The prices for most birth, death, marriage and relationship products and services are set to increase by around 5.6% from June 18 this year, the Department of Internal Affairs announced today, with further increases to come.
The cost of birth, death and marriage (BDM) certificates, the most commonly accessed services, will increase from $33 to $35. It would go up another $2 on June 16 next year and then again on the same date in 2028.
Copies of any of those documents will be up to $26 from $25, and there will be further increases in the following years.
Registering a birth or death will remain free of charge, and no new fees are being introduced.
The largest fee increase came for the registry ceremony fee for a marriage or civil union.
This was the fee paid directly to the marriage celebrant, which will go up from $90 to $175. It is a one-off increase.
Couples pay the celebrant fee in addition to the marriage licence fee, which will increase from $150 to $158 – putting the baseline cost of getting married at $333, up $93 from $240.
The adjustments would support the rising costs of staffing and distribution, as well as the replacement of essential IT systems.
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Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages Russell Burnard said he was confident the increases struck the right balance between keeping fees as low as possible and maintaining a sustainable service.
"Updating fees is essential to maintain high-quality, efficient and sustainable services," he said.
"BDM services are primarily funded by fees, not by taxpayers, and they have remained unchanged for almost ten years."
In contrast to those previous years, most fees were set for annual bumps, forecasted up to 2028.
A full list of the impacted BDM products and services and their amended fees was available via the Department of Internal Affairs website.
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