Day 80: Remote Registration
I approached with uncertainty a modern skyscraper that could have been a deluxe hotel or flash finance company. Inside though, the building directory reassuringly said ‘The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages’. Most of the registration offices I’ve visited in Scotland have been old or historic council buildings. So this was quite a contrast. Welcome to the new world!
Why was I visiting a registration office in Perth? Well, my journey started by meeting the Registrar of Perth Scotland, so I felt it would be fitting to end my journey by meeting the Registrar of Perth Australia. Also after 15 years at the National Records of Scotland (NRS), working in registration, I was interested to see what their system was like. I promise though dear reader, not too much shop talk, as I know not all my readers are registration nerds like me!
Alison, the registrar, kindly showed me around the registration office and explained a bit about the service. She also kindly offered me a doughnut! One of the major differences between registration in Perth Scotland and Perth Western Australia (WA) is the scale of registrations they are dealing with. In 2023 there were 67,455 registrations in Perth WA, which is greater than the whole population of Perth Scotland (47,350). Scottish registrars will recognise the title of the article ‘Remote Registration’, as a new system for the public to register a birth or death over the phone or a video call, however in the case of Perth WA, as one of the most remote cities in the world, this has a whole different meaning! Alison explained how her team goes out to the bush to provide remote communities with access to registration services.
Despite the image of the old registers above, another key difference in Western Australia is how technologically advanced they are. Their whole registration system is digital, which is something we were only beginning to approach (with a digital transformation project called the ‘Calling in the Register Pages Project’ that I worked on) prior to my leaving NRS. Sorry, I said no shop talk! In Perth WA they have had a few extra years to innovate though, as their statutory registration began in 1841, 14 years before Scotland in 1855.
What I remember most from the visit though was the view from the marriage room. I’ve seen several marriage rooms in Scotland and they are very impressive. However, the view from the marriage room was like something out of a five-star hotel over the harbour. Business is obviously booming as I saw a wedding just finishing as I was entering the building and Alison said they had already had two that Friday morning. For $349 Australia dollars you get a ceremony with the view above. If I find the Virgo girl over here I’m destined to marry I’ll give it some thought. Yes, I’m recycling that joke from Day 1, probably time to sign off!
Alison was very helpful and hospitable, and we talked for quite a while about registration in Australia and Scotland. It’s a shame this isn’t done on an official level, as both countries' services could learn a lot from each other.