Life Skills Training PL

Life Skills Training PL

International College of Celebrancy

Ongoing Professional Development

Compulsory Activity 2017

Trainer Workbook

“Law is order in liberty, and without order liberty is social chaos.”

Archbishop John Ireland 1838 – 1918.

Life Skills Training PL

International College of Celebrancy

Ongoing Professional Development

Compulsory Activity 2017

Trainer Workbook

“Law is order in liberty, and without order liberty is social chaos.”

Archbishop John Ireland 1838 – 1918.

The material presented in the body of this publication was originally written by staff of the Marriage Law and Celebrants’ Section of the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department. The copyright therefore rests with the Attorney-General’s Department (2017). The material is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.

The details of the relevant licence conditions and full legal code for the CC BY 4.0 licence are available on the Creative Commons website at www.creativecommons.org/licenses.

Table of Contents 5

(A) checklist for solemnisation of marriages 7

(B) offences by authorised celebrants under the marriage act 1961 7

General update from Attorney-General’s Department (10 Minutes) 7

Marriage Celebrants Programme 7

updating your email address 7

applications for exemption from the celebrant registration charge 7

SECTION A – checklist for solemnisation of a marriage (part 4.2 guidelines) (50 minutes) 9

hot tip – Checklist for completing marriage documents 9

part one – before the ceremony 9

short questionnaire 9

part two – at the ceremony 12

short questionnaire (continued) 12

part three – after the ceremony 13

short questionnaire (continued) 13

section B – offences by authorised celebrants under the marriage act 1961 and Marriage Regulations 1963 (60 minutes) 15

Part one – agd’s role in relation to offences 15

part Two – offences by authorised celebrants (Part 11 of the guidelines) 15

part three – consequences of offendiNG CONDUCT 19

GROUP EXERCISEs 21

(A) checklist for solemnisation of marriages

(B) offences by authorised celebrants under the marriage act 1961

introduction

Thiscompulsory OPD activity will cover:

A. Checklist for Solemnisation of Marriages, and

B. Offences under the Marriage Act 1961.

The topics were developed in response to common enquiries received by the AttorneyGeneral’sDepartment (AGD) from celebrants, as well as feedback from Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDMs), trainingproviders and celebrant associations. The activities are designed to complement the needs of both experienced and inexperienced celebrants and to help all celebrants understand what they can do to help ensure that their marriage ceremonies are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Marriage Act 1961.

General update from Attorney-General’s Department (10 Minutes)

Marriage Celebrants Programme

On 30 June 2016, the MarriageCelebrants Programme marked its second full year of cost recovery. AGD advises that the Programme is currently tracking as forecast and that no adjustments to the fees and charges were required for 2016-17.

AGD is committed to improving communications with marriage celebrants and celebrant associations and streamlining processes and procedures. AGD welcomes feedback and comments via email at .

updating your email address

It is good practice to check that your email address is always up to date on the Register of Marriage Celebrants, particularly in June each year before your invoice is issued. Informing the BDM in your state or territory will not update your information with the Commonwealth Registrar of Marriage Celebrants.

applications for exemption from the celebrant registration charge

Ifyou believe you may be eligible for an exemption from the celebrant registration charge, you need to pay careful attention in July so that you are ready to make your application within 21 days of the annual charge invoice being issued. We can only accept applications for exemptions after your invoice has been issued.

You should use the self-service portal to apply for any exemption, accompanied by appropriate evidence, which you can post or email to us, if necessary, after making an application through the self-service portal.

SECTION A – checklist for solemnisation of a marriage (part 4.2 guidelines) (50 minutes)

hot tip – Checklist for completing marriage documents

A more detailed version of the checklist you have been handed for solemnising a marriage is set out at Part 4.2 of the Guidelines (pages 31 and 32). The document is a step-by-step checklist for Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants, with references to relevant parts of the Guidelines. Please ensure that you refer to it regularly and use it to help navigate to the appropriate part of the Guidelines, especially if you come across a more unusual situation in the solemnisation of a marriage. Even if you have solemnised many marriages, it can be easy to miss essential steps, and regular use of the checklist is one way of avoiding errors, even for more experienced celebrants.

part one – before the ceremony

In accordance with section 42 of the Marriage Act, before solemnising a marriage, an authorised celebrant must have received a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM). This notice must be received no later than one month and no earlier than eighteen months before the wedding, unless a shortening of time has been obtained from a prescribed authority.

There are a number of procedural steps that you should go through routinely to ensure that everything is in order when you receive the NOIM. Using the checklist will assist you in your preparation for the marriage ceremony. Sometimes what may seem like a small issue, such as a misspelt name, can have a significant impact on couples. Other issues, such as the failure to complete the appropriate paperwork may constitute an offence.

short questionnaire

1. If Ayla and Jason, an intending bride and groom provide you with a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) on 31 January 2017, what is the first day that they will be able to marry?

(a) 28 February 2017

(b) 1 March 2017

(d) 4 March 2017

2. You have proceeded to check that all the details on the NOIM are completed correctly, including that the NOIM is signed and properly witnessed. Which of the following groups of people are all permitted to witness a NOIM signed in Australia?

(a) notary public, pharmacist, barrister, justice of the peace (JP)

(b) specialist doctor, solicitor, justice of the peace (JP), permanent employee of the Commonwealth,

(d) doctor (GP), barrister, police officer, justice of the peace (JP)

3. Ayla’s mother has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and they would like to bring the wedding date forward to 14 February 2017. Where would they (or you) go to find out where to get a shortening of time?

(a) Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

(b) Attorney-General’s Department website

(d) Local Member of Parliament

Note for trainers: Most state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and some local courts are prescribed authorities for the purposes of a shortening of time, and may be able to assist. However, theAttorneyGeneral’s website (specifically the Register of Marriage Celebrants) is the preferred answer, as it is the best place to go for the most up-to-date list with all available options.

4. Jason provides you with an expired Australian passport as evidence of his identification. You have already confirmed his date and place of birth, by sighting Jason’s birth certificate. Thepassport has been expired for fifteen years. You request an alternative form of photographic identification, but Jason advises he doesn’t have any. Which of the following is an appropriate course of action?

(a) Refuse to solemnise the marriage as you are not satisfied of Jason’s identity

(b) Ask Jason to supplement the expired passport with other documents, such as a Medicare card or bills in his name

(d) All of the above

5. Ayla and Jason have two children, Sally and George. Jason also has two children from a previous marriage, Anna and Ella. Sadly, one of Jason’s children, Ella, died at a young age. Which children should be entered on the NOIM?

(a) Sally, George, Anna and Ella

(b) Anna only

(d) Sally and George

6. Jason advises that his previous marriage was arranged by his ex-wife Priscilla’s family. Heisn’t sure whether or not she really agreed to get married and thought that she might have felt pressured by her parents. Jason thinks it is possible that it wasn’t a valid marriage. What evidence does he need to provide to demonstrate that he is free to marry Ayla?

(a) a divorce or death certificate, or a declaration from a court that his marriage to Priscilla was void

(b) advice from a solicitor or barrister that the previous marriage wasn’t valid

(d) a statutory declaration from Priscilla stating she felt pressured into the previous marriage and did not give real consent

7. The day of Jason and Ayla’s wedding has arrived and unfortunately in your rush to get ready, you have slipped and broken your ankle. There is no possible way you could solemnise the marriage later this afternoon. Which of the following course of action is available to you (or Jason and Ayla)?

(a) arrange for another authorised celebrant to step in and agree that you will send the NOIM once you get home from hospital next week.

(b) Jason and Ayla could submit a new NOIM to a different celebrant (who can accept it because they have provided the appropriate notice to you)

(c) arrange for another authorised celebrant to collect the NOIM from your house and have Jason and Ayla redo all the necessary paperwork with them (such as declaration of no legal impediment, sighting of evidence of date and place of birth, identity etc)

(d) arrange for another authorised celebrant to step in on your behalf and fix the paperwork later by noting the late change of celebrant on the documents you submit to the BDM.

Witnessing the NOIM (Part 4.3.9 of the Guidelines)

One common issue that is experienced by many authorised celebrants is receiving a NOIM that has not been properly witnessed. If a NOIM has not been properly witnessed, it is as if you have not received a NOIM at all. Subsection42(2)of the Marriage Act sets out a list of people who may witness the signature on a NOIM. There is one list for NOIMs that are signed in Australia and another for NOIMs that are signed overseas. Acommon difficulty experienced by marriage celebrants is identifying what is meant by a ‘legally qualified medical practitioner’.

A legally qualified medical practitioner means a person who is registered as a licensed practitioner with the Medical Board of Australia. The category is limited to GPs and specialist doctors but does not include pharmacists or physiotherapists.

You should check who has witnessed the NOIM as soon as you receive it. This will allow the couple to resubmit a correctly witnessed NOIM as soon as possible.

NOIMs signed overseas (Part 4.3.9 of the Guidelines)

Another common issue is often faced by parties who are lodging a NOIM from overseas. Thecategories of people who can witness a NOIM signed overseas are limited; you should direct the couple to the nearest Australian embassy, or to a notary public (if one is available). An authorised celebrant or other person is not able to ‘witness’ a NOIM over SKYPE or other electronic means. Nor is an authorised celebrant able to witness a signature personally whilst overseas.

Children from previous marriages (Part 4.3.4 of the Guidelines)

This issue causes significant confusion for both marrying couples completing the NOIM and for marriage celebrants. Only children of a previous marriage (whether born before or after the marriage) are included at Item 15. This means that children whose parents were married at any point in time are included but those whose parents have never been married are not. Children of the couple who are completing the NOIM and are about to get married are not children of a previous marriage (unless the couple are remarrying after a divorce).

This item in the NOIM has been used in the past for statistical reasons and AGD is reviewing the need to include it in future versions of the NOIM.

Transfer of NOIM (Part 12.4 of the Guidelines)

In the event of an emergency that prevents an authorised celebrant from solemnising a marriage, any second authorised celebrant who has possession of the NOIM may do so. The second celebrant is responsible for all aspects of the solemnisation of the marriage. This means that before solemnising the marriage the second celebrant must sight evidence of date and place of birth, identity and divorce where relevant. The Declaration of No Legal Impediment must be remade before the replacement celebrant and this celebrant is also responsible for ensuring all other legal requirements are met.

If a NOIM is transferred to you, you should ensure that you go through the checklist and prepare for the marriage as you would any other. If there is not enough time to obtain the NOIM or prepare and sight all the necessary legal paperwork, a commitment ceremony should be offered.

The original celebrant is responsible for ensuring that the NOIM is transferred safely to the new celebrant. It is the responsibility of the couple to pay the original celebrant any reasonable cost of transferring the NOIM. Under section 42(6) of the Marriage Act, a NOIM should only be transferred where the original celebrant has died, is absent or ill or where ‘for any other reason, it is impracticable for that person to solemnise the marriage’.

AGD considers that ‘other reasons’ could include incapacity, or a change to the date, time or location of a wedding ceremony which means the original celebrant cannot make it. It could also cover situations where the couple have changed their mind and wish to use a different celebrant, as it would be impracticable for the first celebrant to solemnise the marriage if the couple did not want them to. However, it may not cover situations where, for example, a celebrant transferred the NOIM to another celebrant purely for the first celebrant’s own convenience.