How to Change Your Name in Victoria: Eligibility, the $148.60 Fee and Consent Rules

Changing a legal name in Victoria is a direct application to Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, costing $148.60, a bundled fee covering both registration and a certificate, and an applicant born outside Victoria must have lived in the state for at least twelve months before applying, a rule the Registrar can waive in specific circumstances.

Who Can Apply

Victoria's change of name process is administered by Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 (Vic). This page deepens the national overview of changing your name in Australia with Victoria specific detail.

An adult whose birth is registered in Victoria can apply with no residency test. Under section 25(1)(b) of the Act, an adult who was born outside Australia, and whose birth is not registered in Victoria or another Australian state or territory, can apply only after being ordinarily resident in Victoria for at least twelve months immediately before the application is made, and must also have the legal right to live in Australia.

Section 25(1A) lets the Registrar waive the twelve month residency requirement where the change of name is sought for the protection of the applicant or a child of the applicant, or where the applicant has legally married and wants to change to their married name. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria's own consumer pages do not mention this waiver ground; it appears only in the Act itself.

An applicant born interstate cannot apply to Victoria at all. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria directs them to apply to the registry in the state or territory where they were born.

How Often You Can Change Your Name

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria states that a person can change their name only once in a 12-month period, and no more than three times in a lifetime, adding that an applicant who wants to change their name again must show they have used their current name for at least twelve months. This limit is published on Victoria's own registry pages rather than in the change of name provisions of the Act itself.

Changing a Child's Name

In most cases, both parents named on a child's birth certificate must complete the application, according to Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria.

Under section 26(3) of the Act, one parent alone can apply where that parent is the only parent named on the child's birth registration, where there is no other surviving parent, or where the Court, meaning the County Court of Victoria, has approved the proposed change. Where parents disagree, section 26(4) allows the County Court to approve a proposed change of name for a child if the Court is satisfied the change is in the child's best interests. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria's guidance is explicit that sole parental responsibility under a court order does not, by itself, give one parent the right to change a child's name; both parents still generally need to complete the application. Under section 26(5), a guardian can apply if the child's parents have died, cannot be found, or otherwise cannot exercise parental responsibility.

A child aged 12 years or more must consent to their own name change under section 27, unless the child is unable to understand the meaning and implications of the change. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria asks a child of that age to sign a consent form in front of an adult who is not their parent or guardian, and states plainly that if a child aged 12 or over does not agree, the name will not be changed.

Restricted Persons and Offenders

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria's application pages state that an offender must attach approval from the relevant authority before their name change can be registered, and that applying without it is an offence.

Under section 29A of the Act, if the Registrar has separately been notified of a person's details under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic), and later registers a change of that person's name, the Registrar must give written notice of both the former and new name to the Chief Commissioner of Police. This is a notification duty that follows registration, not an approval an applicant obtains in advance.

Prohibited Names

Under section 4(1) of the Act, a prohibited name is one that is obscene or offensive, cannot practicably be established by repute or usage (for example because it is too long or made up of symbols without phonetic significance), or is contrary to the public interest for some other reason. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria's own guidance limits each family name and each block of given names to 38 characters including spaces, generally allows no more than five names and two hyphenated pairs, and gives examples of names it will not register, including titles such as Colonel, Judge, Majesty or President.

Under section 28(3), the Registrar can refuse to register a change if the result would be a prohibited name. An applicant who is refused can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for review within 28 days of the Registrar's decision.

Fee

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria's fee for registering a change of name is $148.60, a figure independently confirmed across several of its own pages, each dated Updated 1 July 2026. This is a bundled fee made up of an $89.50 registration component, which is non refundable, and a $59.10 certificate component.

This is a different fee from the standalone $59.10 legal certificate fee, which only covers ordering a replacement or additional copy of a certificate for a name change already registered; it is not a cheaper way to register a new change of name. Postage is charged separately on top of the $148.60 fee: $10.60 for express post within Australia, or $58.60 for international express post. A fee waiver is available in certain circumstances of financial hardship.

How to Apply

The standard path for both adults and children is an online application through a Service Victoria account, according to Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. For a child's application specifically, Victoria's guidance also describes a paper form that can be mailed to Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, or lodged in person at a Justice Service Centre; no equivalent postal or in person path is described for the standard adult application on the pages reviewed for this article.

An applicant born in Victoria proves identity using a documented Category 1 and Category 2 combination. An applicant born overseas instead needs at least one certified document from each of two different lists, plus at least one document, such as an electoral enrolment, payslip or utility account, covering the last twelve months to demonstrate their Victorian residency.

Processing takes up to 42 days, calculated from the date all required documents are received rather than from the date the application is first submitted, with extra time possible around public holidays and postage.

What You Get

An applicant born in Victoria receives a new birth certificate showing both the new name and the name at birth, with a history of changes on the back. An applicant born overseas instead receives a standalone change of name certificate showing the new and former names. Both certificate types are valid for all legal and official purposes, according to Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, and are the documents used to update a driver licence, passport and other records.

Deed poll is no longer used in Victoria to change a name; it was the process used before 1986 and is now relevant only to someone confirming a historical, pre 1986 deed poll change.

After a Divorce

Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria states plainly that a person who married in Australia does not need to apply for a change of name, either to take a spouse's family name or to revert to a previous family name afterward, whether due to separation, divorce or personal choice. Presenting an Australian marriage certificate is enough to take a spouse's name, and the birth certificate, marriage certificate and, where applicable, divorce certificate are enough to revert. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria does not hold divorce records itself; those come from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The exception is a marriage that took place overseas, which cannot be registered in Victoria. Someone who married overseas needs to apply through the standard change of name process both to take a spouse's name and to revert to a previous name. For the divorce process itself, see the Australia divorce guide.

Related Processes

Victoria runs a separate process to change the sex recorded on a birth registration, administered apart from an ordinary change of name application, though the two can be actioned together. Updating a passport or driver licence after a name change is handled separately by the Australian Passport Office and the relevant Victorian licensing authority; the Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria certificate is the document presented to each of them. For obtaining a Victorian birth, death or marriage certificate more generally, see the Victoria vital records guide.