The Registrar of Marriages and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
in the case of Suzanne Ingleton

This case is available elsewhere on the net but maybe hard to find so I have repeated it here as a pdf (below).

A couple of personal observations. Once it may not have mattered if a public servant, on behalf of the government, declared a person "not fit and proper" but since the internet, such a judgment of character is posted on the internet as a matter of transparency.

If you googled the person's name, say, as a celebrant up would come a governmental decision that such a person was improper and unfit.

I witnessed the enormous distress and angst as this "trial" was played out in the AAT. It lasted a year. Ms Ingleton is a renowned actress and well known and loved personality. That a public servant can make this judgement, and possibly ruin a person's career and reputation, is outrageous in itself and should be removed from the Marriage Act and maybe a lot of other Acts as well.

A friend put up the money to pay the legal fees to fight Ms Ingleton's case, otherwise she may have been branded unfit and improper for the rest of her life. The whole false accusation did not seem to worry the Attorney -Gneral or any senior member of his department. The involved public servants just kept airily on, taking their salaries and enjoying their wonderful conditions.

A personal note. Mr Swan, the barrister for the Registrar, handed, inter alia, Ms Ingleton, while she was in the dock, a letter from the Registrar to me as Principal of the International College of Celebrancy. She objected to this as did her counsel, but the celebrants who were at the hearings came to the conclusion that not only was this an attack on Ms Ingleton, but also on the College.

The Tribunal ruled strongly against the Registrar, accusing her, inter alia, of
Proceeding with a groundless accusation
Signing a false affidavit
Threatening the Tribunal
Acting Ultra Vires
Misinterpreting the law (the Tribunal strongly disagreed with the Registrars' interpretation of the law)

No action was taken against the Registrar or any of her staff.

Full final decision of the Adminstrative Appeals Tribunal in the case of Suzanne Ingleton in pdf