Applying for a divorce

Question 1: Are you an Australian citizen (by birth, descent, or by grant of citizenship)?

Question 2: Are you lawfully in Australia, do you intend to continue living in Australia, and have you lived here for the last 12 months continuously?

If you have been separated for more than 12 months but living under the same roof for some or all of the 12 months immediately prior to filing for divorce, you can still apply for a divorce. However, you will need to provide additional documents.

For more information, see Divorce factsheet 3: Separation under the same roof.

• You are the applicant and your spouse is the respondent.
• Only you need to sign the Affidavit for eFiling (Divorce) in the presence of an authorised witness (e.g. a Justice of the Peace [JP] or lawyer).
• You will need to serve your divorce documents on your spouse. For more information, see Factsheet 2: Serving your divorce documents.

• Both you and your spouse are joint applicants.
• Both you and your spouse must sign the Affidavit for eFiling (Divorce) in the presence of an authorised witness (e.g. a Justice of the Peace [JP] or lawyer). You do not need to sign at the same time or with the same authorised witness.
• Neither spouse needs to serve the divorce documents on the other.

Most people will need to complete and eFile an Application for Divorce on the Commonwealth Courts Portal. For detailed instructions see Factsheet 4: Filing your divorce application online.

To apply for a divorce online you will need:

• a computer or laptop (not a phone or tablet)
• a printer
• a scanner and
• a credit or debit card.

To apply for a divorce online, you will need to first scan and save your documents in a place where you can easily find them. When you have finished filling in your application online, you will be prompted to upload the required scanned documents.

If you are unable to use the online system, contact the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) or a lawyer.

Affidavit for eFiling (Divorce)

The affidavit forms part of the Application for Divorce. If you are lodging a sole application, only you need to sign the affidavit before a lawyer or a Justice of the Peace (JP).

If you are lodging a joint application, both you and your spouse must sign the affidavit before a lawyer or a JP. The affidavit can be signed by both parties at the same time or separately, but both signatures must be witnessed by a lawyer or JP. The signatures can be witnessed by the same lawyer or JP. Two separate affidavits (one for each party) can be uploaded together if you are unable to sign the same document. For information about how to write an affidavit, see Preparing an affidavit on the FCFCOA website.

Marriage certificate

If you were married in Australia but do not have a copy of your marriage certificate, visit the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages website or call 137 788.

If you were married overseas and your marriage certificate is not in English, you must have it translated into English by an authorised translating service. The translator will need to prepare an Affidavit – Translation of Marriage Certificate, which you should then scan and file with your marriage certificate.

To find an authorised translator, visit the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) website or call (02) 9267 1357.

Australian citizenship certificate or passport

If you were not born in Australia, you will need a citizenship certificate or visa paperwork that shows you are living lawfully in Australia. If you are not an Australian citizen, you must have been lawfully living in Australia continuously for at least the last 12 months, and provide evidence of this (e.g. passport showing date of arrival at least one year prior).

You may need to give more information to the FCFCOA if:

• you are living overseas, cannot provide an address for service in Australia, and you wish to use your spouse’s address as your address for service (both you and your spouse will need to provide an affidavit each with your application verifying that you are still separated and explaining why your address for service is the same).
• your name or your spouse’s name is different from the names that appear on the marriage certificate.
• you are unable to get a copy of your marriage certificate or
• you do not know the address of your spouse. See Factsheet 2: Serving your divorce documents.

There may be other situations where you will need to provide extra documents. If you are not sure what information you need to provide, get legal advice.

You will need to pay the FCFCOA a fee. Courts accept Mastercard and Visa credit or debit cards.

You can ask the FCFCOA to reduce your fee if you:

• have a government concession card (e.g. a healthcare card or a pensioner concession card) or
• do not have a concession card, but you will experience financial hardship if you have to pay the court fees.

If you have a concession card

1. Answer ‘yes’ to the question at the beginning of the online form about a general reduction of court fees.
2. Scan and upload both sides of your pension card or healthcare card.

If you are doing a sole application, only you need a concession card.

If you are doing a joint application both you and your spouse must have a concession card.

If the court fees will cause you financial hardship

1. Answer ‘yes’ to the question at the beginning of the online form about a reduction of court fees for financial hardship.
2. When prompted, complete the detailed form about your finances with information about your income, assets, expenses and debts.

If you are doing a joint application, you will both have to complete this form and must both be eligible to receive the fee reduction.

If you are doing a sole application, you must arrange to have the divorce documents served on your spouse. You are not allowed to personally hand the documents to your spouse. If you are doing a joint application, you do not need to serve the divorce documents on your spouse.

For more information, see Factsheet 2: Serving your divorce documents.

If your spouse is in Australia, the documents must be served at least 28 days before the divorce hearing date.

If your spouse is overseas, the documents must be served at least 42 days before the divorce hearing date.

When you attend the divorce hearing, make sure you have all your documents with you, including a copy of your application and supporting documents. You should be in a quiet and secure space free of interruptions or distractions and have your microphone muted until you are required to address the court.

If there are any problems with your application, you may be referred to a Legal Aid duty lawyer, who should be able to help you over the phone.

Interpreters are generally not provided by the court for divorce hearings. You will need to arrange for a person to attend with you who can translate for you and help you to understand the court process.

If the court grants the divorce, it becomes final one month and one day after the hearing date. After that time, you can download the divorce order from the Commonwealth Courts Portal. You cannot remarry until the divorce becomes final.

For instructions on how to download the divorce order, see Factsheet 4: Filing your divorce application online.