Marriage Regulations 2017 Regulation 73 - Certificate of marriage

Marriage Regulations 2017

In force on 5 Jan 2026

Marriage Regulations 2017 Regulation 73

Certificate of marriage

MR2017 reg.73 Browse all regulations

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MR2017 reg.73

73 Certificate of marriage

Form of certificate of marriage

(1) For the purposes of paragraph 50(1)(a) of the Act, the form prescribed for a certificate of marriage is Form 15 in Schedule 1.

(2) A certificate of marriage for a marriage solemnised under Division 2 of Part IV of the Act is not in the prescribed form unless:

(a) the wording of the certificate strictly complies with Form 15 in Schedule 1; and

(b) the certificate is on a document:

(i) prepared and supplied as an incomplete certificate by a person authorised under subsection (3); and

(ii) identifiable as a unique document by measures acceptable to the Minister.

(3) The Minister may, by notifiable instrument, authorise a person for the purposes of subparagraph (2)(b)(i).

(4) The Minister must ensure that only one person is authorised for the purposes of subparagraph (2)(b)(i) at any time.

Record keeping

(5) A person who is or was an authorised celebrant in relation to marriages solemnised in Australia must keep, in accordance with subsection (6), the following records for each document referred to in paragraph (2)(b) supplied to the person:

(a) any serial number printed on the document by the supplier;

(b) if used by the person—the date of, and full names of the parties to, the marriage;

(c) if transferred to another authorised celebrant—the date of the transfer and the full name and authorisation number (if any) of the other authorised celebrant;

(d) if destroyed—the date of and reason for the destruction;

(e) if any other event occurs in relation to the document—the date and other relevant details of the event.

(6) The records kept under subsection (5) by a person must be kept:

(a) in a form acceptable to the Minister; and

(b) for a period of 6 years starting on the day after the date of the event referred to in paragraph (5)(b), (c), (d) or (e) unless:

(i) the person dies, or becomes permanently incapacitated, before the end of that period; or

(ii) if the person is authorised under section 39 of the Act—the authorisation ceases before the end of that period.

(7) If a person is required to keep records under subsection (5), the Minister may, by written notice, request the person to give a copy of the records to a specified person within a specified period.