Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
With the holidays fast approaching, I wanted to thank you for your valuable contribution during 2021.
This week we launch a more visible and robust process for couples to be able to make a complaint about a celebrant. In late-2022 we will give you an update on how the first 6 months went.
Please keep reading to the end of this newsletter – there are some fascinating statistics about the age gap for couples getting married and also about ACC claims for weddings!
I hope you get to enjoy some quality time with your family and friends and have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. And let's hope the sun shines so we can all enjoy an old-fashioned Kiwi summer.
Please continue to always follow the advice from the government and Ministry of Health:
- Information about COVID-19 from the Ministry of Health
- Government advice about COVID-19 on Govt.nz
Keep safe.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
'Complain about a marriage or civil union celebrant' is live on govt.nz
The complaints process for couples went live this week. It was implemented as a result of the review of the appointment and renewal of independent celebrants and our email survey of married couples.
The process is designed to be fair, accessible, responsive and effective for all parties.
Thank you to those that provided feedback in August when we set out the proposed complaints process.
To find out more about the new process refer to Complain about a marriage or civil union celebrant.
Understanding the experience for couples
Following the research our service designers completed earlier this year – which included talking to 8 celebrants – we are now in the middle of another piece of research to understand the experience for customers. This is another step of our consultation in the wider births, deaths and marriages landscape, to help us shape the way we provide services in the future.
We are talking to a wide range of customers about their experiences and expectations when accessing BDM services, including their thoughts on receiving updates and information, how they feel about information sharing, and how we could be doing things differently in the future (especially adapting to a new normal as a result of COVID-19).
In the marriage and civil union space we are talking to 4 couples - 2 who have recently been married and 2 who have had a civil union. This includes a mix of those that have had personalised and registry ceremonies. We look forward to sharing insights from this customer research with you in the new year.
Closedown over Christmas and New Year
Our last full working day for for 2021 is Thursday 23 December and we will re-open on Friday 7 January 2022.
On 29, 30, 31 December 2021 and 5, 6 January 2022 we will operate with a skeleton crew in order to continue registering marriages and civil unions.
Please continue to send enquiries to the correct email address (do not try to phone us). We will respond to the enquiry as soon as we can:
- Celebrants@dia.govt.nz - provides support to marriage and civil union celebrants only.
- bdmtoregister@dia.govt.nz - returning the fully completed and signed particulars for registration after the ceremony.
- MarriageLicence@dia.govt.nz - for couples that have questions or corrections to a marriage or civil union licence that they have already applied for.
If you change your email address, you can let us know by logging into the https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz/independent_celebrant_self_service
Wedding injuries peak over summer
Every year, ACC receive in the region of 200 or 300 new claims lodged for wedding related injuries. New claims follows the same trend as marriages, with a peak over the summer months.
If you are helping to organise the wedding day for the couple and guests, make sure you encourage everyone to be safe by following the advice at www.acc.co.nz/about-us/preventing-injury/.
Age difference of couples getting married
Recently we received an Official Information Act requesting the age difference of couples getting married or entering into a civil union. We're sharing this new perspective with you on marriages, that you will observe in the couples you marry. Currently, in about 23% of marriages the couple will have a 5 year age gap and 8% will have a 10 year age gap.
