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Conflict of Interest

"Under paragraph 39I(1)(b) of the Marriage Act 1961, if the Registrar of Marriage Celebrants is satisfied that a marriage celebrant has not complied with an obligation under section 39G of that Act, including this Code of Practice, the Registrar may take disciplinary measures against the marriage celebrant."


ACCN Opinion (nb: NOT fact) on Marriage Celebrant Conflict of Interest

The Marriage Celebrant Section has not as yet issued general prinicples upon which Conflict of Interest is assessed as every situation is slightly different. Below however is a statement the MCS has issued as regards Wedding Planner and Marriage Celebrant roles.

Here is the ACCN's view of how Conflict of Interest for marriage celebrants needs to be perceived.

As marriage is an important binding legal contract, with associated property and inheritance rights, as well as possible custody rights,  the couple needs to be:

  1. free of any actual or perceived pressure to marry
  2. free to choose the type of celebrant, venue and associated products, services for the ceremony and style of marriage ceremony (within the limits set by the Marriage Act and Regulations),
  3. free to choose the specific celebrant they wish to perform their marriage, if that celebrant is willing and available.

and thus the celebrant, as the person organising, witnessing and arranging the registration of that legal contract:

  1. needs to be free of any actual or perceived conflict of interest  in performing the duties of their appointment
  2. needs to be transparent in the disclosure of the all the fees related to their engagement by the couple to use their services as a marriage celebrant
  3. and
  4. should not use their government appointment to directly or indirectly market their own or other family members marriage celebrant services nor  non-ceremony products and or services

To read more about the ACCN position on "Conflict of Interest" click here.

Wedding Planners and Conflict of Interest from the Marriage Celebrant Section of the Attorney General's Website.

A question regarding being part of a wedding planner's package was recently put to the MCS by one of the CoCA Associations - they received the following advice from the Marriage Celebrant Section of the Attorney General's Website.

UNCLASSIFIED

Thank you for your email of 19 August 2010.

You have asked whether wedding planners should be able to include a ceremony (marriage) in their service packages.

Please note that the Attorney-General’s Department does not provide legal advice to marriage celebrants, however the following general information may be of assistance to you.

Clause 5 of the Code of Practice for marriage celebrants provides that celebrants must ensure that they give the parties information and guidance to enable them to choose or compose a marriage ceremony that will meet their needs and expectations.  It is unclear how a celebrant may be able to ensure that they have complied with this clause in the Code of Practice where their services are included as part of a wedding package.  This is because, where a celebrant’s services are provided as part of a wedding package, couples are not free to chose their celebrant and may not be able to chose their exact ceremony.

In addition, providing your services as a celebrant as part of a wedding package may also give rise to a conflict of interest.  A marriage celebrant must avoid conflicts of interests between his or her work as a celebrant and other business interests.  Paragraphs 39C(2)(e) and (f) of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) impose a strict standard on marriage celebrants.  Whether a conflict of interest exists are factors the Registrar must consider in being satisfied that the celebrant is a ‘fit and proper person’.  Generally, the most straightforward way for a celebrant to avoid an actual or a potential conflict of interest (pargraph 39C(e)) in relation to the performance of their marriage celebrant activities, is to keep any business interests entirely separate and not provide services to clients across business areas.

Please note, in the event that a celebrant was to decide to go ahead and tie their services to that of a wedding planner, the celebrant would be required to notify the Registrar in writing, within 30 days of this action. This is because this may amount to an event which might have caused the Registrar not to register the person as a marriage celebrant (paragraph 39G(c) of the Marriage Act).  Failure to notify the Registrar may result in a finding that the celebrant has not complied with their obligations under section 39G of the Marriage Act, and may lead to the Registrar taking disciplinary measures under section 39I of the Marriage Act.

We hope this information assists you.

Kind regards

Marriage Celebrants Section

(NFJ)

T: 02 6141 3111
F: 02 6141 3246
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