[whynot]

I think a lot of this confusion can be traced back to the Queensland Bicentennial Birth Certificate. This is a legal document issued by the Queensland Registrar but only for births the year 1988, and was withdrawn in early 1989. It was issued on different parchment and the person registering the birth had to pay an additional fee for the different parchment.

The Queensland Bicentennial Birth Certificate is recognised by all jurisdictions as a full Australian original birth certificate. There are plenty of references to the Bicentennial Birth Certificate in the QLD government web site.

If the original is lost or destroyed, it will only be replaced with the standard full extract from the Queensland registrar.

Of course, when it was withdrawn in early 1989, there were howls of anguish from aggrieved parents who just missed out and lots of column inches was devoted to the matter in the local newspapers. So the idea was ... ahh, born ... no, conceived ... ummm, delivered ... to have a commemorative certificate that had no legal standing for payment of an exorbitant fee.

Of course, other states saw an opportunity to make money, and hence their printing of commemorative certificates that has no legal standing.

If you happen to have an original Queensland Bicentennial Birth Certificate, my advice is to keep it in a safe place. It will never be reissued on that parchment. And given the political climate I doubt one will ever be issued as part of the Tercentenary.