business.gov.au

Registration as a Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrant - Australian Government

Description

To legally marry people in Australia, you must be an authorised marriage celebrant.  There are 4 types of authorised marriage celebrants:

  • Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants
  • Commonwealth-registered religious marriage celebrants
  • ministers of religion, who are registered with the state and territory registries of births, deaths and marriages
  • state and territory officers.

As a Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrant, you will play an important role in your community. You will also have legal responsibilities you must follow. 

Service type

Licence

A licence defines the need to obtain recognition / certification and registration to undertake a certain business activity.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for registration, you must have either:

  • a Certificate IV in Celebrancy from a registered training organisation (RTO)
  • a qualification in celebrancy awarded by a university that is specified in the Marriage (Celebrancy Qualifications or Skills) Determination 2018, or
  • skills in celebrancy.

Celebrancy skills are:

  • fluency in an Australian Indigenous language and the ability to liaise with clients and other members of the Indigenous community if appropriate, in planning a marriage ceremony, and
  • ability to conduct a marriage ceremony and to complete and deal with the required documentation in accordance with the Marriage Act and Marriage Regulations, and
  • effective communication.

Ongoing eligibility requirements

You must complete compulsory professional development (PD) every year.

Duration

Ongoing

Fees

Fees Details for this service in table format.

Task Type Business Structure Amount Description
Apply Application All $400.00

One-off application paid through the Marriage Celebrants portal. Fees for 2024-25
Apply Exceptions All $30.00

Payment of $30 is required to apply for an exemption from the application fee, annual celebrant registration charge and Professional Development. Fees for 2024-25
Apply Licence All $170.00

Annual fee. Fees for 2024-25

Act(s) name

Marriage Act 1961 Australian Government

Regulation(s) name

Marriage Regulations 2017 Australian Government

Approval time

Up to 6 months

Administering agency

Attorney-General's Department

Marriage Celebrants Section

Contact details

Contact Email, Phone and Address Details for this service in simple two column table format, header then data.