Search historical indexes for births 1853-1914, marriages 1853-1942 and deaths 1853-1988 as well as church baptisms, marriages and burials 1836-1853. Now free to search index - please note that the the Digger CDROMs at the State Library have births to 1920.
http://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/home/family+history/search+your+family+history
The Ryerson Index covers death notices and obituaries in 149 Australian newspapers. There are currently over 2 million entries. Many of the newspaper titles are from New South Wales but the following states are also included: Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and the Northern Territory. The majority of the entries are for recent deaths but in some cases, such as the Sydney Morning Herald, historical death notices from the 19th century have been included. See Newspaper coverage for details of each title.
http://www.ryersonindex.org