The application for divorce can be done by yourself or your spouse, as either a sole or joint application.
You must meet one or more of the following requirements:
You (or the other party to the marriage) must answer YES to at least one of the following:
- Were born in Australia or have become an Australian citizen by descent (born outside Australia and at least one parent was an Australian citizen and your birth is registered in Australia).
- Are an Australian citizen by grant of Australian citizenship (a citizenship certificate will be required).
- Are lawfully present in Australia and intend to continue living in Australia. You must have been living in Australia for at least the last 12 months – evidence must be provided e.g. your passport showing the date of arrival at least one year prior and a valid or current visa.
A fee of $930 is payable or you may be eligible for a reduced fee of $310. To see if you are eligible go to Guidelines for fee reduction.
If you are eligible for a reduced fee you will need to provide evidence. For example if you hold a health care card, you will need to provide a photocopy of your card (both sides). If you are filing a sole application only the applicant needs to be eligible for the reduced fee. If you are filing a joint application both parties must be eligible for the reduced fee – if only one party is eligible the full fee applies.
If you are not eligible for the reduced fee, but payment of the full fee will cause you financial hardship you can apply for the reduced fee due to your financial hardship. You should complete the Application for reduction of payment of divorce or decree of nullity – financial hardship for consideration.
The filing fee is payable at the time of filing the application.
You should seek legal advice and guidance on this issue from your solicitor. Generally speaking however, court attendance is only required if you have filed a sole application and there is a child of the marriage aged under 18 years at the time of filing or you have indicated that you wish to attend in question 2(a) of the application.
You should attend if you are applying for an order for substituted service or a dispensation of service.
It is also advisable to attend if you are required to provide additional affidavit material to explain circumstances such as separation under the same roof/ married less than two years and other situations which may impact on the outcome of your matter. You should bring all documents with you to court including a copy of your application and service documents.
Once the divorce is granted it will be finalised one month and one day later unless a special order is made by the court to shorten that time.