Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

Registration of information - Births - Notification of births

12: Parents must notify birth in New Zealand

You could also call this:

"Tell the government when a baby is born in New Zealand"

Illustration for Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

When a child is born in New Zealand, both parents must tell the Registrar-General about the birth as soon as possible. You must say if either or both of the child's parents are New Zealand citizens or can stay in New Zealand forever. You can find more information about this in the Status of Children Act 1969 and the Status of Children Act 1969. When you tell the Registrar-General about the birth, you can choose to be called the child's mother, father, or parent on the birth certificate.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7273622.

This page was last updated on — View changes

Topics:
Family and relationships > Children and parentingGovernment and voting > Government departments
Previous

11: Preliminary notice of birth in New Zealand must be provided, or

"Tell the government when a baby is born in New Zealand"

Next

13: Notification of birth in New Zealand must include name information, or

"Telling officials about a birth in New Zealand requires giving a surname and other names for the child."

Part 2Registration of information
Births: Notification of births

12Parents must notify birth in New Zealand

  1. Both parents of a child born in New Zealand must, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the birth,—

  2. jointly notify the Registrar-General of the birth; and
    1. inform the Registrar-General whether, to the best of their knowledge, either or both of the child’s parents are New Zealand citizens or persons legally entitled to be in New Zealand indefinitely.

      1. However,—

      2. 1 parent may notify a birth if—
        1. the child has only 1 parent at law; or
          1. the other parent is dead, unknown, missing, of unsound mind, or unable to act by virtue of a medical condition; or
            1. it is not reasonably practicable for the other parent to jointly notify the birth because—
              1. the other parent is overseas; and
                1. the other parent cannot be contacted within a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances; or
                2. requiring the other parent to jointly notify the birth would cause unwarranted distress to either of the parents:
                3. if both parents fail or refuse to notify the birth, a guardian of the child (or another person authorised by the Registrar-General) may notify the birth.

                  1. Each parent notifying the birth of a child under this section may specify whether they wish to appear on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s mother, father, or parent.

                  2. For the purposes of this section, a child has 1 parent at law if—

                  3. the child is born as a result of a woman acting alone in a situation described in section 20(1) or 22(1) of the Status of Children Act 1969; and
                    1. the donor of the ovum, embryo, or semen (as the case may be) for the pregnancy does not become the partner of the woman after the time of conception but before the birth is notified for registration.

                      Compare