Australia Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Australia, go to the Religious Records page.

Finding Church Records

 * Original parish registers usually are located in one of five places:
 * still at the local church
 * the diocesan record office
 * church archives
 * state archives
 * a library


 * Church records were created locally. Many of them remain with the local churches.
 * It helps if you know your ancestor’s religion and the town where he or she lived. Also, larger towns can have more than one parish.
 * The following book, found in the FamilySearch Library, lists the various denominations by town and indicates where the records are held: Parish Registers in Australia: A list of all known originals, transcripts, microforms &amp; indexes of Australian Parish Registers

Copies of Church Records in Civil Registration
Prior to the start of civil registration, the government required most churches to send copies (called "Clergy Returns") of their birth, marriage, and death records to the Registrar of the Supreme Court. The dates of these records are as follows:
 * Australia Civil Registration - links to indexes of church records included in civil registration


 * New South Wales 1788–1856
 * Tasmania 1803–1838
 * Queensland 1829–1856
 * Western Australia 1829–1856
 * South Australia 1836–1842
 * Victoria 1837–1858
 * Northern Territory See New South Wales and South Australia
 * Australian Capital Territory See New South Wales

Thomas Davies Mutch Card Indexes
The Thomas Davies Mutch Card Index is a genealogical card index of births, deaths and marriages, 1787-ca. 1957. The index is divided into two time periods, 1787-1814 and 1815-1957. The card index for 1787-1814 covers St. Philip's, Sydney; St. John's, Parramatta and St. Matthew's, Windsor church registers. The period 1815-1957 covers all Church of England registers to 1828 which were indexed from the Kerrison James index. From 1828 indexing is less complete but includes St. Mary's Roman Catholic records and Presbyterian Church records.
 * Thomas Davies Mutch card indexes online