Celebrants, couples and the entire wedding vendor community were all dismayed to hear the news that a fake celebrant had performed bogus ceremonies while pretending to be a celebrant. I understand how worrying this is for couples who want to get legally married and book a celebrant in good faith that they will be legally married at the end of their ceremony! So I’m going to share with you a quick and easy way you can check if your Marriage Celebrant is a real wedding celebrant.
But first, some background on the case.
What exactly is a real Wedding Celebrant?
Today, approximately 80% of marriages in Australia are performed by Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrants.
The Marriage Celebrants Program was introduced in 1973 to provide a meaningful alternative for couples not wanting to marry in a religious institution or at a Registry Office.
Real and legitimate celebrants are appointed by the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department after completing a Cert IV in Celebrancy and a lengthy application process. They must be committed to professionalism and sensitivity in their performance of marriage ceremonies and must follow a complex set of legal rules under the Marriage Act.
Legally, celebrants are called 'Marriage Celebrants', but most people call them 'Wedding Celebrants'.
Fake Marriage Celebrant arrested
In February 2024, the Australian Federal Police arrested a man for pretending to be a marriage celebrant and performing fake ceremonies. Five couples who thought this person was a real celebrant now discovered that despite having a wedding, they were were not actually married.
Between March 2022 and April 2023 these couples booked this man as their celebrant. He took their money and performed their ceremonies as a fake celebrant, but couldn’t look after the legalities of their marriage because he didn’t have the authority as a Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrant.
“The man, 31, pretended to be an authorised celebrant while defrauding five couples between $700 - $1000 dollars each for his marriage services between March 2022 and April 2023.
The fake celebrant illegally solemnised the marriages of five couples in Victoria on their respective wedding days during the same period. All marriages performed by the offender are considered invalid.” – AFP media release
Bogus Celebrant sentenced
The man faced the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on Monday 24 June 2024, where he pled guilty to:
Four counts of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person, contrary to s 101 of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth); and
One count of impersonation of public official, namely an authorised celebrant, contrary to s 148.1(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
“Impersonating an authorised and registered marriage celebrant in Australia is an extremely deceitful act and this could have had serious financial, religious, and legal consequences for the couples who were victims of this deception,” Det-Supt Tankard said.
How do we check that our celebrant is real, legit and not a fake?
While this is a very unusual and rare occurrence, it’s understandable that you would want to know if your celebrant is legit.
And the good news is, there’s an easy way to check that your celebrant is 'real' - that is, can legally marry you.
The Commonwealth Attorney General’s department has a list of all the real, legit, non-fake Registered Marriage Celebrants in Australia. That’s all celebrants – civil and religious (eg if you’re getting married by a minister or priest). And it’s on their website in a searchable database. You can search by celebrant’s name or by state or postcode.
Here’s the link https://marriage.ag.gov.au/commonwealthcelebrants/all
Tell me more about the Australian celebrant who defrauded couples
I’ve copied the full media release from the Australian Federal Police below. You can see the original at this link https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/marriage-fraud-fake-celebrant-sentenced-after-defrauding-five-couples
Marriage fraud: Fake celebrant sentenced after defrauding five couples
A Melbourne man has been sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to impersonating a Commonwealth officer and performing fake ceremonies solemnising five invalid marriages.
The man, 31, pretended to be an authorised celebrant while defrauding five couples between $700 - $1000 dollars each for his marriage services between March 2022 and April 2023.
The fake celebrant illegally solemnised the marriages of five couples in Victoria on their respective wedding days during the same period. All marriages performed by the offender are considered invalid.
AFP officers commenced their investigation after the fifth couple reported the man, unable to locate his name on the register of authorised celebrants.
The AFP arrested the man on Monday 19 February, 2024, following confirmation from the Attorney-General’s Department that he was not an authorised marriage celebrant registered under the Commonwealth.
The man faced the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on Monday 24 June 2024, where he pled guilty to:
Four counts of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person, contrary to s 101 of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth); and
One count of impersonation of public official, namely an authorised celebrant, contrary to s 148.1(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
He was handed a six-month Community Corrections Order (CCO) with a single condition of performing 50 hours’ of community work.
AFP Detective Superintendent Donna Tankard said this was a unique case that could have had serious repercussions for the couples who were married under deceptive circumstances.
“Impersonating an authorised and registered marriage celebrant in Australia is an extremely deceitful act and this could have had serious financial, religious, and legal consequences for the couples who were victims of this deception,” Det-Supt Tankard said.
“The AFP has a zero-tolerance approach to individuals committing fraud, and other forms of corruption. The AFP will continue to work with its state and Commonwealth law enforcement partners to proactively target, identify, and disrupt fraudsters who are attempting to exploit and profit from members of the community.”