Updated 2024
In order to get married - whether it's in a large-scale ceremony or at your kitchen table - the first step you’ll need to take, is to complete a “Notice of Intended Marriage” or “NOIM”.
To get married in Australia, you need to give an authorised marriage celebrant at least one month notice of your intended ceremony date. A Notice of Intended Marriage is valid for up to 18 months.
You can find information about your eligibility get married, as well as other instructions on how to complete your NOIM, on the Service NSW website:
But as a marriage celebrant, it's also my job to guide you through the process -
Therefore I proudly present, the "Becky Married Me Guide to Completing your Notice of Intended Marriage!"
PART 1: Complete NOIM and have signatures witnessed
Download a pdf of the NOIM, carefully read the instructions and fill in your details on page 3.
You can type into the PDF form, or print our the form and fill it out in block letters with pen.
Do not sign the form at page 4 when you are filling out the NOIM, wait until you are in the presence of an Authorised Witness, who will witness you signing page 4.
You will both need to sign page 4, in the presence of:
A Justice of the Peace (list of JPs online)
A Medical Practitioner
A Lawyer (barrister or solicitor)
A Police Officer
An Authorised Marriage Celebrant
Other authorised person listed on page 4.
If one or both parties are signing the NOIM outside of Australia, see the information on page 4 regarding Authorised Witnesses overseas. Authorised Witnesses in Australia cannot witness your signatures outside of Australia (in person or remotely).
TIP: I've noticed a few couples writing their names under their signatures, instead of letting their witness write their full name. See the picture below for how these boxes should be filled out:
TIP: Make sure the information included on page 3 of your NOIM is accurate and matches what is listed on your identification documents.
e.g. if you have a middle name on your birth certificate, passport, driver licence etc. - you will need to write this on your NOIM. If your current name doesn't match what's on your identification documents, you will need to provide evidence of your name change to your celebrant, alongside the required identification.
e.g. If you have two parents listed on your birth certificate, you will need to include both parents (also check to see if they have middle names).
e.g. Your place of birth should match the place of birth listed on your Birth Certificate or Passport - it will be the suburb/town or city e.g. "Gosford NSW" not "Gosford Hospital".
TIP: If you're going to be moving to a new residential address and/or changing jobs between lodging your NOIM and getting married - fill out your NOIM with your current address and/or current job, and let your celebrant know your new address once you have moved in.
PART 2: Send the completed NOIM to your celebrant
You can post your NOIM to your celebrant, deliver it, complete your NOIM with your celebrant, or send an electronic copy (be careful of postage times if your 30 day notice period is getting close!).
The day your celebrant receives the correctly completed document - the NOIM will be officially “lodged”.
Remember: Your celebrant needs to receive your NOIM 30 days, or one calendar month, prior to your ceremony date.
e.g if you submit the NOIM on 17 August, you can get married on 17 September.
Any celebrant can receive and lodge a NOIM. By request (or in extenuating circumstances) NOIM's can be transferred to another celebrant all the way up to your ceremony. However - the celebrant who performs your ceremony needs to complete the information on pages four and five (see Part 3):
Part 3: Provide evidence of date and place of birth (as well as the end of any previous marriages, or official changes of name if applicable).
After lodging your NOIM, but before your marriage ceremony, your celebrant will need to see copies of the following documents to complete page four of the NOIM.
- A passport (which also acts as photo ID)
OR
- A birth certificate + photo identification (drivers licence/photo card etc.).
Your celebrant can provide you with more information on what types of documents are suitable, and what you will need to provide.
Ideally, this will happen at the same time you lodge your NOIM, but it can happen any time up until the ceremony, as long as it's BEFORE the ceremony.
If you, for example, don't have access to your ID documents right now, or need to order a replacement, you can still lodge your NOIM.
If you swap to a new celebrant, your new celebrant will need to see your identification before the ceremony, even if your previous celebrant had already sighted it.
If these are in another language, they must be translated into English by an authorised interpreter/translation service.
If you have any questions about your identification documents, contact your marriage celebrant.
If either party has been previously married, you must also provide the marriage celebrant with evidence of the termination with either a divorce certificate or a full death certificate. Certificates in a foreign language must be translated into English by an authorised interpreter/translation service.
For more information on obtaining proof of divorce, see the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court of Australia Website.
These documents must simliarly be sighted by your celebrant before the ceremony can take place. If you're in the process of getting divorced when filling out your NOIM, you can select "divorce pending" as your conjugal status and lodge your NOIM, but you will not be able to get married until your divorce is finalised.
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