How to Become a Marriage Celebrant in Australia

If you want to legally marry people in Australia, you need to be authorised. A good speaking voice, a nice outfit, and a deep love of weddings are lovely. They are not authorisation.

This is the official pathway in plain English, with links to the Attorney-General’s Department so you can check the current rules before you spend money.

Last reviewed: 2 July 2026.

The three broad types of authorised celebrants

The Attorney-General’s Department explains that there are three broad kinds of authorised marriage celebrants in Australia:

ministers of religion of a recognised denomination
state and territory officers from a registry of births, deaths and marriages or a court
Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants, including civil and religious marriage celebrants

Most people asking “how do I become a celebrant?” mean the third option: becoming a Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrant.

What registration requires

For a Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrant, the Registrar of Marriage Celebrants must be satisfied that you:

are at least 18 years old
hold the required qualification or skills
are a fit and proper person to solemnise marriages

The standard qualification path is a Certificate IV in Celebrancy, or an equivalent university qualification. There is also a skills pathway in limited circumstances, such as serving Indigenous communities with skills in an Australian Indigenous language.

Important: completing a qualification does not automatically make you a celebrant. You still need to apply, be assessed, and be registered before you can advertise services, accept a NOIM, or solemnise marriages.

The application and costs

As at this review date, the official AGD pages list:

a $400 registration application fee
a $170 annual charge for registered Commonwealth celebrants
a $30 fee for some exemption applications

Fees can change, so always check the current AGD pages before making decisions:

What the job legally asks of you

The celebrant is not just the person with the microphone. You are personally responsible for meeting important legal requirements.

That includes:

receiving the Notice of Intended Marriage in the correct time window
checking identity, date and place of birth, and evidence that any previous marriage has ended
ensuring each party makes the declaration of no legal impediment
meeting separately and in person with each party before the marriage is solemnised
being satisfied that both parties are freely consenting
saying the required legal words and ensuring the couple says the minimum legal vows
preparing, signing, retaining, and lodging the correct marriage documents

Start with the couple-facing version here: Wedding Legal FAQs in Australia.

Professional development

Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants must complete compulsory professional development every calendar year, unless an exemption applies.

For 2026, the Attorney-General’s Department says there are two compulsory professional development activities due by 31 December 2026: one on separate in-person meetings and one law knowledge activity in the Marriage Celebrants Portal.

Current pages:

The Code of Practice

The Code of Practice sits in the Marriage Regulations 2017 and is more practical than people expect. It covers things couples actually care about: accuracy, punctuality, reasonable and timely responses, privacy, secure handling of personal documents, and helping couples access information and relationship services.

In other words, being a celebrant is not just “performing”. It is admin, law, privacy, logistics, pastoral care, public speaking, and emotional steadiness.

My honest advice

Do the legal pathway properly, then build the craft.

The law gives you permission to solemnise a marriage. It does not automatically make you good at ceremonies. For that side of the work, read my personal guide: How to Be a Celebrant - The 22 Rules.

The job is better than it looks from the outside, and also harder. You carry a moment that will sit in people’s memories for decades. Take the law seriously, take the couple seriously, and take yourself just seriously enough to keep improving.