The ICCA Code of Ethics
for celebrant members

The Association and all its members agree to:

Mr Justice Lionel Murphy
1) To hold in respect and honour the memory of the founder of the Civil Celebrant Program, the late Mr Justice Lionel Murphy.

Uniqueness of the Australian Civil Celebrant
2) To encourage all members in the maintenance of the unique concept and nature of the Australian Civil Celebrant and the qualities which Mr Justice Murphy considered essential — bringing service, cultural awareness, choice of ceremony, appropriateness, efficiency, dignity and professionalism.

Standards of Service – Weddings

3) To set and maintain a professional standard of obliging service to the public by which member celebrants will be distinguished, and which will bring above average credit and recognition on this assocation and its individual members.

4) To encourage member wedding celebrants to inform clients of practical sources for personalised ceremonies i.e. prose, poetry, music, choreography and symbols, which will make their choice, and thus, their ceremony, truly meaningful.

(5) To encourage wedding celebrant members to observe sensitivity in the assessment of each client couple and with courteous respect for their cultural rights, encourage them in choosing and/or approving, by their choice, a ceremony which is appropriate and culturally satisfying to them.

Standards of Service – Funerals

(6) To encourage member funeral celebrants, to maintain sensitive attention to clients' needs, and such a high standard of preparation of the biography/eulogy, of efficient checking of the ceremony, and of compassionate organisation and sincere delivery of the funeral service, that members will stand out as the professionals in the industry.

Reasonable Fees

(7) To ensure, through whatever means and structures are appropriate, that the fees charged will be so sufficiently reasonable as to enable the celebrant to observe the high standard of professional service to the public which this assocation encourages and advocates.

Professional Cooperation

(8) To promote a spirit of sharing, cooperation, and mutual encouragement and assistance among member celebrants, indeed all celebrants.

(9) To publish and promote this standard of Service and Code of Ethics and encourage all members to adhere to the principles therein.

Publicity

(10) To bring to the attention of the community, especially in the media, information about the College Association, its members and their role in the community. To promote the cultural rights of the public, and the image of the unique celebrant role.

Defence of Members

(11) To represent all member celebrants with the government, the public service, the media and with society's other organisations and structures. This particularly includes representing members with elected representatives, the public service especially when the actions of people in their influential position - by guidelines, interpretations, regulations or laws, are detrimental to the public good and/or militate against the celebrant's ability to serve the public appropriately.

Assistance to members

(12) To assist, by every means available, all celebrants, especially all member celebrants, to officiate at the best ceremonies they can i.e. Weddings, Renewal of Vows, Funerals, Namegivings and similar. The Association intends to provide and market the best resources and products available to do this.

(13) To defend, protect, represent and assist member celebrants when their individual rights or position are threatened, or when they have made a mistake, when they are ill, or when they find themselves with a problem of any relevant kind.

Education of members

(14) To acquire, disseminate or publish information on subjects of interest to Civil Celebrants. To support the International College of Celebrancy in its Diploma Courses, Training Programs, and Professional Development.

Friendship among members and other celebrants

(15) To provide for the social interaction and to promote friendship and education of all members and non member celebrants by the organisation of celebrations, functions, seminars and the like.

(16) To do all such other things as are conducive to advance the interest of the general public, the cultural development of Australia and other countries with a similar society, the clients of celebrants, and the interest of celebrants themselves.

Celebrant and client

 To promote an ideal of respect for the client and the clients right to choose and approve their own ceremony.

 To support access by clients to resources through information regarding publications and websites.

 To challenge unaware clients to go to higher levels of quality in their ceremony.

Celebrants and celebrants

 To promote a spirit of respect and cooperation among members and indeed all celebrants
To respect the proprietary work of other celebrants and to promote the right to copyright of personal work.
To promote an ideal of respect for student celebrants, and the right of every suitable person to study to become a celebrant.

Celebrant and society

To enrich the culture by promoting Best Practice ceremonies for all the milestones of human life, all the seasonal change moments, and societal and historical days of significance.
To promote an awareness of the importance of Rites of Passage for individuals and the society, through the media, and by personal communication.