Marriage equality
Term of Reference
(c) potential amendments to improve the effect of the bill and the likelihood of achieving the support of the Senate
Recommendation 8:
That if the government proceeds with Section 47A, then Section 47 (2) (i) read “
(i) longer notice of intention to marry than that required by this Act is given” (11)
Why is this a concern?
Confusion about what length of notice to be married is required by the Marriage Act will lead to inconvenience of and unfair treatment of couples as different interpretations are applied.
Rationale:
Note: The principles behind the following recommendations 9 to 11 are based upon The Coalition of Celebrant Associations (CoCA) Inc. ’s 10-year goals. (Attachment 4)
(c) potential amendments to improve the effect of the bill and the likelihood of achieving the support of the Senate
Recommendation 8:
That if the government proceeds with Section 47A, then Section 47 (2) (i) read “
(i) longer notice of intention to marry than that required by this Act is given” (11)
Why is this a concern?
Confusion about what length of notice to be married is required by the Marriage Act will lead to inconvenience of and unfair treatment of couples as different interpretations are applied.
Rationale:
- Whilst it has been argued that the proposed change “earlier than” is more consistent with other expressions in the Act, the reading of this expression depends upon the reference point at which the “earlier than” applies. For example,
- if the point is the latest date the Notice can be lodged a month before the date of the wedding, such as 2nd August for a wedding on the 3rd September, then the expression “earlier than” means the minister can require the Notice to be lodged by say the 2nd July i.e. longer than the month’s notice required by the Act.
- if the point is the date of the wedding, say the 3rd September, then the expression “earlier than” can be interpreted as meaning the minister can require the Notice to be
earlier than the one month’s notice, and request the Notice to be lodged on, say the 20th August, which would be only two weeks notice and thus not the one month’s notice required by the Act.
- if the point is the latest date the Notice can be lodged a month before the date of the wedding, such as 2nd August for a wedding on the 3rd September, then the expression “earlier than” means the minister can require the Notice to be lodged by say the 2nd July i.e. longer than the month’s notice required by the Act.
- The expression in the current Section 47 “(i) longer notice of intention to marry than that required by this Act is given” makes the point of reference clearly the date of the marriage is to be solemnised.
- Plain English is one of the benefits of the current Marriage Act. Using legal expressions is more likely to lead to confusion, particular with authorised celebrants for whom English is a second language.
Note: The principles behind the following recommendations 9 to 11 are based upon The Coalition of Celebrant Associations (CoCA) Inc. ’s 10-year goals. (Attachment 4)
