Who can conduct a wedding ceremony?
In Australia, a person needs to undertake training, be deemed competent in their studies, apply to the Attorney General's Department and then if successful with their application, be appointed.
The training that is required is Certificate IV in Celebrancy CHC41015. A person must also be deemed "fit and proper" - after all Celebrants have a legal responsibility - it's certainly an honour to be appointed.
Once appointed, a celebrant needs to undertake 5 hours of ongoing professional development each year. This is a great chance for celebrants to keep up to date with any changes within the industry and learn new things.
On the other hand, Namings, Renewals, Commitments, Funerals and Memorials can be conducted by anyone. The choice is yours, however you would most likely engage the services of an experienced civil celebrant who can steer and guide you in the right direction.
Looking back to when I decided to become a celebrant and I did my training in April of 2006, I have conducted/officiated at literally thousand's of life's ceremonies and have met some really lovely people along the way - people that I have remained in contact with to this day. And I am so glad I made that decision. It's a very rewarding and fulfilling vocation.
If you, or anyone you know is interested in undertaking training, I can highly recommended " The Unleashed Collective" Jill, the owner, is very passionate about training and helping people. I myself did some further training with The Unleashed Collective last year so I was up to date with the qualification as mentioned above. It is not a requirement for celebrants, but I personally like to keep up to date.
You can find their details here:-
https://www.facebook.com/TheUnleashedCollective/
OR
Information on becoming a marriage celebrant can be found here on the Attorney General's website:-
https://www.ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Pages/become-a-marriage-celebrant.aspx
