Is Your Celebrant Authorised...?

Another horror story emerged last week about a couple in this region being married by a celebrant who wasn't authorised to do so - which, I might add, is a criminal offence.

The couple involved are now navigating the legal minefield of "what do we do next...?" What they don't realise is that they CANNOT JUST GET MARRIED AGAIN.

People get so excited about getting married that they sometimes forget to do their due diligence in checking out all their vendors before formally engaging them, to ensure they are dealing with:

a) real people - with the appropriate qualifications where necessary
b) established businesses
c) vendors that are appropriately insured for the services they provide.

The celebrant is the most important vendor at a wedding, because without us, it's just a party.

The florist can provide flowers but can't marry you. The wedding planner might assert their authority all over your special day but they have no official authority to marry you. The venue provides the location but not the legals to get you hitched. You get the idea.

Only celebrants authorised by the Federal Attorney-General's department (AGD) can legally marry couples in Australia and its territories, and only authorised celebrants can advertise their marriage celebrancy services to the community.

Sadly, some people fresh out of celebrant training courses are touting for wedding business on social media - despite the fact they have been told by trainers they aren't allowed to do so, and also knowing this from the AGD. Applicants must wait a minimum of 6 months after they apply before they are told by the AGD if they have been successful and gain authorisation as a civil marriage celebrant. They are not allowed to advertise or solicit wedding business until officially authorised. Yet some continue to do so. It's very frustrating for the rest of us who followed the instructions not to do so.

Authorised celebrants can work with people awaiting authorisation to conduct weddings - this is called a tandem wedding or the trendy new term is "co-piloting". The authorised celebrant provides the legals while the co-pilot delivers the bulk of the ceremony. This should only happen on the odd occasion where someone is awaiting authorisation and have been asked by family or friends to officiate at their ceremony. It should not be a "business operation" where an unauthorised person is drumming up wedding business while they await authorisation.

To maintain their authorisations, civil marriage celebrants must pay an annual "professional fee" to the AGD. Failure to pay the fee or to complete annual ongoing professional development obligations can result in authorisations being removed - in which case those people can no longer marry people.

Even if couples have the wonderful offer from a family member or friend to officiate at their wedding, they should still do their due diligence and check out whether that person is actually authorised to do so, or has the backing of an authorised celebrant for a tandem or co-piloted wedding. 

Finding out that your mother's best friend, your auntie, or your BFF has conducted your ceremony without being legally authorised would rank up there with one of life's worst moments. Couples in this situation are technically in a legal limbo as a result, and will need to undertake a potentially costly legal process defined by the Marriage Act 1961 to sort it out. 

So how can you check if your celebrant is legally authorised?

All authorised celebrants can be found on the AGD's Lists of Marriage Celebrants. You can find the main civil celebrant list at:
 https://marriage.ag.gov.au/commonwealthcelebrants/all

To find me, type in my surname BONTHUYS into the search box and my record will show up. I'm the only celebrant in Australia with this surname. For people with more common surnames, you will have to navigate the list by state and potentially an advanced search on the site. There are also lists for religious celebrants and state and territory (BDM/Courthouse) authorised celebrants. I have a link to this site on the "About Us" page of my website. It's also featured in my email communications.

A quick search of the lists to determine the status of the celebrant will save people loads of heartache from choosing someone not authorised, and being lost in legal limbo as a result.

Have a question? Drop me a line, SMS or DM.