Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General;
Services and Access
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
It is great to back after almost three months away. I worked on developing an action plan to improve birth and death registration in Papua New Guinea. This involved two trips to PNG with lots of meetings and site visits plus two large workshops. Only 1 in 6 babies and 1 in 100 deaths are registered so there is lots to improve! I'll be going back to PNG for one final visit in November to launch the plan.
Last month we let you know of our review of the celebrant appointment process. Some of the initial responses we received are summarized in this newsletter. I intend to deliver the outcome of the review at the Celebrants Association of New Zealand national conference in 2020.
This summer validated CANZ members will perform registry-style ceremonies in Wellington. In time the same is likely to happen in Auckland and Christchurch. We'll keep you informed in future editions of Ngātahi.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
Number of ceremonies published
We have been getting lots of requests for information on “the top 10 independent celebrants in xx region”. On 8 October we published information on the Internet so that in future when we get questions, we can refer people to the website. It also means that independent celebrants can see how many they have done and also how many others have done. We've included the postcode so people can see who is busiest in their area. The only caveat is that the data is driven off celebrants putting their celebrant registration number accurately on the marriage registration forms – if they didn't, they won’t be counted.
Reminder: 2020 Celebrant Renewal
Renewal for independent celebrants is already underway (7 October - 25 October 2019) and organisational celebrants will start soon (4 November to 29 November):
- Independent celebrants were sent an email to renew on 7 October. If you did not receive your email contact Celebrants@dia.govt.nz
- Organisational celebrants will be sent an email to renew on 4 November. If your organisation has a central contact, they will do your renewal for you. Ask your colleagues if you are not sure if you have a central contact.
If you do not apply for renewal between those dates, you will be removed as a celebrant and will not be able to marry couples. If you later decide to be a celebrant, you must make a fresh application.
Auckland office is moving to Carlaw Park
The last day our Albert Street office will deliver services from that location is Friday 29 November 2019.
Effective from Monday 2 December, the Auckland office is at:
Carlaw Park
12-14 Nicholls Lane
Parnell
Auckland 1010
Initial celebrant feedback - Review of celebrant appointment process
We received 20 responses from celebrants to the news in last month's Ngātahi of the review of the independent celebrant appointment process. Here's some of that feedback summarised:
- Standards may be dropping so there should be training before becoming a celebrant.
- New celebrants bring a fresh approach, as experience may not equate to quality.
- Long serving celebrants want their experience recognized.
- Celebrants that ask couples for a koha can't afford higher fees and training costs.
- City celebrants have an advantage over rural areas in the number they can perform.
- Celebrants may have valid reasons why they perform few ceremonies, for instance a disability may prevent access to certain locations.
- Those that struggled to be appointed a few years ago want things to stay the same.
- That there should be, and shouldn't be, a limit on the number of appointments.
Through this newsletter, we will shortly be formally seeking feedback from independent celebrants on the review. Send any feedback in the meantime to Celebrants@dia.govt.nz.
Call for VCANZ celebrants across Wellington, Porirua and Hutt Valley
We need validated CANZ members across Wellington to apply now to perform registry ceremonies. For more information refer to September's Ngātahi newsletter.
So far we have had 2 applications in Karori and Northland. Keep them coming.
