Marriage Amendment (Celebrant Administration and Fees) Bill 2013
No.    , 2013 (Attorney-General)
A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 in relation to celebrants, and for other purposes

• CELEBRANT-ADMINISTRATION-AND-FEES.pdf
• CELEBRANT-ADMINISTRATION-AND-FEES-Explanatory.pdf

Main sections of changes proposed:

Schedule 1—Amendments relating to fees and charges
Part 1—Amendments relating to annual celebrant registration charge

1  Subsection 5(1) – Insert: celebrant registration charge: see subsection 39FA(1).
2  Subsection 5(1) – Insert: charge payment day: see subsection 39FA(2).
3  After section 39F – 39FA  Celebrant registration charge: liability to pay charge
- 39FB  Celebrant registration charge: consequence of non‑payment

Introduces annual registration charges to continue to be a Commonwealth registered Marriage Celebrant
Excludes annual registration charges to be continue to be a State or other  registered Marriage Celebrant

Schedule 1—Amendments relating to fees and charges
Part 2—Amendments relating to fee for applying to become a marriage celebrant
4  At the end of paragraph 39J(1)(c) – Add “(including under subsection 39FB(3))”
5  Before subsection 39D(1) -  Insert: Applying for registration Part 2—Amendments relating to fee for applying to become a marriage celebrant
6  After subsection 39D(1)  – Insert:  (1A) to (1E)
7  Subsection 39D(2) – Repeal the subsection, substitute: How Registrar deals with applications
8  Paragraph 39D(4)(a) -  Repeal the paragraph, add (a)

Introduces charges to apply to be a Commonwealth registered Marriage Celebrant
Excludes charges to apply to be a State or other  registered Marriage Celebrant

Schedule 2—Other amendments Part 1—Amendments
1  Section 39E  - Repeal the section.

Removes section relating to the Capping of Commonwealth Celebrant Numbers
NB State Registrars have the ability to cap numbers

Schedule 1—Amendments relating to fees and charges
Part 3—Amendments relating to fee for applying for exemption from professional development requirements

10  Section 39G -  Before “A marriage celebrant”, insert “(1)”.
11  At the end of section 39G Add: (2)

Adds the ability to charge a fee for exempting a Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant from doing annual Ongoing Professional Development required hours.

NB State appointed Marriage Celebrants are not required to do any specifies numbers of annual Ongoing Professional Development required hours

Schedule 2—Other amendments Part 1—Amendments
2  Subsections 39H(1) and (2) Repeal  the subsections,
substitute:  (1)   The Registrar of Marriage Celebrants may, from time to time, review the performance of a marriage celebrant in respect of a period to determine whether the Registrar considers that the celebrant’s performance in the period is satisfactory. Note:   The period to which a review relates is at the discretion of the Registrar.

Removes the requirement to review each marriage celebrant every 5 years
NB The Regulation Impact Statement RIS)  put forward by the AG Department argues the increased funding required is to enable the Department to conduct these 5 yearly reviews, yet this section removes that need.
RIS here.

Schedule 2—Other amendments   Part 2—Transitional provisions

8  Definitions
9  Transitional provisions relating to amendment made by item 2 (1)

Refers to online applications that may not be completed at the time of commencing application

Schedule 2—Other amendments Part 1—Amendments
3  Paragraph 39J(1)(a)  Omit “(unless a ground for the decision was that the Registrar would breach section 39E by registering the person)”.
4  Subsection 39J(3) Omit “(even if doing so at the time the action is taken would cause a breach of a limit under section 39E)”.

Relates to capping section being removed

5  Subparagraph 42(1)(b)(iii) Omit “; and”, substitute “; or”
6  At the end of paragraph 42(1)(b) Add: (iv) an Australian passport, showing the date and place of birth of the party; and

Removes discrimination against all Australian citizens and especially those who are not Australian born, as overseas born people are able to use overseas passports as evidence of age (date-of-birth) and place of birth.

7  Subsection 115(1)  Omit “, as soon as practicable after each 14 March”.

As the Register of all Marriage Celebrants – State and Commonwealth  – are published on the Attorney-General’s website on a continuous basis, the need for printing lists is redundant.

 Part 4—Application of amendments 12 Application of amendments made by Part 1
The amendments made by Part 1 apply in respect of the financial year starting on 1 July 2013 or a later financial year.  

13 Application of amendments made by Part 2
The amendments made by Part 2 apply in relation to the making of applications for registration as a marriage celebrant on or after 1 July 2013.
14 Application of amendments made by Part 3
The amendments made by Part 3 apply in relation to the making of applications for exemptions on or after 1 July 2013.

Schedule 1—Amendments relating to fees and charges
Part 2—Amendments relating to fee for applying to become a marriage celebrant
9  Paragraph 39J(2)(a) Omit “under section 39D”, substitute “(see subsection 39D(1A))”.

Update this section to the new relevant section of the proposed amended Marriage Act.

Marriage (Celebrant Registration Charge) Bill 2013
No.    , 2013
(Attorney-General)
A Bill for an Act to impose celebrant registration charge, and for related purposes

Proposed Bill

Celebrant-Registration-Charge.pdf

Explanatory Material

Celebrant-Registration-Charge-Explanatory.pdf

Main sections of changes proposed:

 1 Short title  This Act may be cited as the Marriage (Celebrant Registration Charge) Act 2013.

2 Commencement

 3  Object of Act
The object of this Act is to impose a charge for the purpose of funding the administration by the Commonwealth of Subdivision C of Division 1 of Part IV of the Marriage Act 1961, and the provision by the Commonwealth of services to people registered (or seeking to become registered) as marriage celebrants under that Subdivision

Note: This annual fee imposition is not to apply to the approx. 500 salaried staff of the State and Territories Registry Offices of Births, Deaths and Marriage, nor the 23,5000 State registered approx 120 Recognised Religions – For Details see Recognised Religions

4  External Territories
This Act extends to the following Territories:  (a) Norfolk Island;  (b)  the Territory of Christmas Island; (c) the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

5  Definitions

 6  Imposition of celebrant registration charge
Celebrant registration charge that a person is liable to pay in respect of a financial year in accordance with section 39FA of the Marriage Act 1961 is imposed.

Note: Introduced an annual registration fee not previously required for 40 years.

8  The statutory limit
(1)     The statutory limit is:  (a)         for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2013—$600; or  (b)

Note: Consultations rejected a fee comparable with Migrant Agents as the availability of full-time work and fees for services is vastly different  Also the fee for registration was separated thus reducing the need for a high annual fee to fund the Marriage Law and Celebrant Section.

(2) (3)  and (4)

Indexed adjustments

For those wishing to compare the Current Marriage Act with the proposed amendments:
Download   Marriage-Act-Changes-2.pdf