Marriage Act 1961

Subject to this section, a marriage shall not be solemnised unless:

notice in writing of the intended marriage has been given in accordance with this section and has been received by the authorised celebrant solemnising the marriage not earlier than 18 months before the date of the marriage and not later than 1 month before the date of the marriage; and

there has been produced to that authorised celebrant, in respect of each of the parties:

an official certificate, or an official extract of an entry in an official register, showing the date and place of birth of the party; or

a passport issued by a government of an overseas country, showing the date and place of birth of the party; or

an Australian passport, showing the date and place of birth of the party; or

identification material of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subparagraph, showing the date and place of birth of the party; or

if it is impracticable for the party to obtain a certificate or official extract referred to in subparagraph (i) and the party does not have a current passport referred to in subparagraph (iii) or (iv) or identification material referred to in subparagraph (iva)—a statutory declaration made by the party or a parent of the party stating that, for reasons specified in the declaration, it is impracticable to obtain a certificate or official extract referred to in subparagraph (i) and stating, to the best of the declarant’s knowledge and belief and as accurately as the declarant has been able to ascertain, when and where the party was born; and

each of the parties has made and subscribed in the physical presence of that authorised celebrant a declaration, in writing, as to:

the party’s conjugal status;

the party’s belief that there is no legal impediment to the marriage; and

such other matters as are prescribed.

A notice under subsection (1):

must contain such particulars in relation to the parties as are prescribed; and

must be signed by each of the parties; and

if a party signs the notice in Australia—must be signed under the observation (whether or not by means of a facility that enables audio and visual communication between persons in different places) of one of the following, who must also be in Australia:

an authorised celebrant;

a Commissioner for Declarations under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959;

a justice of the peace;

a barrister or solicitor;

a medical practitioner;

a member of the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory; and

if a party signs the notice outside Australia—must be signed under the observation (whether or not by means of a facility that enables audio and visual communication between persons in different places) of one of the following, who must also be outside Australia:

an Australian Diplomatic Officer;

an Australian Consular Officer;

a notary public;

an employee of the Commonwealth authorised under paragraph 3(c) of the Consular Fees Act 1955;

an employee of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission authorised under paragraph 3(d) of the Consular Fees Act 1955.

However, if the signature of a party to an intended marriage cannot conveniently be obtained at the time when it is desired to give notice under this section, a notice duly signed by the other party and otherwise complying with the provisions of this section shall, if it is signed by the first‑mentioned party under the observation (whether or not by means of a facility that enables audio and visual communication between persons in different places) of an authorised celebrant in Australia before the marriage is solemnised, be deemed to have been a sufficient notice.

Where a party to an intended marriage is unable, after reasonable inquiry, to ascertain all of the particulars in relation to that party required to be contained in a notice under this section, the failure to include in the notice such of those particulars as the party is unable to ascertain does not make the notice ineffective for the purposes of this section if, at any time before the marriage is solemnised, that party furnishes to the authorised celebrant solemnising the marriage a statutory declaration as to that party’s inability to ascertain the particulars not included in the notice and the reason for that inability.

Despite a notice required by subsection (1) having been received later than 1 month before the date of the marriage, a prescribed authority may authorise an authorised celebrant to solemnise a marriage if the authority is satisfied that one or more of the circumstances prescribed in the regulations have been met.

An authorised celebrant shall, as soon as practicable after receiving the notice referred to in subsection (1), give to the parties a document outlining the obligations and consequences of marriage and indicating the availability of marriage education and counselling.

If:

a notice of intention to marry has been given to an authorised celebrant under this section; and

either:

because of the death, absence or illness of the authorised celebrant, or for any other reason, it is impracticable for that person to solemnise the marriage; or

the parties to the intended marriage have requested the authorised celebrant to give the notice to another authorised celebrant;

The declarations of the parties required by subsection (1) shall both be written on the one paper and on the same side of that paper.

An authorised celebrant shall not solemnise a marriage:

unless the authorised celebrant has satisfied himself or herself that the parties are the parties referred to in the notice given under this section in relation to the marriage; or

if the authorised celebrant has reason to believe that:

a notice given under this section; or

a declaration made and subscribed under this section, or a statutory declaration made for the purposes of this section;

An authorised celebrant:

may permit an error in a notice under this section to be corrected by either of the parties:

under the observation (whether or not by means of a facility that enables audio and visual communication between persons in different places) of the authorised celebrant, if the authorised celebrant is in Australia; and

at any time before the marriage to which it relates has been solemnised; and

may treat the corrected notice as having been originally given in its corrected form.

Where the declaration made by a party under subsection (1) states that that party is a divorced person or that that party’s last spouse has died, an authorised celebrant shall not solemnise the marriage unless there is produced to him or her evidence of that party’s divorce, or of the death of that party’s spouse, as the case requires.