Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

Searches and disclosure of information - Public access to information - General searches

90: Registrar-General may make historical information available online

You could also call this:

"Historical birth, marriage, and death information is available online"

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

The Registrar-General can make some historical information available online for you to search. This information is about births, stillbirths, marriages, civil unions, name changes, and deaths. You can find this information on a website run by the Registrar-General. The information about a birth includes the person's name, sex, and date of birth. It also includes the place of birth, the parents' names, and the registration number. For stillbirths, the information is similar to that for births. For marriages and civil unions, you can find the names of the people involved, the date, and the place. You can also find the registration number. If a marriage was planned but not completed, you can find the names of the people involved and the intended date and place. If someone changed their name, you can find their old and new names, date of birth, and place of birth. For deaths, you can find the person's name, sex, date of death, and place of death. You can also find the person's date of birth or age at death, and the registration number.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7316551.

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

Topics:

Family and relationships > Marriage and partnershipsFamily and relationships > Children and parentingGovernment and voting > Government departmentsRights and equality > Privacy

89: Registrar-General may make certain limited information available to search online, or

"You can search online for some birth, marriage, and death information"

91: Any person may request access to information in relation to named person, or

"You can ask to see information about a specific person's birth, death, marriage, or name change."

Part 4Searches and disclosure of information
Public access to information: General searches

90Registrar-General may make historical information available online

The Registrar-General may make any or all of the following historical information (in addition to the limited information available under section 89) available to search on an Internet site maintained by, or on behalf of, the Registrar-General:
in respect of a birth (excluding a stillbirth),—
1. the name, all registered name changes, and sex of the person born:
2. the date of the birth:
3. the place of the birth or the place where it was registered, or both:
4. the name or names of the parent or parents:
5. the registration number:
in respect of a stillbirth,—
1. the name and sex of the person who was stillborn:
2. the date of the stillbirth:
3. the place of the stillbirth or the place where it was registered, or both:
4. the name or names of the parent or parents:
5. the registration number:
in respect of a marriage or civil union,—
1. the names of the people who married or entered into a civil union:
2. the date of the marriage or civil union:
3. the place of the marriage or civil union or the place where it was registered, or both:
4. the registration number:
in respect of an intended marriage (whether or not it was solemnised),—
1. the names of the people who intended to marry:
2. the date the notice of intention was registered:
3. the intended place of the marriage:
in respect of a name change,—
1. the person’s full name before the first registered name change:
2. in relation to each time the person has registered a name change, the person’s new full name:
3. the date of birth of the person:
4. the place of birth of the person:
5. the registration number:
in respect of a death,—
1. the name at birth, name at death, and sex of the person who died:
2. the date of the death:
3. the place where the person died or the place where the death was registered, or both:
4. the date of birth of the person who died or the age of the person at death, or both:
5. the registration number.

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