AGD Policy on authorising marriage celebrants for both religious and civil ceremonies

Tabled October 2016

Issue:

CoCA would like to know more about the process for authorising some Subdivision C marriage celebrants for both religious and civil marriages and would like to discuss the issues related to celebrants being authorised for both.

Our review of the Marriage Register on the 8th September 2016 showed the number of independent celebrants authorised for both religious and civil ceremonies had increased from 37 to 40.

This appears to be an anomaly since Section 45 indicates that religious celebrants are to use the approved ceremony of their organisation/congregation and independent civil celebrants are heavily focused on the delivery of high quality ceremonies appropriate to the needs of the couple.

The basis for this separation is that civil celebrants should exercise their civil duties without reference to their personal belief system or religion.

Questions for the Department:

Could you please advise what processes the department uses to:

1.     determine the legitimacy and size of the religious organisation that an independent religious celebrant is authorised to serve,

2.     assess the content of the ceremony that is approved by this religious organisation for the celebrant to use and

3.     ensure that celebrants authorized for both civil and religious ceremonies clearly distinguish between their roles as a civil celebrant and religious celebrant when they are working with marrying couples.

Previous discussions with the Marriage Law and Celebrant Section indicated that the Department would re-establish a clear boundary between independent civil celebrants and religious celebrants.

Recommendation:

CoCA recommends that the Department provide information on the current system of authorizing some celebrants for both religious and civil ceremonies and re-establish a policy of complete separation between the two categories.