Apply for a death certificate

On this page

Death certificates are often needed to finalise a person's estate.

A death certificate can only be issued if the death was registered in South Australia. If the death occurred outside of South Australia, contact the Registry of that state, territory or country.

The funeral director usually applies for a death certificate when they register a death.

You can't apply for a certificate over the phone.

Anyone can access an historical death certificate (more than 30 years old).

You'll need to supply basic information about the person whose certificate you want, and proof of your identity.

Start now

Who can apply

To apply for a death certificate, you need to be:

a parent or child of the deceased person
their spouse, de facto or registered partner - evidence is needed if surnames are different
a legal guardian - evidence is needed for non-parent guardians
the executor of their estate, an administrator or trustee - evidence is needed
have power of attorney or written authority to act on the person’s behalf - evidence is needed.

Types of death certificates

Births, Deaths and Marriages issue different types of death certificates:

Death certificates with cause of death

You can give this certificate to an organisation that asks you to prove the death of a person. Some organisations need the cause of death and may only accept a death certificate that includes this information (JPG 1.6 MB).

Extract certificate without cause of death

You can give this certificate to an organisation that doesn't need to know the cause of death. This gives more choice in how to finalise a person's estate and protects information about the person's cause of death.

Extract of Death Certificate (JPG 1.3 MB)

Fact of death extract

You can give this certificate to an organisation that asks you to prove the death of a person. Where you don’t have access to a person’s death certificate, but you can demonstrate you have an adequate reason to establish that someone has passed away, Births, Deaths and Marriages may issue a fact of death extract. This type of certificate is mostly used to assist with matters such as notifying of the death of a property owner.

Fact of Death Extract Certificate (JPG 1.2 MB)

What you'll need

You will need to provide basic information about the person, such as their name and the date and place they died. In most cases you'll also need to provide evidence of your eligibility to apply (usually this is defined by your relationship to the deceased person).

Proof of identity

You need to prove your identity unless you are applying for a death certificate that's more than 30 years old.

You'll need to provide one of these combinations of documents:

TWO documents from list 1
ONE document from list 1 and ONE document from either list 2 or 3
ONE document from list 2 and TWO documents from list 3
THREE documents from list 3.

At least one document must show your name and address and one document must show your signature.

All identification documents must be current (not expired). Where a document from list 3 is provided as evidence of your address, it must have been issued within the last three months.

You can upload scanned or photographed images of your ID documents.

If you're applying online, you must include a document from list 1, or your Medicare card, if agreeing to be verified by the online Document Verification Service (DVS). If you live overseas, you can use your overseas driver’s licence or passport.

List 1	List 2	List 3
Australian passport	Government employee photo ID card	Bank statement
Australian driver’s licence	Overseas driver’s licence	Council rates notice
Centrelink concession card	Tertiary student ID card	Utility account statement (electricity, gas, water)
	Overseas passport	Proof of age card
	Aviation/maritime security ID card	Tenancy or lease agreement
	Medicare card	Motor vehicle registration papers
	Australian firearms licence	Telephone or mobile account
	Security guard or crowd control licence	ATO notice of assessment
		Mortgage documents
		Australian Electoral Commission enrollment
		Seniors card
		Superannuation fund statement
		Certified academic university transcript
		Credit or debit card

Fees

Death certificate with cause of death: $72.00

Extract certificate without cause of death: $72.00

Fact of death extract: $72.00

Death certificate package (includes a death certificate with a cause of death and an extract certificate without a cause of death): $105.00

You can pay for your certificate:

in person - cash, cheque, money order, credit/debit card
by post - cheque, money order, credit card
if you apply online - credit card.

Make cheques payable to Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Occasionally, CBS can't find a record to match an application. If this happens, a 'no record' certificate is issued and a search fee of $72.00 for each ten-year period is charged.