The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages has introduced a new national death data service to help businesses protect against identity fraud and to reduce the burden on grieving families.
Part of the Department of Justice, Attorney-General, David Mackie said the Registry’s Australian Death Check was the only official source of national death data and had access to more than three million national records, which were updated daily.
“For the first time, commercial organisations now have the ability to cleanse their databases against national death data to identify deceased people and keep their customer information up-to-date through this service,” Mr Mackie said.
“The Australian Death Check will help businesses verify identity and protect against identity fraud, while maintaining the accuracy of their customer data, which is a legal requirement under the national Privacy Act.”
He said the service would also help remove a burden from bereaved families who would no longer need to notify participating businesses about the death of a loved one.
Mr Mackie said businesses and Government Agencies could request access to the Australian Death Check through an approved data service broker.
“The type of businesses we expect will be interested in making use of the service are those holding large volumes of customer data such as financial, insurance, telecommunications, major retail and utilities companies,” he said.
The Australian Death Check is a joint initiative of the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages from all Australian States and Territories.
