Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

Becoming a celebrant

This is the official site of the Australian Marriage Celebrants Program. Anything you read elsewhere that is inconsistent with this site is not accurate.

The Marriage Celebrant Program

Background

The Marriage Celebrants Program was established in 1973. It enables the appointment of suitably qualified people to perform marriages and provides couples with a meaningful alternative to Registry Office and mainstream religious weddings.

Training has been a pre-requisite for appointment under the Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants Program since 2003. On completion of the required training a person is eligible to apply to the Attorney-General's Department to be registered as a marriage celebrant.

Further information about applying for registration is set out below under ‘Fit and proper person test’. It is important to understand that registration is not automatic.

Information to consider before becoming a marriage celebrant

Before you embark on the training to become a marriage celebrant, please consider the following information: 

  • The marriage rate is generally stable, although there has been a decline over the past twenty years. In 2007, 116,000 marriages were registered in Australia. More information on the current statistics and trends on marriages performed each year can be found at  Marriages, Australia, 2007 (Australian Bureau of Statistics website).
  • The number of Commonwealth-appointed marriage celebrants has increased from just under 3,500 in 2003 to just over 7,500 in January 2009.
  • There are approximately 20,000 ministers of religion, appointed by State and Territory registering authorities, working as marriage celebrants for mainstream religious denominations.
  • To find out how many registered marriage celebrants there are in your area, you can search the Register of Marriage Celebrants / List of All Authorised Marriage Celebrants by clicking on the relevant link on the right hand side of this page.
  • 37% of the marriages registered each year are performed by ministers of religion.
  • Approximately 63% of the marriages registered each year are civil ceremonies performed by marriage celebrants registered under this Program and by State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (up to 10% - this percentage varies widely between States and Territories).
  • Most marriage celebrants do a very limited number of weddings each year.
  • There are ongoing costs involved in meeting the requirements to maintain registration as a marriage celebrant.  These need to be considered.  Such costs include annual professional development obligations, maintaining a suitable wardrobe and storage and office facilities.
  • It may take some time to recoup the costs outlaid for the initial training, annual professional development training and start-up costs involved in setting up your business as a marriage celebrant.
  • Marriage celebrants have a complex set of responsibilities under the law and failure to meet these is a criminal offence in some cases. You should consider your willingness to accept these responsibilities and what training will best equip you to meet them.

Training

Since September 2003, people wishing to register as a marriage celebrant have been required to have successfully completed an approved, competency-based training course, delivered by a registered organisation accredited to deliver the training.

The minimum level of training required has been a single unit of training called ‘Plan, conduct and review a marriage ceremony,’ from a Certificate IV level qualification, ‘Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy’.

In February 2009, a new qualification was released as part of the Community Services Training Package 2008. It is called a ‘Certificate IV in Celebrancy’, national code: CHC42608. The new qualification replaces the single unit of training and the Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy.

Later this year the new Certificate IV in Celebrancy will become available to people wishing to become registered as marriage celebrants.

To ensure celebrants are well equipped to meet their obligations, the Attorney-General has decided the new Certificate IV in Celebrancy will become the minimum training requirement to apply to be a celebrant from 3 February 2010.

Why is the new training course being introduced and what is it?

Vocational training courses are routinely reviewed to check that they continue to meet the needs of the workplace. A recent review of marriage celebrant training showed that improvements could be made to the existing training required for marriage celebrancy and that more extensive training was required.

The new Certificate IV in Celebrancy is the result of consultation between the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (the body that conducted the review), representatives of the marriage celebrant industry and the Attorney-General's Department.

The marriage celebrant industry endorsed more extensive training for marriage celebrancy and a qualification that would equip people for other types of celebrancy work, as well as marriage celebrancy.

The new Certificate IV in Celebrancy is a broader qualification than its predecessor. It comprises 13 units of training: five compulsory units and eight electives. The list of electives includes four units especially written for marriage celebrancy and they are mandatory for registration as a marriage celebrant.

There is also a wide choice of units of training in business services, funeral celebrancy, writing and performance and communication skills. Full list of training units in Certificate IV in Celebrancy.

This means that if you have no intention of conducting marriage ceremonies but wish to perform other types of celebrancy work, the qualification will provide relevant skills to you.

The Attorney-General's Department has no role in regulating other types of celebrancy work. For more information on general celebrancy, please contact the peak body for celebrant associations, the Coalition of Celebrant Associations. For contact details, see Marriage Celebrant Associations.

The new qualification will be introduced later this year by amendment to the Marriage Regulations 1963. These regulations may include other changes, for example to the application process.

The peak body for celebrant associations, the Coalition of Celebrant Associations, strongly supports the new qualification and believes that it will cover the skills needed for marriage celebrancy work as well as other fields of celebrancy work.

Transition to the new qualification

In recognition that people currently enrolled in training need time to complete their course and are entitled to have their training recognised, a transition period has been allowed during which the single unit of training and the Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy will be accepted for registration as a marriage celebrant.

The transition period ends on 2 February 2010. From 3 February 2010 everyone wishing to apply to be registered as a marriage celebrant will have to possess the Certificate IV in Celebrancy, CHC42608. The Certificate IV in Marriage Celebrancy is not equivalent to the Certificate IV in Celebrancy, which means that it will not be accepted by the Attorney-General’s Department as an alternative qualification.

Important matters for you to consider during the transition period

From 3 February 2010 the Certificate IV in Celebrancy will be the mandatory minimum qualification for becoming a marriage celebrant. As part of the Certificate IV an applicant for registration as a marriage celebrant must have satisfactorily completed four units in marriage celebrancy.

A person completing the Certificate IV in Celebrancy will have obtained more knowledge and skills than one completing only one unit. They will have gained a more detailed and thorough grounding in all aspects of being a celebrant whether they intend to conduct marriages or to specialise in other kinds of ceremonies.

The Registrar of Marriage Celebrants supports the Certificate IV in Celebrancy as providing a more detailed and thorough grounding for those interested in applying for registration as a marriage celebrant. This will enhance the professional skills among marriage celebrants and the standard of service provided to marrying couples.

If you are aspiring to become registered as a marriage celebrant you should consider all the matters set out on this website and whether you may wish to delay undertaking training until the Certificate IV in Celebrancy is available.

It is important that those aspiring to become registered as a marriage celebrant are aware that the Marriage Regulations 1963 governing the training required for registration as well as the application process will be amended in consequence of the introduction of the new training course.

The Department is also currently consulting with State and Territory accrediting bodies for training providers concerning the transition to the Certificate IV in Celebrancy.

We are unable to provide any further information at this stage. We will provide regular updates on this website as arrangements are finalised concerning the transition to the upgraded qualification.

You are urged to monitor this website regularly over coming months for these updates.

National Training Information Service website

This website contains information about qualifications in currently endorsed training packages. It also contains information about registered training organisations and training course details. Universities may also offer courses in celebrancy.

The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department does not accredit training providers. Their accreditation is provided by State and Territory educational authorities. Any issues or concerns relating to training bodies should be taken up with the training provider concerned or with the relevant State or Territory accrediting body. The NTIS website has contact details for all State and Territory registering (accrediting) bodies.

As a service for those seeking information on how to conduct and review a marriage ceremony, the following is a list of training providers for the current training, the unit of competency ‘CHCMCEL401A – Plan, conduct and review a marriage ceremony’.

Please note that as a result of the new qualification being introduced, the list may change over time.

  • List of Training Providers
    • This list is subject to change
    • All enquiries about cost, method of delivery or training content must be directed to the training organisations concerned.

If you believe you have the experience and/or training to fulfil the competency requirements, you may seek an assessment of your competencies. The assessment must be conducted by a registered training organisation that holds one of the currently required marriage celebrancy training courses within its scope of registration.

If your assessment indicates you do not meet the competencies required, you will need to successfully complete the required training before you can apply.

People who are fluent in an Australian indigenous language(s) may apply under a special provision. You should contact the Marriage Celebrants Section for more information if you wish to apply under this provision.

Fit and proper person test

Once an aspiring marriage celebrant completes an approved training course or assessment, there will be an additional requirement to demonstrate to the Registrar of Marriage Celebrants that the fit and proper person criteria, set out in the Marriage Act 1961, have been met. 

The requirements of the fit and proper person test are as follows:

  • do you have sufficient knowledge of the law relating to the solemnisation of marriages by marriage celebrants
  • are you committed to advising couples of the availability of relationship support services
  • are you of good standing in the community
  • have you been convicted of an offence, punishable by imprisonment for one year or longer, against a law of the Commonwealth, States or Territories 
  • do you have an actual or potential conflict of interest between your practice, or proposed practice, as a marriage celebrant and your business interests or other interests such as employment or hobbies
  • would your registration as a marriage celebrant be likely to result in you gaining a benefit in respect of another business you own, control or carry out
  • will you fulfil your obligations as a marriage celebrant, and
  • any other matter the Registrar considers relevant to whether you are a fit and proper person to be a marriage celebrant.

You must contact the Marriage Celebrants Section for an application package. You will receive detailed instructions on how to complete the form. You should read all the information carefully before filling in the form—an incomplete application will be returned to the sender.

Applications are processed strictly in order of receipt and take up to three months to process from the date they are received by the Marriage Celebrants Section.

Restrictions on your conduct while you undertake training and your application is assessed

Completing training and applying for registration as a marriage celebrant does not make you a registered marriage celebrant. An applicant is not entitled to engage in any advertising or promotion that suggests they are available to conduct marriage ceremonies. You may only solemnise marriages once you have been formally notified of your registration as a marriage celebrant.

People undertaking training and applicants are also not entitled to accept any bookings, or agree to perform any marriage, until after they have been notified that they have been registered as a marriage celebrant.

Special or one-off ceremonies, or participation in a ceremony

Applications for authorisation to solemnise a single ceremony, or to solemnise marriages for friends and relatives, will not be accepted.

However, persons not authorised as marriage celebrants may participate in aspects of a marriage ceremony as long as an authorised marriage celebrant conducts the ceremony and fulfils all the legal requirements for solemnising a marriage.

An authorised marriage celebrant must:

  • consent to be present as the responsible authorised marriage celebrant
  • take a public role in the ceremony
  • identify themselves to the assembled parties, witnesses and guests as the celebrant authorised to solemnise the marriage
  • be responsible for ensuring the validity of the marriage according to law
  • say the words required by section 46 in the presence of the parties, the formal witnesses and the guests before whom the marriage is solemnised
  • be in close proximity (i.e. nearby) when the vows required by subsection 45(2) are exchanged. It is the exchange of vows that constitutes the marriage and the authorised celebrant should ensure that they see and hear them exchanged
  • be available to intervene (and exercise the responsibility to intervene) if events demonstrate the need for intervention elsewhere in the ceremony
  • be part of the ceremonial group, or in close proximity to it, and
  • sign the papers required by the Act.

Appointment

Appointments are made on a lifetime basis, subject to satisfying ongoing requirements. Marriages may be solemnised anywhere in Australia.  Once authorised a marriage celebrant will need to satisfy a range of obligations. These include:

  • compliance with all the requirements of the Marriage Act 1961 in conducting marriages
  • compliance with a Code of Practice covering such matters as maintaining a high standard of service and professional conduct, complying with the Marriage Act 1961 and other laws, and a range of requirements for the conduct of marriage ceremonies
  • undertaking professional development each year, and
  • undergoing regular performance reviews to ensure continuing compliance with obligations.