Legal Requirements to Marry in Australia

Under the marriage Act 1961 there are certain obligations that you, as a couple intending to get married, must meet prior to a marriage ceremony being solemnised:

To be eligible to marry in Australia you must be over the age of 18, not already lawfully married or in a prohibited relationship (this means you cannot be too closely related to each other). Same sex marriage IS legal in Australia.

A Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) must be lodged with your Marriage Celebrant no less than one calendar month and no more than eighteen months prior to the marriage being solemnised. For example, if you lodged the notice on the 25th of June, the earliest date you could get married would be the 25th of July.

You can download the NOIM or I can provide you with it when we meet.

You are required to produce your original Birth Certificate, authorised extract, or passport. Birth Certificates can be obtained from the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the State in which you were born.

In Queensland for example, you can click on this link.

You are also required to provide photographic evidence of identity - one of these is acceptable: a driver's licence, a proof of age/photo card, an Australian or overseas passport or a Certificate of Australian Citizenship along with another form of photo ID.

Previously married

In the case of persons who have been previously married, a copy of the Decree Absolute, Divorce Order or Death Certificate, whichever is applicable, must be produced. Some overseas countries, such as the Philippines, do not have a divorce system, rather they have an annulment process. There must be produced an order of annulment in regards to any dissolved marriage in such countries.

Declaration of no legal impediment

Prior to your wedding, both partners will be required to sign a declaration, under the Marriage Act 1961, stating that you believe there is no legal impediment to the marriage between yourself and your partner. This is a legal document and under Section 11 of the Statutory Declaration Act 1959, it is an offence to make false statement and is punishable by imprisonment for a term of four years.

Under 18

Under the marriage Act 1961, two persons under the age of the eighteen cannot marry. A person aged sixteen or seventeen can marry a person eighteen or over but they must obtain parental consent and approval of a court of law. Persons of sixteen and under cannot marry under any circumstances and two people under the age of eighteen cannot marry each other.

Witnesses

Two people over the age of 18 are required to witness your marriage and sign the Marriage Register and Certificates.

The Ceremony

While there are many optional components that you can choose to include in your wedding ceremony there are a few things that are not negotiable. Your celebrant must introduce him/herself and he or she must include the following:

• The Monitum:

  I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

  These words cannot be altered.

• Declaration of Intention to Marry:

  This is your public declaration and the only legal part that you both must say to each other during the ceremony. This part is often followed by the couple's personal vows to each other. You must each say the following:

  I call upon the people here present to witness that I, (name), take you, (name), to be my lawful wedded wife/husband/spouse.

Both the Monitum and the Declaration of Intention MUST be spoken at your ceremony otherwise your marriage will not be valid.