The 81-year-old Warrnambool resident surrendered his driver's licence 12 months ago and in March began the process of getting a copy of his birth certificate.

He needs the certificate to get a proof of age card to use as a form of proof of identity.

Mr Turner said he was told the certificate should be processed within five to six weeks.

"I've got no identification," he said.

"It hobbles you.

"We went to Bendigo and went to have lunch at the RSL but I couldn't because I don't have any ID.

"It should be a simple process.

"The wheels are going very slowly but in this case they've stopped."

Mr Turner said each month since he applied for his certificate he had contacted Births Deaths and Marriages to find out where the document was and in August he was told it would be processed quickly and sent via express post.

"The last time they were contacted was on October 6 and that was by letter, phone and email," he said.

"I just can't seem to get any sense out of the system.

"I'm sure there are other elderly folk in a similar position.

"It's very frustrating."

According to the Births Deaths and Marriages website the turnaround for a certificate application should be four weeks.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Government Services said an error had delayed the supply of the birth certificate. She said the department had apologised to Mr Turner and refunded his certificate fee.

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