Religious Rights in Australia

Type of Marriage Celebrants

At the present time there are two types of celebrants recognised in Australia: Civil and Religious. The Federal Attorney-Generals Office in Canberra approves these celebrants as providers of legally binding marriage services (naming ceremonies and funerals are not within the authority given by the Federal AG, this must be sort from the relevant State or Territory government). The applications are handled by:

Marriage Celebrants Unit

Family Law Branch

Family Law and Legal Assistance

Attorney-Generals Department

The Marriage Celebrants Unit is concerned with the appointment, monitoring and support for authorised marriage celebrants who are appointed under the Marriage Act 1961. The aim of the program is to ensure that couples intending to marry have access to a reasonable choice of celebrants in their community. There are three types of celebrants:

• Those nominated to the State/Territory Registrars as marriage celebrants by major churches of `Nominating Authorities' recognised under section 26 of the Act;
• Clergy of smaller religious groups who are appointed by the Commonwealth Minister or his delegate under section 39 (2) of the Act to serve their congregations; and
• Civil marriage celebrants also appointed by the Commonwealth Minister or his/her delegate under section 39 (2) of the Act to meet the needs of the community. Civil celebrants are appointed in accordance with a targeted, needs-based policy based on identification of under-serviced areas and a merit-based selection process following advertisement in local media.

Civil Celebrants Vs Religious Celebrants

Civil Celebrants undertake to marry people in a CIVIL ceremony. They are very limited in the religious content they can include in ceremonies. Appointments as Civil Celebrants are made only in response to clearly identified community need. Civil Celebrants must meet a number of criteria which include the following: community/civic involvement, public speaking skills, good reputation, understanding of Marriage Act of 1961, no criminal record, no conflict of interest with business or hobby and provide 3 references to attest to character and suitability.

At present many areas and communities have more than sufficient civil marriage celebrants to provide choice for marrying couples. Basically, there is a glut of Civil Celebrants, with new appointments only being made on the resignation or death of current appointees.

Many Pagans use the services of Civil Celebrants to get married. The Civil Celebrant performs the legal part of the ceremony and often a priest or priestess will perform the spiritual part of the wedding. While this may be satisfactory for some, many Pagans now want a ceremony that combines the two aspects of a marriage ceremony; this is where the Religious Celebrants come in.

Religious Celebrants have the ability to conduct a legally binding marriage ceremony, which occurs within a religious context, that is, the ceremony is both legally and spiritually binding. A Religious Celebrant would be someone like a Catholic or Anglican Priest, a Jewish Rabbi or Hindu or Buddhist Priest.

Religious Celebrants must meet the many of the same criteria as Civil Celebrants as well as several other very stringent criteria that include the following:

• be a minister of religion under the Marriage Act 1961,
• An applicant must demonstrate that he/she is a fit and proper person for authorisation as a religious marriage celebrant by virtue of his/her experience and/or training as a minister of religion;
• The application must be sponsored by the religious organisation to which the applicant is attached;
• The religious organisation to which the applicant is attached must be established for a reasonable length of time as evidence of its stability and continued existence a period of 12 months being a minimum requirement;
• The presence of a discrete identifiable congregation is required, having the need for the services of a marriage celebrant and meeting in a public place to give witness to the religious beliefs of its members.

As you can see, the additional requirements needed to become a Religious Marriage Celebrant are quite difficult to meet. Being a member of a church like the Universal Life Church or other "mail order" clergy DOES NOT entitle you to perform marriages. As a result of these stringent guidelines there are only 6 Pagan/Heathen Religious Celebrants in Australia.

If you are looking for a Pagan Marriage Celebrant, make sure you check the credentials of anyone claiming to be able to conduct such a ceremony. There could be serious legal consequences if you think your married but then find out that under the law, you not.