 On the 23rd September 2011, the Coalition of Celebrant Associations, CoCA issued a circular to all commonwealth appointed marriage celebrants to inform them of CoCA's existence and role, and in particular CoCA's interim response to the Attorney General's Professional Celebrant Fee.
As a result there have been some queries about CoCA's membership criteria and mode of operation by some celebrants.
Do all celebrant associations belong to the Coalition of Celebrant Associations?
13 of the 16 approved marriage celebrant associations listed on the Attorney General's website are members of CoCA.
Why is it that all marriage celebrant associations are not members of the Coalition of Celebrant Associations?
As most marriage celebrants would appreciate, there has been a huge upheaval in the marriage celebrancy sector in the last ten years. With so many stakeholders in this field, with differing models of marriage celebrancy, different modes of operation, different values and different experiences, it does take time to find common ground.
That the Coalition of Celebrant Associations has been recognised by the Attorney General's Department as The Peak Marriage Celebrant Body within such a short space of time, within that context, gives credit to those association delegates who give their time voluntarily, and most also their own money, to work for the good of this sector.
1 association is too small to meet membership criteria, 1 has expressed finances as its primary concern.1 has expressed different expectations of CoCA's structure and mode of operation.
What is the Coalition of Celebrant Associations membership criteria?
To join CoCA an association needs to be not-for-profit, have at least 50 members, be approved by CoCA for membership, pay an annual membership fee of $100, propose a delegate to work on the CoCA Committee online, and where possible to send a delegate to CoCA meetings in Canberra twice pa. If the association's delegate can not attend an alternate delegate can be appointed, or a proxy given to a delegate from another member association.
Does the Coalition of Celebrant Associations have a constitution and is it incorporated?
Yes. CoCA initially developed a Memorandum of Understanding based on a coalition model. ie whether an association was large or small the future effectiveness of the peak body was the unity of the group as a whole. Like most coalitions, the larger party is unlikely to succeed without the smaller party. Size of each is not relevant, rather their combined strength.
Over a 2 year period, a Constitution was developed on the coalition model and when finalised and approved by all members associations, CoCA arranged to be incorporated in NSW.
What are Coalition of Celebrant Associations' Guiding Principles for working together given the diverse nature of member associations?
The CoCA Constitution states is Guiding Principles as:
- CoCA is a coalition of celebrant associations, not individual celebrants.
- All celebrant associations, whether new or longstanding, state or nationally focused, or special interest focused, large or small, bring a valuable contribution to a national forum on celebrancy issues through their knowledge, expertise, experience and understanding of celebrancy issues as applied to their area of concern and influence. Also, they represent segments of the Australian community serviced by civil celebrants, thus the importance of their inclusion.
- In a coalition of celebrant associations, each celebrant association and its representative, irrespective of the size of the association, is treated with equal respect, acknowledging the value of minority opinion in a democratic society and in developing comprehensive quality approaches to celebrancy issues.
- Wherever possible, democratic parliamentary principles of decision making and implementation will be the primary mode of operation of CoCA such that:
(a) all sub-committees and office bearers are responsible to CoCA for the setting of their roles, responsibilities and the review of the services they perform on behalf of CoCA.
(b) rotation of office bearers will be a structural part of CoCA’s mode of operation, ie, terms for office bearers and other positions of responsibility of COCA members may be limited as agreed by financial member delegates.
(c) funding of CoCA activities to be organized to enable all CoCA representatives to participate fully in their role within CoCA.
(d) CoCA's operations will be transparent and accountable to all celebrants and their associations. Exceptions to be an agreed 75% majority and time-limited, ie, freedom of speech and freedom of information principles to apply.
- As a national organization CoCA will use electronic, web-based and other methods on communication, organization, administration, implementation and review of its activities as its primary mode of operation, and will structure face to face meetings from time to time for the maximum involvement of all CoCA members.
- Given the evolving role of civil celebrants in contemporary Australian society, the aim of CoCA is to recommend a range of strategies to its member associations and to the government to improve the quality of ceremonies offered by celebrants to the Australian community.
Does that mean one delegate one vote, no matter how large or small the member association?
Yes, the Coalition of Celebrant Associations operates a 'Coalition model' as explained above.
Does that not mean that an association with large numbers and its members are disadvantaged by only having one vote?
At a superficial level, it may appear this way.
However as an advisory body to government, what is important is that the best advice is given to meet the needs of all the marrying public and their celebrants, not just those who choose their celebrant from a particular celebrant association.
Giving the best advice possible requires consideration of all the issues from the broadest possible perspectives.
Besides size is not necessarily a measure of wisdom or the capacity to deliver a service. A big association in fact may have celebrants providing fewer marriage services to the community than a smaller one.
The other difficulty is than there are many celebrants who belong to more than one association, and reasons for membership are varied. Celebrants may join an association for its high Goggle ranking, not for specific marriage celebrant advice or support. Or join a smaller association because its core values are more important to the celebrant than its size.
Respecting minority opinion is one of the safe guards against a larger body of uninformed opinion, and often the measure of a more civilised and humane society.
How then does Coalition of Celebrant Associations deal with the different abilities of its member associations to fund CoCA's activities?
At present, all associations pay the same annual fee, whether large ot small. And if an association wishes to have a delegate at the twice yearly face to face meetings, then these costs are borne by the member association.
This does disadvantage the smaller associations, so the Coalition of Celebrant Associations is examining ways to assist the smaller associations in meeting their travel and accommodation expenses.
The need for face-to-face meetings has been reduced by the active use of a daily email forum, online protocols and voting procedures.
If Coalition of Celebrant Associations has been recognised by the Attorney General's Department, doesn't that mean that CoCA should just agree with whatever the government proposes?
Not at all. As an advisory body, if CoCA were simply to agree with every government proposal, it would be a rubber stamp and its reason for existence become void.
An advisory role is very difficult, because
- there will be times when government will make proposals, that practitioners on the ground know will not work, or will be ineffective, or have negative side effects, or be inefficient, or not meet the needs of the recipients or the service providers or both
- there will be pressures on government to deliver outcomes, that will compromise the program upon which the advisory group is commenting
- trying to balance the needs of all stakeholders, whilst holding onto the primary purpose of the advisory group, is extremely stressful and at times even unworkable
- compromise may be necessary to deal with the practicalities of a situation, thus the need to lower expectations
- whilst there may be other times where compromise is not possible, and other strategies may be needed to find an acceptable solution.
The Professional Celebrant Fee is very controversial. Was CoCA consulted prior to the government decision?
No the Coalition of Celebrant Associations was not consulted prior to the decision
What is Coalition of Celebrant Associations' position as regards the Professional Celebrant Fee?
CoCA is opposed this fee on the grounds that it discriminatory, unprecedented and will not meet the aims stated in the Regulation Impact Statement. Read the details CoCA's interim report here or download from the CoCA website.
How does Coalition of Celebrant Associations deal with possible or actual Conflicts on Interest?
All members of CoCA are non-profit celebrant associations recognised by the Attorney General's Department.
CoCA as an incorporated association under the NSW Incorporations Act is required to have a Conflicts on Interest Register.
Therefore all delegates are required to declare any potential or actual conflict of interest when joining, and whenever a delegate becomes aware of a possible or actual conflict.
Certainly it is difficult in the celebrancy world for much to be keep hidden. Rather the reverse. So all delegates are mindful to raise concerns in the Committee to ensure hearsay and reality find common ground.
Is it important to belong to a celebrant association that is a member of Coalition of Celebrant Associations?
If you care about
- your role as a marriage celebrant
- the value of civil marriage services to the community,
- playing your part in keeping the people who are advising the government on current and future marriage celebrancy work, informed about your needs and your couples needs, your experiences and recommendations
- ensuring the government receives the best possible advice
then it is important to belong to a celebrant association that belongs to the Coalition of Celebrant Associations.
Being an active member of an association is something every celebrant can to do to lend their support to the few that are trying to better things for everyone.
Keeping your association committee's accountable and encouraging their work is the way each member contributes to the whole. And there is an association to suit every celebrant's budget and interests.
For more information about CoCA associations see www.coca.org.au or see quick comparison of the member associations
R Goold Chairperson
CoCA Delegate for
Civil Celebrations Network Inc.
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