How To Get A Divorce in Australia

So you have decided the marriage is over and you want to know how to actually get divorced. Let me walk you through it, plain and simple. The short answer, in Australia, divorce is no-fault. You qualify once you have been separated for 12 months and one day, and there is no minimum length of marriage. You apply online, work through a short process, and the court formally ends the marriage. One thing to hold onto from the start though, is that ending the marriage and sorting out your money are two separate jobs, and the second one carries a deadline most people miss. Parenting is also addressed separately.

Here is the whole thing, step by step, plus what it costs and how long it really takes.

What you need before you start

• Proof you have been separated for 12 months and one day
• Your marriage certificate (with an English translation if it is in another language)
• A myGov account linked to the Commonwealth Courts Portal
• The other party’s current address, if you are applying on your own
• The filing fee, or a concession card if you qualify for the reduced fee

The process, start to finish

1. Confirm you are eligible: separated 12 months and one day, with Australia as home for at least one of you.
2. Decide how you apply: on your own (a sole application) or together (a joint application).
3. File online through the Commonwealth Courts Portal.
4. Serve the other party, if you filed a sole application. A joint application does not need serving.
5. Attend the hearing if the court tells you to. Many applications do not need you there.
6. Receive your divorce order. It becomes final one month and one day after the hearing.

Quick eligibility check. You can apply for a divorce in Australia if:

• You have been separated for 12 months and one day
• You or your spouse regard Australia as home (or are an Australian citizen or resident)
• There is no reasonable likelihood you will get back together

That is the shape of it. Now the details on the parts people get wrong.

Am I eligible to apply?

There is no minimum time you have to be married before you can divorce. If you think you must be married for at least two years, that is no longer current information. What you need is a period of separation.

Couples married under two years used to have to attend counselling before applying. That requirement was removed on 10 June 2025, so it no longer applies (Family Law Amendment Act 2024, explained by the Attorney-General’s Department).

The real gate is separation. You qualify once you have been separated for 12 months and one day, and you can show there is no reasonable chance of getting back together.

Ground for divorce and the 12-month rule: s 48, Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

What “no-fault” means

You do not have to prove who caused the breakup, and you do not have to list anyone’s wrongdoing. That is what no-fault means. The court is not interested in the affair, the arguments, or whose behaviour ended things.

You only have to show one thing: the marriage is over, proven by 12 months of separation. That is the entire test. Australia has run a no-fault system since 1975, and it keeps the divorce itself simple. The hard questions about money and children are dealt with separately, which I will come to.

What if you separated but still live together?

Plenty of couples separate but keep living in the same house, often for money reasons or to keep things steady for the kids. You can still apply. You just have to give the court a bit more to work with.

A lot of couples separate but continue living under the same roof. That’s normally because of financial reasons, or there’s something about co-parenting with their kids. But if you’re living under the same roof and you’re separated, you will need to provide extra information to the court to prove that you’re no longer in a relationship.

In practice that means evidence the relationship has genuinely ended: separate bedrooms, split finances, a change in the household routine, and often a short statement from a friend or family member who can confirm it. It is more paperwork, not a barrier.

Sole or joint: how you apply

You file online through the Commonwealth Courts Portal. There are two ways to do it.

A joint application is one you and your spouse lodge together. Nobody has to be served, and neither of you usually needs to attend the hearing.

A sole application is one you file on your own. Here is where a lot of people get caught out: you have to serve the other party, which means formally giving them the documents so they know the application is on foot. The timing matters. If they are in Australia, they must be served at least 28 days before the hearing. If they are overseas, it is at least 42 days (serving a divorce, FCFCOA).

If you cannot locate your spouse, you can ask the court for permission to serve them another way, or to skip service. That comes up most with a spouse overseas, which I cover further down.

How to apply: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, apply for a divorce.

The hearing and when it is final

Whether you need to attend the hearing depends on your application. The court tells you when you file. As a rule, if it is a joint application, or a sole application with no children under 18, you usually will not need to appear.

Once the divorce is granted, it does not take effect that day. Your divorce order becomes final one month and one day after the hearing. You can download the order from the portal once it is finalised. That is the point you are legally divorced and free to remarry.

What does a divorce cost?

The court filing fee is $1,170. If you hold a concession card, or paying the full fee would cause you financial hardship, it drops to $390 (as at 1 July 2026). On a joint application, both of you need to qualify for the reduced fee to get it.

That is the court cost. If you use a lawyer to prepare and lodge the application, that is on top, though a straightforward divorce is one of the cheaper parts of a family law matter. In most matters the bigger costs sit with the property split, not the divorce itself.

Current fees: FCFCOA family law fees.

How long does a divorce take?

Honest answer: it varies, and rushing it is usually the mistake.

How long does the divorce process actually take? For some people it can be over in a matter of weeks, but for most it’s 6 to 12 months of emotional, financial and a lot of logistical preparation before anything becomes official.

The court steps themselves are quick once you file. What stretches the timeline is everything around it: gathering evidence, serving the other party, and sorting the money and parenting arrangements. And remember, even after the hearing, the order does not become final for one month and one day.

Divorce is not your property settlement

This is the part most people miss, and it is the one that costs them. Your divorce ends the marriage. It does not divide a single dollar of your money or property. Those are separate applications, with their own rules and their own clock.

And that clock is short.

You have only 12 months from the date your divorce becomes final to start property proceedings in court. After that you’ll need special permission to file out of time, and that is not guaranteed. So don’t wait and get moving onto your property settlement quickly.

Read that again, because it catches people out. Once your divorce is final, you have 12 months to start property settlement proceedings. Miss it, and you have to ask the court for permission to file late, which is only granted in limited hardship cases and is never guaranteed.

That is why most people deal with the property split first, or right after the divorce, rather than leaving it hanging.

Most people actually do the property split before they divorce because they can just do it earlier. People don’t want to have that financial responsibility lingering over their heads, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to do the financial separation as soon as possible.

If you can agree on how to divide things, you can formalise it through consent orders without a fight in court. Parenting arrangements sit outside the divorce too, so if children are involved, sort those on their own track as well.

The 12-month limit and applying out of time: s 44, Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

What if you married overseas?

You can still divorce in Australia if you married overseas, or if your spouse now lives overseas, as long as you meet the residence and separation rules above. You will need your marriage certificate, and an English translation if it is in another language.

If your spouse is overseas, you have longer to serve them: at least 42 days before the hearing. If you genuinely cannot find them, you can apply to the court to serve them another way, or to have service dispensed with. It is a common situation, and there is a clear path through it.

Talk it through before you file

Most of the stress here comes from not knowing where you stand, especially on the money side and that 12-month clock. That is the bit worth getting right early.

Book a free discovery call with me and my team. We will explain your position, walk you through the divorce and the property settlement, and give you honest advice on your next step. No pressure, no judgment. Call 1300 614 732 or send us a message, and if you want help with the whole process, our divorce lawyers do this every week.