Updated list showing terrific progress with the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria online system!

And make sure you follow the National Family History Month Launch for a really exciting announcement!  Even better, why not register to attend the Launch – it’s free!

If you have identified issues not included in this list, please Contact VAFHO using our Contact Us form.

If you PAID for certificates before the update on the weekend 8-10 June and have not received them, please Contact VAFHO using our Contact Us form and include details of your order: payment date, payment method, certificate type, name(s), registration number, year – details will be forwarded to the Registry.

Items now working correctly are shown in bold and red – interim solutions have also been provided:

GENERIC

• Need to enter Surname even if not known – NOW working correctly.  Enter * in the Surname field.
• Some users could not get to search screen – NOW working correctly.
• Given name variations / abbreviations missing – NOW working correctly.  NOTE: this didn’t work in these Digger CDs – Pioneer 1st release, Federation, Edwardian and Between the Wars.  Online it now works for ALL events and periods.  Example – search for Hy and get Hy and Henry; search for Henry and get Hy and Henry.
• Some marriage certificates were showing as ‘non-compliant’ and were not being delivered – NOW working correctly.
• Previously records viewed in Detail were shaded when you returned to results screen – NOW working correctly.
• Some orders for Marriage Certificates have not been received by users – NOW working correctly.
• Some orders for Birth and Death Certificates have not been received by users – NOW working correctly.
• Search for event by Registration Number and Year only works if a name is also entered – no names should be required for this search – NOW working correctly
• Death search – More Search Options – Father’s family name search doesn’t work – NOW working correctly.  To search for father, enter Family Name or Given Name in the Father’s GIVEN NAME field.  Father’s family name has not been a search option for other events.
• Data shown on Search Results screen is not shown on Records detail screen – LOW priority.
• PLACE OF EVENT (where it does appear) shows as PLACE, Australia – if Australia must be included it should also include Victoria.  It’s obvious that it’s Victoria as you’re searching Victorian BDMs BUT adding just Australia can add to the confusion – LOW priority.
• BACK button (when viewing a record) takes you back to PAGE 1 regardless of which page you came from – LOW priority.
• No Receipt / Invoice being emailed to users – Users can print a full Receipt / Invoice using the PRINT button on the order confirmation screen.  There is no process for returning to the Receipt / Invoice screen so make sure you PRINT it at the time – this will be looked at as a future enhancement.  LOW priority.
• <Unknown Family Name> on birth and death records is redundant and misleading – LOW priority.

BIRTHS

• Mother (Parent 1) doesn’t show GIVEN NAME(S) – NOW working correctly. 

MARRIAGES

• PLACE OF BIRTH is missing for all entries for both spouses – HIGH priority.
• PLACE OF MARRIAGE was progressively being added to Marriage entries, currently missing – LOW priority.
• BOTH marriage entries are being shown in Reverse – Spouse 1 with Spouse 2 then Spouse 2 with Spouse 1 – Both will continue to be shown – number of results increased for users – NOW working correctly.

DEATHS

• Missing AGE – NOW working correctly.
• Missing PLACE OF BIRTH – NOW working correctly – showing for deaths up to c.1880 and deaths from c1936 onwards.  This is ALL the data that was in the previous online version.  Additional data will be part of an ongoing data capture project.
• Mother (Parent 1) doesn’t show given name – NOW working correctly.
• NAME OF SPOUSE – NOW working correctly – showing for deaths mainly in 1870s and 1880s.  This is ALL the data that was in the previous online version.  Additional data will be part of an ongoing data capture project.
• Add PLACE OF BURIAL to search results screen – LOW priority.  BONUS! Burial Location.  Data previously compiled for a CD / DVD to be sold as the Burials Index will now be added to Death Record results searched online.  This is a LOW priority enhancement and there is NO TIMEFRAME on when it will be implemented but it will absolutely be worth waiting for!  Great news for ALL family history researchers.

As you can see, progress is being made – follow this blog to keep up-to-date with future progress.