Getting married in Australia – the legal requirements.
An article by Neil Oakes, Notary Public.
Australian law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriages are not permitted in Australia and those entered into in other countries are not recognised as legal marriages in Australia.To be married legally in Australia, a man and woman must:
- not be married to someone else
- not be marrying a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister
- be at least eighteen years old, unless a court has approved a marriage where one party is aged between 16-18 years old
- understand what marriage means and freely consent to becoming man and wife
- use specific words during the ceremony
- give written notice of their intention to marry to their authorised celebrant
A person does not have to be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia to marry there legally.
The marriage ceremony is conducted by an authorised celebrant. There are three kinds of authorised celebrant:a) Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants who perform civil and religious ceremonies.b) Ministers of religion of a recognised denomination who perform religious ceremonies.c) State officials who perform civil ceremonies. This includes some staff of state and territory registries of births, deaths and marriages and some local courts.
The Australian Government maintains a list of all authorised marriage celebrants, whilst the Coalition of Celebrant Associations offers some tips on choosing a celebrant. The couple will need to choose the celebrant well ahead of the wedding day as it is a legal requirement that the couple must give the authorised celebrant not less than one month’s and not more than eighteen months’ notice of their intended marriage. This is done by completing a Notice of Intended Marriage.
Notice of Intended Marriage
Follow this link to obtain the Notice of Intended Marriage form. The notice may be completed and witnessed outside Australia if required, in which case it must be witnessed by an Australian Diplomatic Officer, Australian Consular Officer, other authorised official at the Australian High Commission in London or by a notary public. As a qualified Notary Public I have dealt with many of these forms and I am able to assist in completing the form and witnessing it correctly so that it will be accepted by your authorised celebrant. Give me a call on 07583 379 147.
In addition to sending the authorised celebrant the completed Notice of Intended Marriage form each party to the marriage will also need to produce to the authorised celebrant:
- evidence of their date and place of birth; and
- if previously married, evidence of annulment, divorce or death of the previous spouse
Note that these will need to be original documents and I recommend that each party should produce not only their passport, but also a “long form” birth certificate, together with original court papers relating to the termination of a previous marriage and the death certificate of a former spouse. Do speak to the authorised celebrant to make sure that you have covered all eventualities and are able to satisfy his/her requirements.
The celebrant may also ask either or both parties to complete a statutory declaration to support their evidence.
After the ceremony
On the day of the wedding, the parties will sign three marriage certificates. Each certificate should be signed by the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses. The celebrant will give the couple one of the certificates as a record of their marriage.
The celebrant will register the marriage with the registry of births, deaths and marriages in the state or territory in which it took place within fourteen days.
The certificate issued by the registry of births, deaths and marriages is required for many official purposes. The couple should apply for a copy of this certificate from the registry after the wedding.
Other matters
Do remember that a visa is required for entry into Australia. If you plan to visit Australia for up to 3 months and you hold a passport from the European Union, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland or Vatican City you can apply online, free of charge for a 3 month visitor visa. This visa is called an eVisitor. If you hold one of these passports this is the simplest way to get a visa for your holiday.
Apply online: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/evisitor.htm
Once granted an eVisitor is subject to the following conditions: You must comply with your eVisitor conditions while in Australia. A breach of these conditions may result in your eVisitor being cancelled and you may have to leave Australia.
- You must not engage in any studies or training for more than three months
- You must be free from tuberculosis at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia
- You must not have any criminal convictions, for which the sentence or sentences are for a total period of 12 months duration or more (whether served or not), at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia
- You must not work whilst in Australia. Limited volunteer work may be acceptable
- Australia’s modern electronic visa system does not require you to have a visa label placed in your passport to confirm your immigration status and entitlements in Australia. When you check-in to fly to Australia, airline staff will use your passport to electronically confirm that you have authority to travel to Australia prior to boarding the aircraft
It is recommended that you take out health and/or travel insurance for yourself and your family members each time you travel to Australia. You will not be covered by Australia's national health scheme, unless your country has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. Reciprocal medical arrangements exist with some countries.
If you are not able to use the eVisitor online application you may be eligible to apply for an ETA through your local travel agent.
The legal bit
The information and opinions within this article are for information purposes only. They are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. N L Oakes, Notary Public shall accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misleading statements in this article, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on materials contained in this article. Certain parts of this article link to external Internet sites, and other external Internet sites may link to this article. N L Oakes, Notary Public is not responsible for the content of any external Internet sites.
