Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General;
Services and Access
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
The results of the review of the appointment and renewal process for independent celebrants are being shared with you in this newsletter. The survey conducted as part of the review helped to clarify the concerns raised with me over the last few years. Most issues mentioned relate to the wider role that celebrants play in supporting a smooth-running, memorable and meaningful event. While most celebrants found the online application and renewal process easy, there are areas we could improve on, such as starting the renewal process earlier to avoid the ‘wedding season’. I will also be seeking input from couples as part of the celebrant renewal process, which will commence next month.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
2021 celebrant renewal
Renewal is fast approaching for celebrants. Now is a good time to prepare for the upcoming renewal.
Independent celebrants: Opens 5 October and closes at midnight 25 October.
Organisational celebrants: Opens 2 November and closes at midnight 29 November.
If you do not renew
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 in 2021. If you later decide to be a celebrant, you must make a fresh application, pay the full application fee and provide new documents.
RealMe verified
All independent celebrants and central contacts of organisations are required to complete the renewal online using their RealMe verified identity.
If you have not already verified your identity or wish to confirm your login details are still correct visit www.realme.govt.nz
A RealMe verified identity expires after 5 years. If it's about to expire, you'll receive an email reminder three months and then one month before your verified identity expires. If you need to renew your verified identity follow the instructions at www.realme.govt.nz/how-apply/
Married couples to provide feedback on celebrants
An outcome of the survey of review of the appointment and renewal of independent celebrants we conducted earlier this year (see article below), is that there was a lack of understanding about couples’ experiences after they had been married i.e. did their celebrant carry out their duties to the required standard.
With the celebrant renewal period starting soon, we are providing the opportunity for couples who were married or had a civil union during the last year, to provide feedback on the performance of their celebrant. The feedback is principally to identify celebrants whose performance could be improved upon.
It may be that in cases of severe misconduct, that it will impact on whether or not the celebrant is approved for another year.
We are using the email address that was given by the couple at the time they applied for their marriage licence. In some cases the couple may have provided their celebrant's email address. If you receive our email, you may either forward it directly to the couple or disregard it.
Report on the review of celebrant appointment process
In September we let you know about our plans to conduct a review, which would cover the appointment and renewal process for celebrants, celebrant numbers, and the related areas within the Registrar-General’s current statutory powers and delegations. In December we invited independent celebrants to participate in a survey by completing an online questionnaire. The full results of that survey are now available.
The review was prompted by a range of concerns raised by celebrants about whether more training should be required, or whether more celebrants were being appointed than were needed.
The report comprises analysis of the survey and is combined with information about complaints and customer satisfaction.
The survey revealed no major issues. Most issues identified relate to the wider role that celebrants often play in supporting a well run, memorable, and meaningful event. A number of references were made to issues heard second hand. Complaints to the Registrar-General about celebrants and ceremonies are rare.
Most celebrants found the online application and renewal process easy. The survey did pick up a few areas which could be improved, including moving the date of the annual renewal so that celebrant appointments can be confirmed well in advance of 'marriage season'. Minor changes to the approach to assessing whether a celebrant will “conscientiously perform their duties” are also being considered.
Keep an eye on our Ngātahi newsletter for further updates.
You can read the full report here:
Tracking marriages
Marriages have gradually returned to normal levels for this time of year, but there was no spike after lock down due to those that were postponed.
Registry ceremonies don't usually follow seasonal patterns. The blue line is marriages by independent and organisational celebrants, with the orange line starting out as being registry office ceremonies and gradually transitioning to registry celebrants from 1 July 2019.
We now have 150 registry celebrants that have performed over 976 marriages since July 2019. For info about how to be a registry celebrant refer to September's issue of Ngātahi. Latest map of registry celebrants.
Celebrant's addresses published in error
During August we were alerted by a celebrant that the Department of Internal Affairs had published a spreadsheet of celebrant's addresses, which included the addresses of some celebrants that had requested they remain private. The affected celebrants were notified of the error when it was discovered.
The Department has established that this was due to an issue with the automation of information being published to data.govt.nz and are investigating the cause of this with urgency. We have taken this breach of trust seriously, and assure you that the Department of Internal Affairs is working to ensure this error is not repeated.
The address details were removed from data.govt.nz and the third party website which is a portal for people to find celebrants.
Foreign Nationals Support Programme
There are approximately 355,000 people in Aotearoa on temporary visas. This group includes around 211,000 people on Recognised Seasonal Employer visas, 75,000 holding student visas, and 55,000 holding visitor visas. Of this, an estimated 20,000 are in immediate and severe hardship due to COVID-19, and are unable to meet their basic needs.
The Department of Internal Affairs is proud to be working with New Zealand Red Cross to deliver in-kind assistance to Foreign Nationals experiencing serious hardship due to COVID-19, under the $37.6 million Assistance for Foreign Nationals Impacted by COVID-19 programme.
Where returning home isn’t immediately possible, assistance will be provided to foreign nationals who have found themselves in a difficult position, where it has been established that:
- the person is experiencing serious hardship, and
- all other avenues of potential support have been exhausted, such as access to savings or other assets, insurance cover, consular assistance from their own foreign missions, or help from family and friends.
This is a temporary and transitional mechanism that will run for three months from 1 July 2020, with the intention that at the end of this time, people have either returned to their home country or have secured alternative means of support.
For more information visit www.foreignnationals.services.govt.nz
