Searching in Australia
Death registrations in Queensland can be searched once the event is more than 30 years old (that is, currently, deaths before 1987). To search these, see Queensland Family History Research Service. Other jurisdictions within Australia provide similar search capabilities and links can be accessed here. But you may be able to find more recent deaths, if there was a notice published in a newspaper. The Ryerson Index is a free index to death notices appearing in major Australian newspapers. The date range covered extends from the Sydney Gazette of 1803 up to newspapers published within the last week or so. The Index also includes many funeral notices, and some probate notices and obituaries. The State Library of South Australia hosts the Savill Index to obituaries published in The (Adelaide) Advertiser between 1971 and 2014. A site called Australian Death Notices, Funeral Notice and Obituaries collects and archives contributions from funeral directors around Australia that could reveal details of a recent date of death. |
Or internationally
There are several excellent UK resources including
A new international website called Legacy.com aims to provide access to death and funeral notices and obituaries published in newspapers all over the world. They do have access to several regional Queensland papers (but not those owned by News Limited). |