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Appealing a divorce order

Information about when and how you can appeal a divorce order.

Time limit

You have 28 days to appeal your divorce order, from the date of the hearing.

You must appeal before the divorce order comes into effect. You can’t file an appeal after the divorce order has taken effect.

When you can appeal

You can appeal a divorce order if there has been a miscarriage of justice because of:

  • fraud
  • perjury
  • suppression of evidence, or
  • any other circumstance.

You can’t appeal simply because you didn’t want the court to make a divorce order. 

If you file an appeal, your divorce order won’t come into effect until after your appeal is decided or discontinued. 

How to appeal

You must complete:

  • an Application in a proceeding, and
  • an Affidavit – family law and child support, setting out the reasons for your appeal.

You can get a copy of these forms from:

Using AI

You can use AI in your case to research the law and prepare your court documents if you follow the court’s rules. You may face serious penalties if you do not follow these rules. 

For more information, see Using AI in family law.

Filing your forms

You can file your completed forms:

You will have to pay a fee. If you have a government concession card or are experiencing financial hardship, you may be eligible for a fee reduction.

For more information, see Family law court fees on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

You will also have to buy a copy of the transcript of your divorce hearing. Transcripts are provided by an independent service provider, and you can’t ask for a fee reduction.

Once your form is processed by the registry, you will be given a date for the hearing.

If you don’t attend the hearing, the court may dismiss your appeal.

Serving your spouse

You must serve a sealed copy of your Application in a proceeding on your spouse within seven days of filing.

You can do this by:

  • delivering it to their home address
  • sending it by registered post
  • email - if they have provided an email at the address for service
  • arranging for another person over 18 years old to serve them – this can be a friend, family member, sheriff officer, or professional process server
  • sending it to your spouse’s lawyer – if their lawyer has agreed to accept service.

Affidavit of service

To prove you have served your spouse, you must file an Affidavit of service.

The Affidavit must be completed by the person who served your spouse, and it must be witnessed by an authorised person (Justice of the Peace or lawyer).

To find a witness, see Witnessing documents.

You can file your Affidavit of service:

You should send your completed form to the courts postal address, not the street address.

For more information, see How do I serve family law documents? on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

Your spouse opposes your appeal

If your spouse disagrees with your appeal, they may oppose it.

To do this, they must file a Response to an application in a proceeding, and a supporting affidavit that states the reasons why they are opposing your application.

They must serve you with a copy of their documents within 28 days after you serve them with your appeal documents. 

The decision

After hearing your appeal, the court may:

  • dismiss your appeal
  • rescind the divorce order and, if it thinks fit, order that the Application for Divorce be re-heard.

Costs

The court may make a costs order against you if:

  • your appeal is dismissed
  • you file a Notice of Discontinuance
  • you abandon your appeal.

Last updated: August 2026

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