payment (these are explained further in the steps 7, 8 and 9).

Q. Why doesn't my search result get returned?
A. It can take a bit of time to search the database, so just be patient. Clicking on the screen again may cause the search to be cancelled.

Q. Why won't the results from my search print out?
A. In Netscape the cache settings need to be increased. From the Edit menu choose Preferences. From the list on the dialog box choose Advanced and then Cache. Set the disk cache to at least 15MB. You will need to close and restart your browser, which will mean starting the transaction again.
By using CTRL-PRINT SCREEN on your keyboard you can take screen dumps and paste the image into a document.
If the problem still exists, increase the cache size again.

Q. What happens if my Internet connection drops out?
A. If your Internet connection drops out you will be charged for what you have spent searching. Any certificates in you basket have not been confirmed and will not be purchased.

Q. What happens if my browser times out?
A. There is a time limit of 30 minutes per screen. Make sure that you don't stay on the one screen longer than this or the transaction will cancel. If there is an error from our end, you will be charged only for the amount spent searching. Any certificates in your basket have not been confirmed and will not be purchased.

Q. How do I purchase a certificate?
A. You can purchase a certificate from the transaction, you don't need to write down the certificate details and send in an application. The button next to the name will put the certificate in a shopping basket. You can delete any certificates you have in your basket, but you cannot delete your search.

Q. I accidentally chose the button to order a certificate.
A. DON'T CANCEL OUT OF THE TRANSACTION . Complete your address details, you can delete this order later.

7. Purchase a Certificate.

The first time you choose to purchase a certificate you will need to choose the delivery method and enter your contact details. The certificate will be put in a basket ready for payment when you finalise the transaction. You can also delete certificates from your basket. The cost of certificates is not deducted from your spending limit. From this screen you can start a new search, return to the result screen or finalise your search and make the payment.

8. New Search.

When you start a new search you can use the button at the bottom of the screen to change the database.

Q. How do I start a new search?
A. On many screens a 'New Search' button at the bottom of the screen is available for you to start a new search. Choose the BACK button on the search screen to change databases.

9. Pay Now.

When you have finished searching, use the 'Pay Now' button to finalise your payments.

Q. How do I finish my search?
A. On many screens a 'Pay Now' button appears at the bottom of the screen. This will take you to your shopping basket first - and then give you a final receipt. A receipt is displayed on the screen during the transaction. If you don't use the pay now button you will be charged for the amount spent searching, not for any certificates in your basket.