The Registration & Certification of Aboriginal Births in Australia: The good, the bad and the ugly sides of Indigenous personal identification documentation

This thesis is primarily about Indigenous birth registration and Indigenous access to birth certificates and other personal identification documentation in Australia. It seeks to explore three primary, concrete, issues: Firstly, what lies behind the comparatively lower rate of Aboriginal birth registration than that which we see for the Australian population as a whole? Secondly, what impact does lower birth registration and certification, coupled with ever greater demands for personal identification documentation, have upon Aboriginal Australians today? Thirdly, what approaches can be taken to overcome the difficulties which thereby arise?