Legalities and Technology

A desk set up ready for online meetings with couples

Well what a few years it’s been navigating Covid 19, lockdowns, vaccinations, elections, and most recently a referendum. In the midst of all of this, Civil Marriage Celebrants around Australia dug deep and worked with authorities to ensure our couples received the best possible options to marry with their loved ones present.

In this time there were several changes granted to Celebrants to assist them in doing their work which involved technology. We embraced it wholeheartedly.

The first change was granted by the Commonwealth Attorney General’s office, electronic witnessing of the Notice of Intended Marriage. Celebrants can now witness the signing of the Notice of Intended Marriage remotely, as long as both parties are in Australia. So for some of my regional clients, this has been an absolute game-changer because they could meet up with me via a video call and chat from the comfort of their own lounge room. Once signed the couple simply scans the signed page and emails it to me. At that point I formally acknowledge that the Notice has been lodged. #Simple.

The second change is the ability to sight identification electronically. Once again the couple can share their ID while we’re having a video call or it can be emailed to me if we can’t meet in person for me to sight it. There are rules around how I can receive it so check with me when booking my services.

The third change which specifically relates to marriages conducted here in South Australia is that the office of Births Deaths and Marriages (BDM) now has an online portal that Celebrants can use. This is fantastic because all the paperwork is done electronically to register you marriage after the big day. The best part of this though is that I can now order your Registered Marriage Certificate on your behalf and you no longer have to wait weeks for notification of the registration to apply. I include this service in my fees now and you can expect to receive a hard copy of the certificate within ten days of your wedding via Registered Mail.

Technology is just amazing.

If you’re ready to marry now and get all the paperwork done, call me today.