Funeral celebrant Australia and then in other Western countries, it was inevitable that a similar philosophical paradigm would be applied to secular funerals. A civil funeral celebrant is an individual person, quite often, but not necessarily, an authorised civil marriage celebrant, who offers to perform civil funerals in a dignified and culturally acceptable manner, for those who, for whatever reason, do not choose a religious ceremony. Civil funeral celebrants also serve people who have religious beliefs but do not wish to be buried or cremated from a church, temple or mosque. More frequently, people choose civil funeral celebrants because they wish a
Celebrant (Australia) cent of Australian marriages were performed by civil celebrants. However, the rate of civil marriages varied between states and territories, with a civil marriage rate of 86.6% in the Northern Territory, 83.6% in Tasmania, 81.7% in Western Australia, 81.2% in Queensland, 77.8% in South Australia, 77.3% in Victoria, 76.6% in the Australian Capital Territory and 75% in New South Wales. Marriage by independent civil celebrant has spread in other English-speaking countries. Its early establishment in Australia was largely due to the support of the reforming Attorney-General Lionel Murphy in the 1970s. A civil marriage celebrant is a private person authorised