Form 15 marriage certificate
This is the official site of the Australian Marriage Celebrants Program. Anything you read elsewhere that is inconsistent with this site is not accurate.
Marriage celebrants prepare three certificates for each marriage solemnised. They are:
- the certificate that will be forwarded to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the registration of the marriage
- the certificate given to the couple as their official record of the marriage—the Form 15 certificate, and
- the certificate retained by the marriage celebrant for their records.
From 1 September 2005, the prescribed Form 15 marriage certificate is the only certificate that can be given to a couple at their marriage. Marriage celebrants must record the number of each certificate issued and the details of the ceremony on the ‘Record of Use’ form supplied with each pack. The Record of Use form can also be downloaded from this site.
The Record of Use form must be retained by the marriage celebrant for a minimum of 6 years.
Old Form 15 marriage certificates, that is any pre-1 September 2005 version, can no longer be issued. Please dispose of safely any unused stock (eg by shredding or incineration).
The certificates must be purchased from the authorised supplier only. Orders can be placed by telephoning the authorised supplier, Canprint Communications, on its toll-free number: 1300 656 863.
Templates for printing text on the new Form 15 marriage certificates
The Australian Government Attorney-General's Department has developed two templates to assist marriage celebrants who prepare the details for the Form 15 certificates on a computer. The templates are designed as a guide to the placement of text on the Form and can be saved to your personal computer.
PLEASE NOTE: It is not possible to develop a template that will suit every computer program or every printer.
You are advised to experiment with the templates by printing on blank paper before printing on either of the official Form 15 marriage certificates (there is a certificate for civil ceremonies and a certificate for religious ceremonies). There is also a choice of two MS Word templates, both which can be read by a number of software applications.
PLEASE NOTE: Using large fonts may affect the placement of text.
