Local Authorised Marriage Celebrant Jacqueline Dee shares some news.
From 12 June 2024, all authorised marriage celebrants are required under the Marriage Act 1961 (the Marriage Act) to meet with each party to the marriage separately and in person before they solemnise the marriage.
This applies to all legal marriages and all authorised celebrants, including Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants, ministers of religion of a recognised denomination and State and Territory officials authorised to solemnise marriage.
Real consent is the cornerstone of the Marriage Act and while it has always been the case that celebrants must be satisfied that each party is providing real consent, new requirements from the Attorney-General's Department now require celebrants to hold separate meetings with each party to the marriage to determine real consent before the marriage is solemnised. A court may find a marriage to be void where the consent of either of the parties is not real consent.
Under the Marriage Act, a person’s consent to a marriage is not real consent if it was obtained by duress or fraud; a party is mistaken as to the identity of the other party or the nature of the ceremony performed; or a party does not have mental capacity to understand the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony.
‘Duress’ may include coercion or threats, including psychological or emotional pressure. This new requirement is intended to maintain safeguards for establishing real consent. It is an offence for celebrants to cause another person to enter into a forced marriage.
I have designed a simple checklist of questions that I am already using to determine real consent with each party separately. The feedback I've received from couples has been very positive, I think it helps each party reflect that little bit more about the legal nature of marriage and I see this being only positive.
About the writer
Jacqueline Dee has been an Authorised Marriage Celebrant since 2017 and provides Marriage and Funeral Celebrant services in Wollongong, Sydney, Shoalhaven, South Coast and beyond. Read more here or visit her website for more information.