How to Legally Change Your Name in Australia: State by State

Legally changing your name in Australia is ordinarily handled by your state or territory's registry of births, deaths and marriages, not a court, and the fee resets every 1 July in most jurisdictions, so a figure from a prior financial year should never be assumed current.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026 against the primary legislation and, where noted, the relevant government agency page. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers the general adult legal name change process and fees in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, as researched 21 July 2026. Fees are stated only where a currency position (FY2026-27 confirmed, or an explicit caveat) can be given; Queensland and the ACT figures are omitted rather than stated with low confidence.

The general process: a registry application, not a court order

For most adults, changing a legal name in Australia does not involve a court. Each state and territory's registry of births, deaths and marriages (the name of the agency varies: Births Deaths and Marriages in most states, sometimes folded into a broader agency such as Consumer and Business Services in South Australia or the Department of Justice in Tasmania) accepts a change of name application directly from an eligible adult, generally requiring proof of identity, evidence connecting the applicant to that state or territory (commonly birth registration in that jurisdiction, or current residency), and the applicable fee. Once processed, the registry issues a change of name certificate, which is the document used to update other records such as a driver licence, passport and bank accounts. A court-based process is generally reserved for more unusual situations, including some child name changes where parents cannot agree.

Fees for the 2026-27 financial year, state by state

Every figure below was re-read from the registry's own page or the relevant Gazette on 18 August 2026, after the 1 July reset most registries apply. Fees can still change during a year, so confirm on the registry page immediately before paying. Each state name links to a detailed guide covering eligibility, children, restricted applicants and what the registry can refuse.

Residency and eligibility requirements differ by state

Every registry requires a connection to that state or territory: either the applicant's birth is registered there, or they live there, in most states for a set period. For someone born elsewhere the periods are: New South Wales three consecutive years (the national outlier); Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory 12 consecutive months (Victoria and South Australia can waive it for protection or marriage-related cases; Western Australia also requires citizenship or permanent residence); Tasmania and the ACT set no minimum period at all, only that the applicant is domiciled or resident there when applying. The age at which a child's own consent is needed also differs: 12 in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, 14 in the Northern Territory and the ACT, and no fixed age in New South Wales or South Australia, where the registry looks at the child's capacity to understand. The state guides linked in the table above set out each rule with its section.

What this page does not cover

This page describes the general adult name change process only. Changing a child's name, especially where the parents do not agree, generally involves additional consent requirements and, in some circumstances, a court application, and is governed by different rules to the adult process described above. Marriage-related name changes and name changes connected to gender-affirming processes can also involve different documentation requirements at some registries. A reader in either situation should check the specific guidance published by the relevant registry rather than relying on the general process outlined here.

After the certificate: updating other records

A change of name certificate from the state or territory registry is the starting document, not the end of the process. Most other agencies and institutions, a driver licensing authority, the Australian Passport Office, the Australian Taxation Office, banks, electoral enrolment and superannuation funds, each require the applicant to separately notify them and provide a certified copy of the certificate before they will update their own records. Some of these updates carry their own fee (a passport reissue, for example, is a separate cost from the registry's change of name fee), and processing times vary by agency. Keeping the original certificate, and having several certified copies made, generally makes this follow-up process faster, since some agencies will not accept an uncertified photocopy.

Why the financial year matters for this particular topic

Most of the government fees referenced on this site do not move often. Name change fees are different: several registries explicitly reset them on 1 July, the start of the Australian financial year, as part of a broader annual schedule of government fee increases. That is precisely why this page separates confirmed FY2026-27 figures from figures that are not tagged to a financial year, and omits Queensland and the ACT entirely rather than restate an older number as if it still applied. A fee that was correct in June can be wrong in July of the same year, and a fee correct in one financial year says nothing reliable about the next one.

This page is general legal information about everyday law in Australia, verified on 21 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation. For advice about your own circumstances, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.