Celebrant (Australia) The program continued to progress and, at the end of 1995, was very close to becoming the mainstream procedure of contracting marriage. According to Messenger the period from 1995 to 2003 is recorded as being the most happily productive of the Civil Celebrant Movement in Australia. Funeral and Naming ceremonies, originally opposed by the majority of celebrants and the Attorney-General's Department, had gradually and imperceptibly become accepted. A group of celebrants under the leadership of Rick Barclay, a successful Funeral and Marriage Celebrant, had morphed the original Funeral Celebrants Association of Australia into an organisation which accepted all ceremonies and
Celebrant (Australia) Commonwealth Authorised Celebrant was more or less automatic, with the occasional exception. This system led to a proliferation of celebrants and excessive competition. It also led to a lowering of standards. In 2010, Melbourne journalist Mark Russell noted: many have inadequate training... The number of nuptial nightmares is soaring ... horror stories abound ... inexperienced celebrants have been accused of ruining wedding days because they don't know what they are doing. The article goes on to list the disastrous experience of many wedding days, the inadequacy of celebrant training, unpredictable cancellations by celebrants, the lowering of planning and rehearsing standards,