CoCA is concerned that all Commonwealth celebrants are being charged for services that are not necessary and in particular, discriminatory when the Recognised Religious and State BDM officers are not held to meet any of the same training and specific regulatory  measures, and when there is no evidence to suggest that Commonwealth marriage celebrants are worse in performing their duties.

This proposal is a huge annual cost recovery bill ($2.4 million) to correct an insignificant number of Statutory Complaints i.e. $120,000 per Statutory Complaint.

This Annual Fee also creates unfair dismissal conditions in turning Commonwealth celebrants into annual contractors, yet leaving Recognised Religious
Celebrants, some of whom are ignorant of Marriage Law, still able to continue see their religious marriages as the “real” marriages and the State’s involvement as secondary.