Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General;
Services and Access
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
Work on our modernisation programme – Te Ara Manaaki is progressing at pace. We are currently in the final stages of tendering for a new BDM (civil registration) computer system to replace our current 1990’s technology.
During the last few weeks I have been on the road asking iwi if they would like to see us collecting iwi affiliation as part of birth and/or marriage registration processes. There are a range of views – please let me know if you have any thoughts.
Our service designers have also been out talking to a range of celebrants about their experiences of our processes and services. This is the first step of our consultation in the wider births, deaths and marriages sector to help us shape the way we provide services in the future. See article below for some of the insights to date. We’re still collecting feedback by email at TalkTo.TeAraManaaki@dia.govt.nz.
Work has progressed on an independent celebrants complaint process to be launched in December. Take the opportunity to read about the proposed process in this newsletter and to provide feedback.
I have set the start and end dates for the next renewal and while that's still a few weeks away, now is the time to make sure your contact details are up to date.
Keep safe.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
Consultation on complaints process
We are developing a complaints process for couples a result of the review of the appointment and renewal of independent celebrants and our email survey of married couples that was detailed in Ngātahi 16 October 2020.The process will be designed to be fair, accessible, responsive and effective for all parties.
We are proposing a celebrants complaints process that:
- Enables complaints from married couples where the celebrant:
- Did not perform their duties in accordance with the Marriages Act
- Is not a person of good character
- Intentionally made mistakes or provided false information to BDM. - The process will not cover complaints about non-legislated elements, such as the quality of the ceremony or failing to meet the couples requirements.
- Provides a visible complaints process on www.govt.nz/bdm and through our communication with recently married couples.
- Provides a customer focused process that is visible, accessible, responsive, objective, fair and confidential.
- States the information required to make a complaint and how we will respond to the complaint. Information to include: name of couple, name of celebrant, date and place of marriage, information of complaint, any evidence, outcome being sought.
- Provides information on what we will not investigate e.g. refund of money paid to the celebrant.
- Responds to the complainant and celebrant in a prompt objective, fair and in confidence manner.
- Provides accountability and learning for ongoing improvements of celebrants.
Possible outcomes for marriage celebrants could be:
- No action required or it is not a complaint that we have jurisdiction over
- Celebrant directed to improve their performance
- Celebrant registration will not be renewed in the next year of renewal
- Serious offence requiring a separate legal process.
The complaints process is scheduled to be launched in December 2021.
If you have feedback or questions on the proposed complaints process, email celebrantfeedback@dia.govt.nz by Sunday 29 August. There will also be an opportunity for CANZ members to attend a zoom meeting about the proposal in September.
Full description of where marriage was solemnised and full address
Regardless of what is written on the Marriage Licence (BDM10) as the intended place of marriage, the "Full description of where marriage was solemnised and full address" that the celebrant prints on the Copy of Particulars of Marriage (BDM45/45A) after the ceremony must be exactly that, a full, complete and accurate description of where the marriage occurred.
If the marriage occurred within New Zealand's territorial sea or airspace (being 12 nautical miles from the low-water mark along the coast of NZ), it may be necessary to include the latitude and longitude to establish the exact place of marriage.
Complete the paperwork after the ceremony
We know celebrants want to have everything prepared and ready before the ceremony so it all goes smoothly on the day but we ask that you don't prefill the Copy of Particulars of Marriage (BDM45/45A) with date, place, witnesses etc.
The Particulars of Marriage must be completed and signed after the ceremony to ensure that it is an accurate record of what actually happened, not what the celebrant thought was going to happen.
When you need an interpreter
If any of the couple and 2 witnesses speak a different language to you (including sign language) you’ll need an interpreter. A translator is especially required during the part of the ceremony when the couple speak their vows to each other so you know that the legal requirements have been met. The interpreter has to sign a declaration before the ceremony to say they’ll interpret what you say accurately. The interpreter can be anyone that is confident they can translate the language correctly.
The Declaration for an interpreter form (BDM35T) is available for download at www.govt.nz/organisations/births-deaths-and-marriages/information-for-marriage-celebrants/performing-a-marriage-or-civil-union-ceremony/
After the ceremony, a scan or photo of the completed BDM35T form should be emailed with the Particulars of Marriage (BDM45) to bdmtoregister@dia.govt.nz.
Celebrants give their views
Te Ara Manaaki's first round of user research in the birth, death and marriage sector has turned up some common themes. The team spoke to 8 celebrants across Auckland, the Waikato and Wellington.
"The first thing is that interestingly, people are generally satisfied with our current systems and say they have great experiences when dealing with our staff," service design lead Jess Lowe says.
"In the marriages sector, celebrants that perform registry ceremonies were wary of having to do too much admin as they were being paid only a $90 fee. They were frustrated that the task of finding a replacement celebrant fell to them if they were unable to perform a ceremony, and also said couples were unintentionally blurring the line between simple registry weddings and personalised ones due to confusion between the two options.
“Organisational celebrants find the renewal process cumbersome as they have to get the names, ages, addresses and signatures of 10 people from their organisation to confirm that their celebrants are of good character. Some celebrants are concerned that there are too many celebrants being appointed, and others said that although they had expected becoming a celebrant would be difficult, as being a ‘government representative’ is a big responsibility, it wasn’t as difficult as expected.”
2022 celebrant renewal starts soon
The annual renewal for celebrants starts in a couple of months:
- Independent celebrants: Opens 4 October and closes at midnight 26 October 2021.
- Organisational celebrants: Opens 1 November and closes at midnight 30 November 2021.
We will send a more detailed newsletter closer to the time but for now:
RealMe
If you have not already verified your identity or wish to confirm your login details are still correct visit www.realme.govt.nz.
If you need to apply for a verified identity please start now as once you have taken your application number (and if required, other documents for scanning) to a participating photo store, you'll need to allow a further five working days for Internal Affairs to confirm if your identity is verified. Follow the instructions at www.realme.govt.nz/how-apply/
Keep your contact details up to date
Make sure your contact details are up to date by logging in to the self-service portal at: www.govt.nz/organisations/births-deaths-and-marriages/information-for-marriage-celebrants/update-your-celebrant-registration-details/
Not used the portal before
If you are an independent celebrant or the central contact for a church/organisation and have not used the portal before, email celebrants@dia.govt.nz with your name and celebrant number to obtain your personalised link.
