Celebrant Santina

Researching historical developments of celebrancy in Australia.

In July 19, 1973 Australia’s Attorney-General Mr. Lionel Keith Murphy QC (Queens Council) changed the way marriages were performed in Australia, by adding civil ceremonies.  This addition created choices for couples wanting to marry outside of a religious or courthouse wedding.  It gave couples greater freedoms over how and where they were married such as; parks, outdoor spaces, including things like mornings or evenings, as this was typically not offered by other organisations.  Subsequently the birth of civil marriages paved the way for civil marriage celebrant roles. 

It is worth noting the role of the independent marriage celebrant was first appointed to a female, whom it’s believed is still registered to date.  It is a true testament to the vision of Mr. Murphy QC and the hard efforts of Miss Lois D’Arcy that the industry progressed into the thriving hub that it is today.  ‘Statistics show … there are approximately 10,000 Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants currently performing the role in Australia’, which is a testament to the progress made within fifty years of it commencing; and highlights the need for such an industry ‘as around eighty percent of marriages in Australia today are performed by authorised, registered celebrants’ (Attorney-General Department, 2024).

The Marriage Act provides that a marriage that is valid under the laws of another country is not recognised as valid in Australia if one or more of the four distinct circumstances apply.

·   one person is already married to someone else

·   one person was not of marriageable age

·   one parson/s are too closely related, under Australian law –

·   where the consent of one of the parties was not a real consent due to:

·   duress or fraud

·   mistake, or

·   mental incapacity

·   person/s are both under 16 years