{"id":211331,"date":"2018-06-15T16:26:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T06:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=211331"},"modified":"2020-09-24T11:30:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T01:30:20","slug":"indigenous-babies-legally-invisible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/06\/15\/indigenous-babies-legally-invisible\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous Babies ‘Legally Invisible’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shadow Attorney-General David Janetzki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 15, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

A report released on Friday by the Queensland Ombudsman shows that between 15-18 per cent of Indigenous births in Queensland are not being registered.<\/p>\n

This compares with an under-registration rate of only 1.8 per cent for non-Indigenous births.<\/p>\n

Registering a birth in Queensland is free, however confusion has arisen because there is a cost involved in gaining a birth certificate.<\/p>\n

Shadow Attorney-General David Janetzki has called on the State Government to act on the report.<\/p>\n

He said that without a birth registration, a person was \u201clegally invisible\u201d and could suffer significant lifelong disadvantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a birth certificate, a person can face difficulties enrolling in school, getting a driver\u2019s licence, joining sporting clubs, and opening a bank account,\u201d Mr Janetzki said.<\/p>\n

The report identified a number of issues in registration and certification processes which may be contributing to the lower rates of indigenous birth registrations in Queensland.<\/p>\n

These included:<\/strong><\/p>\n