Is Hon Ruddock MP proposing to take marriage away from all Australians?

Hello Visitor,

We aim to keep Federal MPs and Senators informed of our Celebrant industry.

Topic: Is Hon Philip Ruddock MP proposing to take marriage away from all Australians?

Whether Australia will move to change the definition of marriage to include same sex couples or not, CoCA Inc's position is that this decision remains with the Australian people and their government.

However, removing from all Australians the right to marry under Australian civil law, as it appears The Hon Philip Ruddock MP is proposing, would reverse over two thousand years of history and remove the freedom from Australians to marry and to choose the style of wedding ceremony, whether religious or civil.

All Elected Officials need to be aware that:

• Marriage in Western culture commenced and continues to be as a civil, not religious, function.
• Australia already has a very tolerant view of couples' religious views by allowing religious celebrants to conduct valid marriages on behalf of the government. This is not the case in all countries.
• Under Section 47 of the current Australian Marriage Act, religious celebrants already have the right to refuse to marry a couple. ie religious celebrants can discriminate now upon any grounds - marital status, differences in religious beliefs, etc.
• 72.5% of couples choose civil ceremonies so they can celebrate their relationship with family and friends in an inclusive and meaningful ceremony consistent with their values.
• Prior to Australia's independent civil celebrant program, marriage dominated by religious ceremonies often brought shame, hardship and in many cases, fractures in family structures when people were forced to marry "behind the altar" or "change religion" to marry the person they loved.

Of higher importance, CoCA recommends Australia applies the same basic conditions in all marriage ceremonies for issues relating to Child and Forced Marriage.

Upholding marriage as a relationship between two consenting adults can then form part of an educative strategy on the nature of marriage under Australian law. CoCA recommends the following:

1. Every marriage ceremony includes consent by the parties to the marriage in the presence of an authorised celebrant and their witnesses, whether the ceremony is religious or civil - revise Section 45 to include all marriage celebrants.
   
   
2. The Marriage Vows for all marrying couples to be in plain English and modernised from the 1836 version upon which they were based to ensure the parties to the marriage state clearly "I, A (or B), take you, B (or A), to be my wife (or husband or spouse) or words to that effect" - revise Section 45 to include all couples.
   
   
3. Every marriage celebrant makes clear to the parties of the marriage, their witnesses and all guests that a marriage according to Australian law is being conducted and that the celebrant is authorised by law to witness and register the marriage - revise Section 46 and 113 to apply to all marriage celebrants.
   
   
4. If the definition of marriage is changed to allow all couples to marry - it is recommended to be as follows - "marriage means the union of two consenting adults to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life."

• Child - Forced Marriage and the Australian Marriage Act

The Coalition of Celebrant Associations (CoCA) Inc is
the peak body for celebrants in Australia.

CoCA is an association of celebrant associations spanning the nation.

One of CoCA's key roles is to represent Commonwealth marriage celebrants concerns, needs and suggestions to the Attorney-General and the Attorney-General's Department and through its Protocol with the Department to provide advice on the development, implementation and review of the Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant Program.