Marriage and the Law
The Marriage Act 1961 states:
The legal age in Australia to be married is 18 years.
Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
A marriage shall be solemnised by or in the presence of an authorised celebrant who is authorised under the marriage Act 1961to solemnise marriages at the place where the marriage takes place.
A marriage may be solemnised on any day, at any time and at any place.
By law, two witnesses are required to act a witnesses to the marriage at the actual ceremony. The witnesses must each be over the age of 18 years.
A Notice of Intended Marriage Form (NOIM) must be completed and be lodged with the celebrant at least one month and one day prior to the intended wedding date. This from will be provided by the celebrant at the first pre marriage meeting or it can be down loaded for the Internet by clicking NOIM and using Adobe Reader 7 to view it.
The law requires that you provide the following documents to the marriage celebrant, preferably at the first pre marriage meeting:
Australia Citizens - the original a certified
copy of each person's birth certificate.
Non Australian citizens - the original birth certificate or a current
passport (from the country of birth) for each person.
Where either party has been previously
married, documentary evidence of the divorce must be provided.
Where a previous partner has died, a death certificate must be provided.
If either party has changed their name by Deed Poll, then documents certifying this name change must be produced.
In some instances s Statutory Declaration will need to be completed to substantiate some of the above. I will be able to provide you with the necessary Statutory Declaration forms.
Where a marriage is solemnised by or in the presence of an authorised celebrant, not being a minister of religion, it is sufficient if each of the parties to the marriage say to each other in the presence of the authorised celebrant and the required witnesses the words:
"I call upon the persons here present to witness at I _____ take thee _____ to be my lawful wedded wife (or husband)"; or words to that effect.
Where a marriage has been solemnised by or in the presence of an authorised celebrant, a certificate of the marriage is prepared and signed in accordance with section 50 is conclusive evidence that the marriage was solemnised in accordance with this section.
Information from the Marriage Act 1961