Sklavos v NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2017] NSWCATAD 298

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Sklavos v NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages [2017] NSWCATAD 298 Hearing dates: On the papers Date of orders: 10 October 2017 Decision date: 10 October 2017 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: K Ransome, Senior Member Decision: 1. The decision under review is set aside. 2. The decision is made that the Register is to be corrected by deleting the hyphen between Angellina and Eleni in the record pertaining to the registration of the birth of the applicant's daughter. Catchwords: BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES – request to correct the register – no error by Registry at the time record made – meaning of "to bring an entry about a particular registrable event into conformity with the most reliable information available to the Registrar of the registrable event" – assessment of all available evidence Legislation Cited: Births Deaths and Marriages Act 1995 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Arthur Sklavos (Applicant) NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Respondent) Representation: A Sklavos (Applicant in person) Office of the General Counsel, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Respondent) File Number(s): 2017/00194236

reasons for decision 1. This application is made by Mr Arthur Sklavos who is seeking review of a decision made by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages refusing to correct the name of his daughter as recorded on the Register when his daughter was born some years ago. He states that his daughter was given a first and a middle name but the names appear hyphenated on her birth certificate and this is the error he wishes to have corrected. 2. The birth registration form completed by Mr Sklavos and his wife after the birth of their daughter included a single box where the "first name(s)" of the child could be written. The name is printed by hand in capital letters as ANGELLINA – ELENI. The Register records her name as being Angellina-Eleni Sklavos. 3. Mr Sklavos states that the birth registration form did not make an allowance to include a middle name. In the box provided on the form, he therefore put a dash, not a hyphen, between his daughter's first and middle name to differentiate the two names. He states that his daughter's name is in fact Angellina Eleni Sklavos. Mr Sklavos points out that the form now contains separate boxes for recording first and middle names. 4. Mr Sklavos states that on all other documentation, his daughter is known as Angellina Eleni. In support he has provided a copy of a document which was issued by the hospital at the time his daughter was born which records the time and date of her birth along with other details. This document records her name as Angellina Eleni Sklavos. A card issued to his daughter by her school records her name as Angellina Sklavos along with her date of birth and photograph. On the family Medicare card her name is recorded as Angellina E Sklavos. 5. Mr Sklavos states that he telephoned the Registry about the error and was told not to worry about it. He did nothing more about it until his daughter needed to obtain a tax file number. 6. Section 45 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 1995 (the Act) contains a provision which permits the Registry to correct an error in the Register: 45 Correction of Register (1) The Registrar may correct the Register: (a) to reflect a finding made on inquiry under Division 2, or (b) to bring an entry about a particular registrable event into conformity with the most reliable information available to the Registrar of the registrable event. (2) The Registrar must, if required by a court, correct the Register. (3) The Registrar corrects the Register by adding or cancelling an entry in the Register or by adding, altering or deleting particulars contained in an entry. 1. Of relevance to this matter is s 45(1)(b) which permits the Registrar to correct the Register to bring it into conformity with the most reliable information available. 2. The Registry refused to correct the Register on the basis that the name as entered on the Register was in conformity with what was written on the birth registration form lodged by Mr Sklavos after his daughter's birth. The Registry stated that an amendment to the name on a birth certificate can only be made if an error was made by the Registry at the time of registration. In this case, as the name was entered in accordance with what was on the form, no error was made by the Registry. 3. The respondent has provided written submissions to the Tribunal in which the proposition that, because no error was made by the Registry in recording Mr Sklavos's daughter's name, the record cannot be corrected. The submission points out that, at the time the form was received, there was no reason for the Registry to ignore what it believed to be a hyphen between the names Angellina and Eleni. 4. The respondent states that on the form at the time there were two lines in the relevant box but the name was written on one line, thus evidencing an intention that the names were joined. There is also nothing unusual in children being given a "double-barrelled" first name and there is no objective indication that the line between the names is a dash, not a hyphen. 5. The Registry advised Mr Sklavos that the only way to change his daughter's name would be to submit a request to change her name.