Download Submission: CoCA-submission-feedback-on-draft-Guidelines.pdf To: Bridget QuayleRegistrar of Marriage Celebrants Marriage Law and Celebrants Section Attorney-General’s Department3-5 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 1 June 2018 RE: Review of Guidelines on the Marriage Act, 1961 Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the reviewed Guidelines on the Marriage Act. The Coalition of Celebrant Associations’ committee members have consulted with their respective associations, and have collectively provided feedback on the reviewed Guidelines, which has been collated and attached below. The relevant sections of the Guidelines have been provided, to give context to the feedback. There are also some general requests at…

Workforce Development - Vocational Education & Training Report October 2016 Presented to the Marriage Law & Celebrant Section Thursday 27th October 2016 Rona Goold BSc (Gen Sc) Dip Ed CMC Celebrancy Sector Representative                                     Industry Reference Committee for Client Services Purpose: To provide an update on the status of celebrancy training through the VET system and to make a recommendation for the Department to consider in order to ensure that applicants for registration as a celebrant have a high standard of competence. Background: Attachment A provides an overview of the current arrangements within the VET system in relation to responsibility…

Cameron Gifford Civil Justice Policy and Programmes Division This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Attorney-General’s Department 3–5 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 6th March 2018 Dear Cameron, Re: Terminology for marriages post 9th December, 2017 The recent amendment to the Marriage Act made Australia a more inclusive and less discriminatory society. The definition of marriage in the Marriage Act has become less restrictive. Sex and Gender classifications no longer play a role in the Law. Procedures for marriage have, however, placed more emphasis on categorising marrying parties into columns than the previous procedures. With regard to forms, the Notice of Intended Marriage has an…

Ms Bridget Quayle The RegistrarMarriage Law and Celebrant ProgramAttorney-General’s Department3–5 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. March 2018Dear Registrar, Re: OPD Compliance 2017The Coalition of Celebrant Associations (CoCA) has received complaints from a number of celebrants about the official cautions issued to them for apparent non-compliance with 2017 OPD requirements.CoCA is concerned about this process for the following reasons:1.     Receipt of a Disciplinary Notice without prior warningSome of these celebrants had completed their OPD but due to an administrative oversight by the relevant OPD provider the completion had not been recorded.These celebrants were shocked and angry to receive a disciplinary…

CoCA Submission on Revised Marriage Forms - June 2017 The following recommendations and comments were compiled from feedback from CoCA Associations. the Australian Marriage Celebrant Association Inc (AMC), Civil Celebrations Network Inc (CCN), Marriage Celebrants Australia Inc (MCA), Celebrants Australia Inc (CAI), Association of Civil Marriage Celebrants of Victoria and Professional Celebrant Association Inc (PCA), then circulated to all CoCA delegates and CoCA association committees for comment. Additional comments were provides by the Riverina Marriage Celebrant Association (RMCA), the Association of Civil Marriage Celebrants of NSW & ACT (ACMCNSW&ACT) and Association of Civil Marriage Celebrants of SA (ACMCSA). Unless specifically…

Cameron Gifford, First Assistant SecretaryCivil Justice Policy and Programmes DivisionAttorney-Generals Department Address: 3–5 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 Wednesday 9th November 2017 Re: Stakeholder Consultation processes  Dear Cameron Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on how our CoCA associations and CoCA itself may improve our consultation with the department.  Preamble CoCA takes seriously its role as a peak body representing all celebrants to the best of our ability and maintaining the professionalism of celebrancy. CoCA’s primary aim is to “engage effectively with the Attorney-General and the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) to represent the marriage celebrant community on matters relating…

Rohan Verco Marriage Law and Celebrant Section Attorney-General’s Department Canberra ACT 2600 Friday 6th October 2016 Dear Rohan As discussed at the last Stakeholders Meeting and yesterday, it would be helpful for our profession to have more information upon which to plan training, professional development and other services for celebrants. There may be other ways to collect some information for improving the Marriage Celebrant Program and assisting Workforce development needs (e.g. an entry survey, exit survey as well as the annual survey) at the same time. It would also be beneficial for the AGD to compile a statistical fact sheet…

  Franca Musolino Registrar of Marriage Celebrants Marriage Law and Celebrants Section Attorney-General's Department 3-5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 Tel +61 2 6141 4768 Fax +61 2 6141 3246 Dear Registrar Please find attached a list of items for consideration by the Department in reviewing the Guidelines. Given the short time frame, we have not had time to resolve what may appear as repeated issues or conflicting suggestions. CoCA looks forward to working with the Department in resolving such matters. Some associations may also be submitting individual responses either to expand upon some items, or to submit items that…

AGD Policy on authorising marriage celebrants for both religious and civil ceremoniesTabled 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…

August 2015 Combined recommendations from CoCA for Marriage Regulation changes  - August 2015 Regulation Number Current wording Proposed Amendment Part 2 Marriage of Minors The Regulations would be less confusing if they were in chronological order, commencing with the application process, the consent of parents and then the court processes and the requirements on the celebrant regarding documentation. 14 (2) (b) “(b) by telegram, signed by the proper officer of the court in which the request is filed, to that clerk” Amend to allow for electronic transmission 33 (b) “by sending it to the person by a_v_i_s_ _d_e_ _r_éc_e_p_t_i_o_n_ _registered…