New South Wales Consolidated Acts

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION ACT 1995 - SECT 31F

31F Additional requirements for registration of change of name of former serious offender

(1) The Registrar must not register a change of name of a former serious offender unless the Registrar has first obtained the written approval of the Commissioner of Corrective Services and the Commissioner of Police.

(2) However, the Registrar is not required to obtain the approval of the Commissioner of Police under this section if the Commissioner has given approval under Part 3A of the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 to the making of the relevant application to change the name.

(3) The Commissioner of Corrective Services and the Commissioner of Police may approve the making of an application to the Registrar for registration of a change of name of a former serious offender only if satisfied that the change of name is in all the circumstances necessary or reasonable.

(4) The Commissioner of Corrective Services and the Commissioner of Police must not give an approval under this section if satisfied that--

(a) the change of name would, if registered, be reasonably likely--

(i) to jeopardise the former serious offender's or another person's health or safety, or

(ii) to be used to further an unlawful activity or purpose, or

(b) the proposed name would be reasonably likely to be regarded as offensive by a victim of crime or an appreciable sector of the community.

(5) This section does not apply to the change of name of a person who is a former serious offender if--

(a) at any time since the release date, the person has had a prison-free period of 10 consecutive years, or

(b) at the time of making the application for the change of name, the person is a restricted person, or

(c) the person's conviction for an offence as a result of which the person became a serious offender has been quashed or set aside.

(6) This section applies to a former serious offender despite the Criminal Records Act 1991 .

(7) In this section--

"prison-free period" , in relation to a person who is a former serious offender, means any period during which the person has not served any part of a term of imprisonment (whether in New South Wales or elsewhere) as a result of being convicted of any offence.

"release date" , in relation to a person who is a former serious offender, means--

(a) the date on which the last sentence of imprisonment that the person served wholly or partly as a serious offender (whether in New South Wales or elsewhere) expired or, if the person was serving one or more other sentences of imprisonment consecutively or concurrently with that sentence of imprisonment, the date on which the combined terms of all of the sentences expired, or

(b) if the person was a serious offender and a forensic patient, the date on which the person ceased to be a serious offender.