Applying for a divorce in Australia and the important things to consider.

The enactment of the Family Law Act 1975 in Australia paved the way for the system of No-Fault Divorce. Under this system, a divorce may be granted based on the ground that the marital bond between the spouses is no longer strong and tenable to force them to live together as husband and wife.

Stated otherwise, divorce in Australia no longer requires the proof that a spouse or both of them committed a wrongdoing to the other party or that they have breached their marital contract.

A Person may apply for divorce in Australia if he or his spouse is an Australian Citizen by birth, descent or by grant; regards Australia as their home and intend to live indefinitely; and they ordinarily live in Australia for at least 12 months before filing the Divorce.

Application to a divorce can be made by either of the Spouse or by both of them. In the latter case the application is considered a joint application and both spouses are treated as joint applicants. If only one person applies for the Divorce, he is treated as the sole applicant and his spouse is considered to be the respondent.

The Court must be satisfied that both spouses have lived apart and separately for at least 12 months and that their married life cannot be reasonably resumed in any possible means. Under the Family Law Act 1975, the Court no longer considers why the marriage has ended. The only ground that is considered by the Court is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and it is no longer repairable. The separation period of at least 12 months will show the Court that the marriage of the Spouses no longer works and there is no reasonable likelihood that it will be fixed.

If child support and property settlement is involved, the parties can posit that there is “fault” in the divorce and it is attributable to the other party. The Court may take this in consideration in granting a favourable decision with regards to the Child Support and Property Settlement Issues.

In case there are children who are still below 18 years old, an application for Divorce may only be granted if the Court is satisfied that both spouses made the proper arrangement in the Child Support and parenting plan of their children.