Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 13 March 2012:

(1) What feedback has the department received in relation to the proposal to impose a $600 annual fee upon marriage celebrants.

(2) Are submissions made in response to the department's discussion paper available on its website.

(3) How will the proposed fee benefit marriage celebrants.

(4) Given that marriage celebrants already bear substantial costs, such as buying marriage certificates and registers, paying for mandatory ongoing professional development, along with all the other standard and significant costs of being in business, how can the department justify imposing yet another cost without measurable value to the celebrant.

(5) Will the imposition of a fee seriously damage the relationship between celebrants and the department.

(6) Has the department considered a more scalable solution, such as a per-wedding fee.

(7) How does the department intend to reduce the number of celebrants.

(8) Is the department hoping that the introduction of a fee will result in attrition of celebrant numbers.

(9) How does the department intend to improve its service to celebrants, including frequent communications and the provision of an extended hours (including weekends) help desk for celebrants.

(10) Has the department investigated improving the current processes for lodging the Notice of Intended Marriage.

(11) Has the department considered a moratorium on new marriage celebrant appointments, especially considering the current high number of celebrants.

(12) What disclosure is given to prospective or new celebrants on the state of the market.

(13) Why does the Government not provide budget funding for the regulation of the celebrant program, or pass on responsibility to the state registries of births, deaths and marriages.

(14) How many civil weddings have been held each year since 2002.

(15) How many celebrants have never performed a wedding.

(16) What is the average cost of ongoing professional development for celebrants.

(17) Who reviews the standard, of ongoing professional development training for celebrants, including the content and the training providers.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question.

(1) In the May 2011 Budget, the Government announced a measure to improve the Marriage Celebrants Program, including a move to cost recovery with the introduction of an annual registration fee. This aims to improve the services delivered to Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants including increased access to the Department, new technology and enhanced information. It will also allow the Commonwealth to effectively regulate Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants through strengthened application, performance review and complaints handling mechanisms.

Following the Budget announcement, the Department committed to extensive consultation on its details with marriage celebrants and the broader community. The Department hosted 17 face to face consultation meetings across Australia in October and November 2011. Of the approximately 10,300 marriage celebrants invited to attend a meeting, over 1,300 people responded that they intended to attend one of the meetings. Approximately 700 people attended a meeting.

Written submissions were also invited by 9 December 2011, regardless of attendance at a face to face meeting. Over 280 submissions were received from individuals and associations via email, mail or hand delivered during the consultation meetings.

National consultations have now concluded. A paper summarising the feedback provided through the consultations is on the Department's website at www.agd.gov.au/marriage. Further consultations will be held from mid-2012.

(2) No, submissions have not been published on the Attorney-General's Department website. Publishing the written submissions would be a significant resource undertaking for the Department in terms of scanning documents and seeking permission from writers. However, a paper summarising the feedback provided through the consultations is on the Department's website at www.agd.gov.au/marriage.

(3) The precise nature of the broader Program reforms, for example improvements to service delivery by the Attorney-General's Department to support marriage celebrants, are the subject of the consultation process. However, marriage celebrants can expect improved service and accessibility to the Department through an online celebrant portal, a dedicated phone service and enhanced written information, guidance and advice to assist marriage celebrants in performing their role. It will also allow the Commonwealth to effectively regulate Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants through strengthened application, performance review and complaints handling mechanisms.

(4) The reforms being undertaken to the Marriage Celebrants Program will deliver the benefits outlined in response to question (3). These will lead to less red tape and greater certainty in administration and advice for celebrants.

(5) No. The reforms to the Marriage Celebrants Program will enhance the relationship between marriage celebrants and the Attorney-General's Department by ensuring the financial viability of the Program over the long term. This will enable the Department to provide the benefits to marriage celebrants identified in the response to question (3) above and properly regulate the Program. The Department is committed to extensive and ongoing consultation with marriage celebrants and the broader community to ensure that improvements to the Program are well-directed and constructive.

(6) The Department is considering this issue. The subject of a scalable fee was discussed as part of the consultation process undertaken by the Attorney-General's Department. Some celebrants suggested that the fee be applied on a sliding scale depending on the number of weddings a celebrant performs annually, and that exemptions should also be available for people who are unwell or have compassionate circumstances. However, there was no majority view that a sliding scale was the preferred option.

(7) There is no intention to introduce measures that actively reduce the number of Commonwealth registered marriage celebrants.

(8) No.

(9) The precise nature of the broader Program reforms, for example improvements to service delivery by the Attorney-General's Department to support marriage celebrants, are the subject of the consultation process. However, celebrants can expect improved service and accessibility to the Department through an online celebrant portal, a dedicated phone service and updated written information, guidance and advice to assist marriage celebrants in performing their role. They can also expect improved standards of regulation by the Government through the Department.

(10) Couples give their Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) to their marriage celebrant who then lodges it with State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages when registering the marriage. The NOIM form is on the Attorney-General's Department website free of charge to be downloaded by couples or marriage celebrants.

This issue was raised through feedback from the consultations. The reforms to the program are unlikely to consider this issue at this time. However, the Department will consider this issue further should the opportunity to revise the marriage registration process arise.

(11) No. In the consultations undertaken by the Attorney-General's Department, some marriage celebrants suggested that a moratorium on new marriage celebrant appointments be reinstated until the Program reforms have been implemented. However, there was no majority view that this was the preferred option. The Government does not believe a moratorium would achieve the objectives of cost recovery, being to improve services and effectively regulate the Program, thereby improving the compliance and professionalism of marriage celebrants to the benefit of marrying couples and society more generally.

(12) Information for prospective marriage celebrants about the reality of the market and challenges of working as a celebrant is set out on the 'Becoming a celebrant' page of the Attorney General's Department website (Attachment A) and is also included in the application packages provided to prospective celebrants.

(13) The Commonwealth has Constitutional responsibility for marriage. This is why the Government funds the Marriage Celebrants Program. It is also why the Program, and regulation of Commonwealth registered marriage celebrants, is not the responsibility of State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

The Attorney-General's Regulation Impact Statement released soon after the announcement of the reforms considered the option of passing responsibility for regulation of marriage celebrants registered under the Program to State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages. This option was identified as not addressing the key objective as it would simply shift the problem of effective regulation of non compliant celebrants to the State and Territory authorities.

(14) The Australian Bureau of Statistics compiles data on religious and civil wedding ceremonies.

The term 'civil celebrants' groups both Commonwealth-registered civil celebrants and officers in State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages (the latter are not regulated by the Department). 'Religious celebrants' groups Ministers from Recognised Denominations and Commonwealth-registered ministers from non-aligned religious organisations (the former are not regulated by the Department). Therefore, the information on the number of civil marriages registered in Australia each year since 2002 is not entirely accurate for the purposes of administering the Marriage Celebrants Program. Based on these definitions, the number of 'civil weddings' registered each year since 2002 are in the following table.

(15) Information on how many celebrants have never performed a wedding is not held by this Department. While information could be sought from State and Territory Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages about how many celebrants have performed a wedding, it is not readily available and would be time and resource intensive.

(16) Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants must do five hours of ongoing professional development (OPD) each registration year (1 January to 31 December). OPD consists of one compulsory activity of one hour's duration, and elective activities.

OPD can only be completed through one of three registered training organisations on the Attorney General's Department's panel of OPD providers.

OPD is delivered using face-to-face, online or distance delivery methods. The average annual cost of OPD for marriage celebrants is $180 for face-to-face delivery, $140 for distance delivery and $160 for online delivery.

(17) The Registrar of Marriage Celebrants, in the Attorney-General's Department, reviews and approves the elective activities developed by the OPD panel before they are registered for delivery. The Department writes the content for the compulsory activity each year, and the panel develops it into a deliverable form.

The panel of OPD providers (see response to question (16) above), is responsible for reviewing the standard of OPD training for Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants and developing elective activities suitable for delivery of OPD using face-to-face, online or distance delivery methods.

An OPD Monitoring Group has been established to monitor OPD delivery and considers feedback from marriage celebrants about activities and suggestions for future topics. The Monitoring Group comprises representatives of the panel of OPD providers, the Coalition of Celebrant Associations (CoCA) (the peak representative body for Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants), and the Attorney-General's Department. CoCA represents the views of celebrants in this forum.

Finally, each of the OPD Panel members is a Registered Training Organisation which are monitored nationally by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). ASQA regulates courses and training providers to ensure nationally approved quality standards are met.