Marriage Act 1955

31 Place and form of marriage before marriage celebrant

(1)

Every marriage solemnised by a marriage celebrant shall be solemnised at a place described in the marriage licence issued in respect of that marriage.

(2)

Subject to subsection (3), every such marriage shall take place between the persons named in the licence according to such form and ceremony as they may think fit to adopt, and shall be solemnised in the presence of a marriage celebrant and 2 or more witnesses.

(3)

During the solemnisation of every such marriage each party must say to the other—

(a)

“I AB, take you CD, to be my legal wife or husband”; or

(b)

words to similar effect; or

(c)

in the case of the solemnisation of a marriage in accordance with the rules and procedures of a specified body that require different words to be used as a marriage vow than those set out in paragraph (a), those words.

(4)

The solemnisation of a marriage may not be conducted in accordance with subsection (3)(c) unless the specified body in question first—

(a)

informs the Registrar of the words that are intended to be used in place of the words set out in subsection (3)(a) and satisfies the Registrar that the use of those words is in accordance with the rules and procedures of that body; and

(b)

notifies the Registrar of the safeguards to be adopted by that body to ensure that—

(i)

there is a clear identification of the parties to the marriage; and

(ii)

that the parties freely consent to the marriage; and

(iii)

the witnesses understand the ceremony and can verify the matters referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii).

(5)

In this section, specified body means—

(a)

a religious body described in Schedule 1 or the subject of an exemption under section 32C:

(b)

an organisation approved under section 9 as an organisation that may nominate marriage celebrants.

Section 31: replaced, on 1 January 1977, by section 6 of the Marriage Amendment Act 1976 (1976 No 8).

Section 31(2): amended, on 7 May 1999, by section 3 of the Marriage Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 38).

Section 31(2): amended, on 15 December 1994, by section 2(1) of the Marriage Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 153).

Section 31(3): replaced, on 1 January 2002, by section 59 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).

Section 31(4): inserted, on 1 January 2002, by section 59 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).

Section 31(5): inserted, on 1 January 2002, by section 59 of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).