Celebrant (Australia) boats etc.) and at any time of the day or night. The celebrant is responsible for processing and lodging all legal paperwork to register the marriage in accordance with defined procedures. This gives the Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant more status than they enjoy in other western countries, but also additional legal responsibility. From 1975 a defined group of marriage and non-marriage celebrants declared themselves as Funeral Celebrants. Many celebrants who are currently awaiting appointment as marriage celebrants and who cannot yet perform marriage ceremonies are practising as general celebrants in the community. Authorised marriage celebrants also frequently offer general celebrant
Celebrant (Australia) fee, those who stayed practising marriage celebrants did far too many marriages to earn enough remuneration for their personal needs. Despite Lionel Murphy’s clear declarations to the contrary, some powerful public servants began to classify the office of marriage celebrant as a "community service" which led to a further deterioration of professional standards. Says Messenger: "… the public service and the government had all but destroyed the Civil Marriage Celebrant Program by freezing the fee, forcing down standards and frustrating the good celebrants out of the business." Despite these debilitating policy initiatives, a minority core of celebrants sustained high standards.