The Coalition of Celebrant Associations – CoCA Submission on the Cost Recovery as Proposed by the Marriage Law and Celebrant Section – Consultation Paper August 2012

Summary  of Recommendations:

RECOMMENDATION  1:

That CoCA and Attorney General’s Department continue to work together to build stronger consultation processes so that the Coalition can work in partnership with the Marriage Law and Celebrant Section in developing the Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant Program.

RECOMMENDATION 2:

That an Independent Review or Inquiry be established to ensure fairness and equity for all marrying couples and  their celebrants.

RECOMMENDATION 3:

That the Department implements a Moratorium on all new appointments until a new workable model for the Civil Celebrant Program can be established.

RECOMMENDATION 4:

That the MLCS implement CoCA’s recommendations and in particular, provide a “streamlined” enquiries approach to celebrants, with the initial step being to contact the relevant BDM and/or their celebrant association, and with their CoCA association delegates or another such designated association representative having hotline access to make enquiries on behalf of association members.

RECOMMENDATION 5:

CoCA strongly recommends

1. The establishment of an AGD-CoCA Joint Standing
   Committee for OPD Approval and Monitoring A simple and clear set of Guidelines for Approvals of OPD activities
2. An Application and Monitoring Process that requires minimal support and supervision from the MLCS, and allows the MLCS to concentrate on ensuring all marriage celebrants are up-to-date with their OPD obligations.

RECOMMENDATION 6:

That the Department give further consideration to the implementation of a Marriage Licence Fee to be collected from all couples and the monies so collected be distributed proportionally between the Commonwealth and the state/ territories for marriage program improvements for all marrying couples.

RECOMMENDATION 7:

That Exemptions for the payment of the Annual Fee be decided on a case-by-case basis upon receipt of an Application for Exemption, and that where celebrants are granted an exemption on the basis of Special Circumstances, the celebrant’s registration should not be automatically suspended, but also decided on a case by case basis.

RECOMMENDATION 8:

That the MLCS implement, in addition to its plans above, CoCA’s recommendation to implement an Independent Knowledge and Skills Pre-Appointment Assessment process, to be cost-recovered by the applicant.