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One in five Aboriginal babies in western Australia have no birth certificate: report

Xinhua, July 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nearly one in five Indigenous children born in Western Australia (WA) have no birth certificate, as their births weren't ever officially registered, according to new research.

In a report published in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, research showed that 18 percent of Indigenous children do not have official birth documentation.

The study, which focuses on the period between 1980 and 2010, showed there were nearly 50,000 Indigenous births in WA and, of that number, more than 4,500 aged under 16 do not have their births registered.

In the study, the data was matched from WA's midwife records against the birth registry office.

The report showed that Indigenous children born to mothers younger than 16 were five times more likely to be unregistered than if they had mothers over 30. Mums who were themselves unregistered were three times more likely to have an unregistered child.

The WA state has the third highest Indigenous population in the nation, with just over 88,000 people identifying themselves as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, according to 2011 census data.

In Queensland state, another study found that 17 percent of Indigenous aged between two and four were not registered.

The WA study's lead author, Alison Gibberd, said it was unacceptable that the system allowed for these children not to have birth certificates.

"In its current form, Western Australia's birth registration system doesn't ensure that all children have registered births," Gibberd said on Monday.

"Australia is a signatory to several international conventions to ensure that all children have the right to be registered immediately after birth, but an unacceptably high number of aboriginal children don't achieve this right," she said.

Gibberd urged parents to realize the importance of their children's basic right.

"Successfully completing the birth registration process requires a reasonable level of literacy and the practical means of returning the completed paperwork," she said.

"It also relies on parents recognising the value of birth registration, particularly if they cannot afford the cost of a birth certificate at that time."

A birth certificate, which costs 35 U.S. dollars in WA, can only be obtained if a baby has been registered at birth.

The study found that birth registration has improved since 2006, especially in remote areas. From July 2007, parents could only receive the 'Baby Bonus,' parental leave pay or family tax benefits if they declared that they had applied for their child's birth to be registered. Endit