Coalition of Celebrant Associations

Australia’s Peak Celebrant Body

Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill

CoCA prepared a submission to this Select Committee

VIEW here OR DOWNLOAD: Submission as .pdf file

and made a  presentation to the Select Committee on Marriage Equality Law  to the Committee's Hearing on Monday 23rd January 2017 in Melbourne.

DOWNLOAD DRAFT HANSARD REPORT: 

Select_Committee_on_the_Exposure_Draft_of_the_Marriage_Amendment-COCAa.pdf

CoCA Select Committee Reps

Photo (from left to right): 
Mrs Dorothy Harrison CoCA Chair,  Senator Janet Rice, Mrs Liz Pforr CoCA Vice-Chair CoCA, Senator Louise Pratt and Mr Jamie Gardiner (Liberty Victoria).

Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill

On 30 November 2016, the Senate resolved to establish the Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill to inquire into theCommonwealth Government’s exposure draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill.

The committee is due to report on or by15 February 2017.

Please read theterms of referencecarefully before making your submission. The committee has resolved that it will only accept submissions strictly addressing its terms of reference, with a particular focus on the following areas:
  • the proposed exemptions in the Exposure Draft for ministers of religion, marriage celebrants and religious bodies and organisations to refuse to conduct or solemnise marriages, and the extent to which those exemptions prevent encroachment upon religious freedoms; 
  • the nature and effect of the proposed amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984;
  • whether there should be any consequential amendments to this bill, or any other Act, and, if so, the nature and effect of those consequential amendments.
Substantive submissions that explore the technical aspects of the terms of reference will be published, however the committee does not have the resources or time to consider short statements expressing support either for or against same-sex marriage.  As such, these statements will be treated as correspondence and not published.

The committee has also resolved that it will not publish form or campaign letters, or petitions, received to the inquiry.

The closing date for submissions isFriday 13 January 2017. 

Committee Secretariat contact:

Committee Secretary
Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 3228
Fax: 02 6277 5829
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Terms of Reference

That a select committee to be known as the Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill be established to inquire into and report on, by 13 February 2017, the Commonwealth Government’s exposure draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill, with particular reference to:

(a)    the nature and effect of proposed exemptions for ministers of religion, marriage celebrants and religious bodies and organisations, the extent to which those exemptions prevent encroachment upon religious freedoms, and the Commonwealth Government’s justification for the proposed exemptions;  

(b)    the nature and effect of the proposed amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Commonwealth Government’s justification for it; 

(c)    potential amendments to improve the effect of the bill and the likelihood of achieving the support of the Senate; and

(d)    whether there are to be any consequential amendments, and, if so, the nature and effect of those consequential amendments, and the Commonwealth Government’s justification for them.

Committee Membership

Committee Members

Senators Eric Abetz, Chris Back, Cory Bernardi, Catryna Bilyk, Carol Brown, David Bushby, Doug Cameron, Kim Carr, Anthony Chisholm, Jacinta Collins, Sam Dastyari, Richard Di Natale, Patrick Dodson, Jonathon Duniam, Don Farrell, Alex Gallacher, Katy Gallagher, Sarah Hanson-Young, Jane Hume, Chris Ketter, David Leyonhjelm, Sue Lines, Scott Ludlam, Ian Macdonald, Gavin Marshall, Jenny McAllister, Malarndirri McCarthy, Bridget McKenzie, Nick McKim, Claire Moore, Deborah O'Neill, Barry O'Sullivan, Helen Polley, Linda Reynolds, Lee Rhiannon, Rachel Siewert, Lisa Singh, Glenn Sterle, Anne Urquhart, Larissa Waters, Murray Watt, Peter Whish-Wilson, Penny Wong

Track Committee

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