Consultation on the 'Happily Ever (before and) After' brochure for marrying couples

Overview

The ‘Happily Ever (before and) After’ brochure (the HEBA) outlines the steps that are required to get married in Australia, the legal implications of marriage, and the availability of marriage education and counselling.

The HEBA is provided for the purposes of section 42(5A) of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) (the Act).

Section 42(5A) of the Act requires that:

An authorised celebrant shall, as soon as practicable after receiving the [notice of intended marriage], give to the parties a document outlining the obligations and consequences of marriage and indicating the availability of marriage education and counselling.

The HEBA offers general information for marrying couples. It does not constitute, or purport to be, legal advice.

We have updated the existing HEBA to make information clearer and reflect recent changes to the Act.

Why we are consulting

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

Your feedback will be carefully considered and used to inform changes to the document.

• Draft document – Happily Ever (before and) After [DOCX]
• Draft document – Happily Ever (before and) After [PDF]

Who we want to hear from

Consultation is open to all members of the public. We would particularly like to hear from:

• current and past authorised marriage celebrants
• members of celebrant associations
• legal experts
• members of the public who have received the HEBA brochure from a celebrant and have suggestions for improvements.