Once you have completed your Certificate IV in Celebrancy and are a graduated, qualified and registered Celebrant, you are legally required to complete at least five (5) hours of ongoing professional development activities every calendar year. This ongoing professional development (OPD) can include some elective activities on top of some activities that are compulsory.

Celebrants who fail to complete ongoing professional development each year can have strict disciplinary measures imposed against them (including delicensing and removal of their Commonwealth-registered Celebrant status), so making sure that you are compliant with these regulations is of the utmost importance as a celebrant.
For 2018, the ongoing professional development required for celebrants is as below:

Compulsory Activity

This can be delivered by classroom, online and distance education and lasts for 120 minutes in total. It’s suitable for all celebrants and is provided by the following OPD providers: Australian Celebrations Training, GordonTAFE, Life Skills Pty Ltd and QualTrain.

Elective Activities

The below elective activities range from 60-180 minutes each, and can be taken by classroom, distance or online education.

Courses from Australian Celebrations Training:

• Invoice design
• Professional telephone skills
• Special inclusions within marriage ceremonies
• Significance of storytelling for ceremonies
• Importance of ritual and ceremony
• Copyright and the effective use of music and literature
• Trendspotting in the Wedding Industry
• Interviewing your marrying couple
• Blended families ceremonies
• Interfaith marriages
• International Matters
• How to write ceremonies creatively
• Rehearse a marriage ceremony
• Cultural diversity
• Designing advertising
• Twitter basics
• Professional ethics for celebrants
• Introduction to secular humanism
• Using Instagram to connect with couples
• Enhancing Clients Family Relationships
• Create a business page in Facebook
• Supporting people experiencing grief and bereavement
• Social networking
• Conducting a marriage ceremony
• Working with PA systems
• Design a love commitment ceremony
• BDM presentation
• Designing your website
• How to write a marriage blessing
• How to read poetry at marriage ceremonies
• Working with interpreters at bilingual marriage ceremonies
• Bespoke marriage ceremonies
• Honouring one another
• Being of the same mind
• Conducting marriage ceremonies in the air or at sea
• Rites of Passage Arnold van Gennep
• Rites of Passage Joseph Campbell
• Rites of Passage Ronald L Grimes
• Special inclusions in marriage ceremonies interactive workshop
• WHS contingencies and risk management
• Design a client survey
• International marriage ceremony traditions
• Special needs of marrying couples
• Forgiving one another
• Retirement process for celebrants
• Social media marketing
• Renewing couples vows
• LinkedIn for marketing
• Preparing for the step family
• Effective interpersonal skills
• Morality in marriage
• Love in marriage
• Marrying with an already made family
• Celebrant Wellbeing
• Online marketing planning
• Search engine optimisation basics
• Blogging for your celebrancy business
• Grief and loss Introductory
• First Aid Preparedness for Celebrants
• Marriage celebrants online Victoria only
• Pinterest
• YouTube to market your business
• Marriage celebrants Eregistry Lifelink NSW
• BDM Tour
• Grief loss and bereavement theories
• Introduction to Building a Facebook page
• Special needs of marrying couples
• Introduction to Twitter
• Unexpected deaths designing the funeral ceremony
• How to handle difficult clients
• Introduction to blogging
• Understanding mobile marketing
• The Covenant of Marriage
• Streamline your social media
• Young at Heart
• The basics of advertising on Facebook
• Child Friendly Marriage Ceremonies
• Design a Funeral Ceremony
• Questionnaire on the Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for Marriage Celebrants
• Questionnaire on the Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for Marriage Celebrants
• Questionnaire on the Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for Marriage Celebrants
• Divorce healing ceremonies
• Make a YouTube Clip to Market Your Business
• Apps for Celebrants
• Design a name giving ceremony
• Ethical Choices in Modern Marriage
• 2016 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective
• 2017 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective
• Funeral Home Tour
• Final resting place tour
• Bridal expo exhibiting
• Writing a eulogy
• Working with LGBTI couples to design ceremonies
• Designing memorial ceremonies
• Infants funeral and memorial services
• How to create awesome social media content
• Creating a wedding package for clients
• Self care for funeral celebrants
• Working in the funeral services industry

• Elements of a successful wedding rehearsal
• Being heard and understood voice and vocal delivery
• In a Nutshell
• Wonderful naming ceremonies
• Using interpreters and translators
• BDM Victoria marriage celebrants online software training
• Understanding our Workplace Health and Safety WHS obligations
• Memorial Park and crematorium visit
• Ceremony Transfer
• Choreography in the marriage ceremony
• Customer service master class
• Forms forms forms from beginning to end
• How ceremony promotes health and wellbeing
• Hobby or business
• Making the best of a wedding ceremony location
• Marketing made easy
• Plans A and B managing the elements
• Feel the power PA systems for celebrants
• Maintaining and enhancing your professional edge
• Social media as a marketing tool
• Incorporating symbols in the Marriage Ceremony
• What do I do now
• Writing a ceremony
• Writing an authentic funeral ceremony
• You’re the voice meeting audience needs
• Communication is more than information
• Beyond diversity and inclusion
• Wedding ceremony structure
• Update on the BDM NSW Lifelink system
• 2016 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective
• 2017 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective

Courses from Gordon TAFE:

• Communication and developing rapport
• Getting it right on the day
• Essential celebrant record keeping and administration
• Organising your celebrant office
• Music in the marriage ceremony
• Creative ways to involve loved ones and symbols in ceremony
• Relationship support services and the celebrant
• Using PA systems Dont just be seen be heard
• Best practice for Australian celebrants
• Celebrant skills review
• Celebrant resources review
• Poetry and readings in ceremonies
• Interview questions and writing strategies for celebrants
• Creating and maintaining a social media presence
• Developing an effective wedding kit bag
• How to personalise a ceremony
• Public speaking skills for celebrants
• Presentation skills
• Evaluating your celebrant service
• Mind your own celebrant business
• Ethics and the Modern Celebrant
• Celebrants bridging the generation gap
• Celebrants make excellent stage managers
• Celebrants embracing diversity
• Creative Collaboration with Clients
• 2016 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective
• The Evolution of Marriage
• Wedding Trends
• 2017 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective
• Inclusive Ceremony Design
• Celebrant marketing with a website or blog
• Celebrants working with palliative clients
• Self-care for the Celebrant
• Marriage Ceremony writing and delivery
• The answers are in the guidelines

Courses from QualTrain:

• Review communication strategies to identify needs and develop a support plan
• Reflect and improve on your celebrant practice
• Fieldtrip to identify correct funeral protocols and procedures
• Develop digital infrastructure for marketing purposes
• Develop ceremonies for love life and loss
• Choreography of the ceremony at a wedding venue
• Networking using social media
• Design your celebrant service agreement
• Celebrants on tour
• The social and cultural impact of same sex marriage for celebrants
• Document management
• Wired for sound and performance
• How to Set Up Your Own Blog
• Funeral Home Chapel Protocols and Procedures for Celebrants
• 2017 Compulsory Activity to count as 2018 Elective

The Department of Education does not recognise prior learning as satisfying OPD requirements in competency, so celebrants must ensure to complete the required training each year in order to avoid being penalised. Also it’s important to be aware that if you complete more than the five (5) required hours of training, any additional training that you undertake is designated as at your discretion, and does not roll over into your training requirement for the following calendar year.
Please note: From 1st January 2018, celebrants can now elect to complete units from a registered training organisation (RTO) with a Cert IV in Celebrancy. This will mean that your units count as OPD in conjunction with your Cert IV.

In some cases, celebrants may be granted an exemption from completing their required OPD. The Registrar of Marriage Celebrants is the body that will determine celebrants’ eligibility for exemption and for an exemption to be granted, a celebrant must be deemed as experiencing ‘exceptional circumstances’.

To be granted an exemption from completing your celebrancy OPD, you must demonstrate that you are prevented from undertaking OPD for a majority of the year (either by distance, online or face to face). Reasons for exemption can include ill health unexpected duress. However, many celebrants who apply for exemption are denied if their reasons aren’t deemed strong enough, so make sure you carefully consider your eligibility before applying for exemption.

(And similarly, make sure you consider whether you’re willing and able to complete ongoing professional development each year before you become a registered celebrant in Australia!)