Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

Searches and disclosure of information - Public access to information - Access register

98: Registrar-General must keep access register

You could also call this:

"The Registrar-General keeps a record of who asks to see birth, marriage, or death information."

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

The Registrar-General has to keep a special record called an access register. You can think of it like a big book where they write down every time someone asks to see information about a person's birth, marriage, or death. The access register must include details like the name of the person who made the request, the date they made it, and whether the Registrar-General said yes or no to their request. The Registrar-General must record each request separately, and include information like what the person said when they made the request, as per section 91(3)(a) or (b). They also have to note down whether they gave the person the information they asked for. There are some exceptions, though - the Registrar-General does not have to write down requests from certain government agencies, as outlined in section 96, or requests for really old information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7316512.

This page was last updated on 6 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Family and relationships > Marriage and partnershipsFamily and relationships > Children and parentingRights and equality > Privacy

97: Certain public sector agencies may request searches in public interest or named person’s interest, or

"Government agencies can ask for birth, death, and marriage records for a good reason."

99: Individual or individual’s representative may request copy of access register, or

"Get a copy of your birth, death, or marriage records if you want to"

Part 4Searches and disclosure of information
Public access to information: Access register

98Registrar-General must keep access register

The Registrar-General must ensure that an access register is kept for the purposes of this Act.
The access register must—
record, as a separate entry, every request under section 91(1)(b) or (c) or 97(1) for access to information or source documents relating to the registration of a person’s birth, marriage (or intended marriage), civil union, name change, or death; and
set out the following information under each entry:
1. the name of the person who made the request; and
2. any information provided under section 91(3)(a) or (b) by the person who made the request; and
3. the date on which the request was made; and
4. whether the Registrar-General complied with the request.

Subsection (2)(a) does not apply to—
a request to which section 96 (which relates to searches by certain public sector agencies for certain authorised purposes) applies; or
a request for access to historical information or a source document containing historical information.

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s 75D