RELEASE OF BIRTHS, AUSTRALIA, 2008 (CAT. NO. 3301.0)

Births, Australia, 2008 (3301.0) was released on 11 November 2008. There were 296,600 births registered in 2008, surpassing the previous record years of 2007 (285,200 births) and 1971 (276,400).
Registration of births is compulsory in Australia under relevant state/territory legislation. Further, amendments to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 which took effect from 1 July 2007 require the registration of, or application for registration of the birth of a child as a condition of applying for the Baby Bonus. A comparison of average intervals between the occurrence and registration of births over the past four years show no indication that improvements in the timeliness of registration of births have occurred since 1 July 2007. However, changes in the timeliness of registration of births occurring after 1 July 2007 may be being masked by other factors such as changes in procedures for processing birth registrations by state and territory registries.

Further information on births and fertility at the national and state/territory levels, including information on births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers, is available from the ABS website. Regional level data is also available.