Consultation on the 'Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants'

Overview

The Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants are intended to assist authorised celebrants to understand the legal requirements for solemnising marriages under the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) and the Marriage Regulations 2017. 

We have redrafted the guidelines to:

• reflect recent legislative changes
• make information clearer
• address feedback from celebrants. 

Why we are consulting

The guidelines are a key resource to help authorised celebrants understand their legal responsibilities.

We are seeking feedback from celebrants and other relevant stakeholders on the updated content of this important document.

We will carefully consider your feedback and use it to inform further changes to the document. 

• Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants [PDF 1.07 MB]
• Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for authorised celebrants [DOCX 316 MB]

Who we want to hear from

Consultation is open to anyone who is provided with the link to the survey. We would particularly like to hear from:

• current and past authorised marriage celebrants
• members of celebrant associations and networks
• registered training organisations
• state and territory registries of births, deaths and marriages
• elected representatives and nominating authorities for recognised denominations.