ABOUT

Carol Astbury

Carol Astbury

CEO & Founder

The QualTrain Australia Story

Carol Astbury was just 23 years’ old when she was appointed as a marriage celebrant in 1974, by the Attorney-General of the day, the Hon. Lionel Murphy. One of the first few celebrants in Western Australia, she worked with other pioneer celebrants such as Dally Messenger and Junie Morosi to develop deeply rewarding and personally meaningful ceremonies for her clients. Carol carried her passion for celebrancy into training new celebrants and, in 2005, launched QualTrain Australia, Registered Training Organisation.

QualTrain Australia is a Registered Training Organisation providing quality assured marriage celebrant and funeral celebrant training, both in the VET (Vocational Education & Training) and Adult Learning (personal enrichment and career related education and training) and is approved to deliver, assess and issue qualifications for nationally recognised training. Our face-to-face classroom courses are available in Western Australia.

Why Choose QualTrain Australia?

We are dedicated to providing an interactive, thought provoking and stimulating learning experience; embracing contemporary techniques, skills and practices.
QualTrain Australia is a values-based Training Organisation. Our training is delivered with passion, integrity, honesty and dignity; with a strong commitment to creating a valuable learning environment where the goals of the learners are recognised and desired outcomes achieved.
QualTrain Australia aspires to encourage learners to recognise these values and to recreate them in their own workplace.
We encourage face-to-face learning and facilitate small group classes with a minimum of six and maximum of 12 participants. We also encourage our learners to enrol early, at least one month prior to the classroom attendance, so they can get the maximum benefit from reading the extensive learning material in preparation for the classroom.
There is nothing boring about the learning material – we receive comments such as ‘truly inspirational’, ‘extremely valuable’, ‘can we keep it?‘ – Of course! This is yours to keep and use in your own future celebrancy practice. A treasure trove of different ceremony templates, checklists and resources.

QualTrain issues certificates for accredited qualifications in accordance with the AQF requirements

  • The certificate carries the State Training Authority logo and the NTR logo.
  • The parchment testamur and record of units achieved is issued as soon as practicable after the learner has completed the training and achieved competence.
  • Parchment statements of attainment are issued when the learner has completed training and assessment for one or more units of competency from a VET qualification or accredited short course.

QualTrain Graduates are encouraged to communicate with learner colleagues via the private QualTrain Facebook Group. A special event to celebrate graduation occurs towards the end of each year.

QualTrain is committed to ensuring the privacy of your information.
The information we collect via site analytics is simply so we can ascertain the number of users who visit our website; the date and time of visits; pages viewed. This data is used to evaluate the website’s performance.
The information you provide us with when enquiring about celebrant training courses is important so we may contact you when necessary on issues relating directly to the provision of training. Your personal information (email, telephone) will not be used for any purpose that is not directly related to the provision of our celebrant training services.
When capturing customer data it is sent through a secure encryption technology to ensure that your information is protected when being sent over the Internet.

Meet our trainers

QualTrain Australia employs tutors/trainers/assessors who meet the requirements of the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department strict guidelines to deliver and assess the marriage celebrant units. They are both commonwealth registered marriage celebrants with extensive experience as trainers/assessors.

QTA Celebrant Trainers train responsively by:

  • helping the learner focus his or her attention
  • providing reassurance to the learner that the task is manageable
  • structuring tasks to help learners decide what steps should be taken and in what order
  • modelling how an experienced celebrant manages the task
  • allowing questions and providing answers
  • modelling self-evaluation
Nathanael Ditchburn

Nathanael Ditchburn

Principal Trainer-Assessor

Nathanael’s vocational experience, both in hospitality and marriage celebrancy lead to a natural progression into the field of training. His knowledge and international wealth of experience is imparted enthusiastically to QualTrain learners. Nathanael is a modern, progressive marriage celebrant, appointed in 2007. He has worked as a trainer in both hospitality and marriage celebrancy since 2010. Nathanael brings a unique quality to his work. His dedication to high standards of service, enthusiasm and ability to build rapport with his students are attributes highly appreciated by QualTrain Australia.

Matthew Bartlett

Matthew Bartlett

Trainer-Assessor

Matt Bartlett is an experienced educator, having spent the last 6 years as a lecturer at Edith Cowan University (ECU), specialising in Youth Work and the Social Sciences. Students of all ages consistently describe him an interactive and engaging educator who has a passion for facilitating classes that connect theory with hands-on learning experiences. As a skilled practitioner, with a commitment to personal and professional excellence, Matt was awarded the WA Minister for Youth’s “Most Outstanding Youth Worker of the Year” in 2014. In his other role as a School Chaplain, Matt has also played a central role in the crafting and delivery of sacred ceremonies, including naming ceremonies, marriages, funerals and memorials, for members of the local Perth community over the past 20 years. Matt is also a proud graduate of QualTrain Australia.

Industry Experts

Industry Experts

Funeral Director + Voice Expert

QualTrain enjoys a wonderful working arrangement with various local Funeral Directors who offer a face-to-face meeting in their funeral home, giving students the opportunity to speak directly with the funeral home staff, inspect the facilities and often the opportunity arises for the students to perform a mock ceremony in the funeral home chapel.
When available, QualTrain welcomes a local voice and professional presentation expert to run a special workshop for the students.
Carol Astbury, CEO, continues to enjoy popping into training sessions. Her knowledge and experience is the foundation of the training offered by QualTrain Australia. Carol passionately believes the role of the celebrant is to enrich Australian Society by providing deeply rewarding, powerful and significant ceremonies to meet the needs of all of life’s events.

We are very proud of our Graduates here are some of their recent testimonials

Julie Chesson

Registered Marriage Celebrant

“I can never thank Carol enough for her guidance, patience, the vast experience and knowledge she shared with me, her never ending advice and her friendship so I could live my dream and become a full time celebrant- without Carol’s training I would not be doing what I am today. Thank you Carol I can’t recommend you and QualTrain highly enough. xx” Julie Chesson.
Email: celebrant@juliechesson.com.au

Kate Hunt

QualTrain Graduate 2017

“I have learnt so much studying with Carol & Nath. Learning from qualified, practising Celebrants has given me invaluable industry knowledge, which I simply would not have received learning 100% online. Having the opportunity to practice in real-life scenarios & meeting industry professionals has provided real insight into being a Celebrant in real terms – not just in theory. And – bonus! – I met some wonderful, like minded Celebrants-in-Training, who were not only a great support network for study, but will also become colleagues. I feel 100% equipped with knowledge and practice to start my new career as a Celebrant. Thank you Carol for sharing your years of experience!”

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FAQs
Frequently asked questions about marriage and funeral celebrancy courses.

Do I need a Unique Student Identifier number and how do I get one?

From 1 January 2015 all students studying a VET course, completing an apprenticeship or skill set or enrolled in a Certificate or Diploma course will require a Unique Student Identifier (USI). A USI gives you access to your online USI Account which will help keep all your training records together. To read in more detail, go to the USI website If you already have a USI, please inform QualTrain when you enrol online, otherwise you must provide identification such as a driver’s licence and a USI will be attained on your behalf.

Is the whole celebrant training course delivered face-to-face in the classroom?

No. We have designed the course to include self-paced reading, particularly in relation to much of the theory. We also ask our learners to undertake some assignments, such as visiting an open air venue suitable for a wedding and conducting some research resulting in a report, shared with peers later in the classroom. This combination of learning leads to approximately 9 days in the classroom; these days are not usually consecutive as we encourage a gap between the modules. The study period will vary from one student to another depending on time and ability to study. We normally recommend you allow four to six months with a maximum of twelve.

Is the celebrant training course material included in the price?

Yes. You will receive substantial learning material for each module. This material has been developed by Carol Astbury. Her passion, knowledge and experience of forty years as a marriage and funeral celebrant is the basis of this valuable learning material. We also provide learners with the latest, most up-to-date versions of the Marriage Act 1961, Marriage Regulations 1963 and the Guidelines on the Marriage Act. Following enrolment and payment of the deposit, you will be given access to www.training.qualtrain.com.au – our new interactive e-learning website. All you will be required to provide for yourself is a notebook (to be used as a reflective journal), black pens, highlighters and sticky post-it notes. *Learners are also advised that they should have access to a computer and printer.