Most people approaching a divorce for the first time expect it to be the step that sorts everything out. In practice it is narrower than that, and understanding what it does and does not cover tends to save a great deal of difficulty later.
The process itself is reasonably straightforward, largely administrative, and in the majority of cases does not require you to attend court at all.
There is no separate Victorian divorce
Worth clearing up first, because the phrasing causes genuine confusion. Divorce is governed by the Family Law Act 1975, which is Commonwealth legislation applying across Australia. A Victorian resident and a Queensland resident go through the same process under the same law.
Applications are made to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia rather than to any Victorian court. The one genuine exception is Western Australia, which has its own Family Court for these applications.
What is Victorian about your situation is practical rather than legal. Your marriage certificate comes from the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages if you married here, and your solicitor is local. The law being applied is national.
The twelve month separation requirement
Australia has a no fault divorce system. The court does not examine why the marriage ended, and there is no advantage in being the party who applies. There is only one ground, which is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, and that is demonstrated by a period of separation.
The court requires that you have been separated for twelve months and one day or longer before the application can be signed and filed. It also requires that the marriage has broken down with no reasonable likelihood of reconciliation, and that at least one spouse regarded the marriage as over on the date of separation and communicated that in some way to the other.
That communication element is the part people overlook. A date of separation is not simply the day you felt the marriage was finished. It needs to be a point at which the intention was conveyed, which is why the date is occasionally disputed.
If you separated while still living together
Separation does not require separate addresses, which matters for couples who cannot afford two households or who stayed under one roof for the children. If you were separated but living at the same address for any part of the twelve months before filing, the court requires additional evidence by way of affidavit, and it is usual to also obtain a corroborating affidavit from a third person such as a family member or friend.
Our pages on separation and on being separated under one roof explain what that evidence generally needs to establish.
What it costs and how you apply
Applications are filed electronically through the Commonwealth Courts Portal, which is also where you later download the order. You will need a scanner, a printer and a card to pay the fee.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Filing fee | $1,170, or a reduced fee of $390 if you are eligible |
| Reduced fee eligibility | Evidence required, such as a copy of a concession card |
| Joint applications | Both parties must be eligible for the reduced fee to apply |
| Separation needed | Twelve months and one day before filing |
| Marriage certificate | Must be filed, with a translation if not in English |
| When it is final | One month and one day after the order is made |
Fees are set by regulation and are generally reviewed each financial year, so check the court’s published schedule before you budget. If you are not eligible for the reduced fee but paying the full amount would cause financial hardship, there is a separate application you can make for that reason.
Applying alone or together
The same online form covers both, but the obligations differ in one important respect.
If you apply on your own you are the applicant, only you sign, and you are responsible for serving the application on your former spouse. If you apply jointly you are both applicants, both sign, and no service is required. A joint application is usually simpler where the relationship allows it.
Service is the step that most often causes delay in sole applications, particularly where a spouse has moved or cannot be located. If you genuinely cannot find them after taking reasonable steps, you can apply for an order for substituted service or to dispense with service altogether, though you should expect to attend the hearing in that situation.
“A divorce order ends a marriage, but it does not resolve property, superannuation or arrangements for children. Understanding which issues remain open, and the time limits that apply to them, helps you plan the steps that follow rather than assume the matter is closed.”
Children under eighteen and short marriages
Two circumstances add requirements to an otherwise routine application.
Where there are children of the marriage under eighteen, the application asks for particulars of the arrangements in place, covering housing, care and schooling, the child’s health, contact with each parent, and financial support. A child of the marriage includes a child born before the marriage or after separation, an adopted child, and a child treated as a member of the family before final separation, such as a stepchild.
This is about satisfying the court that proper arrangements have been made, not about approving a parenting plan. Formalising arrangements is a separate process, which our page on parenting arrangements covers.
Where you have been married for less than two years at the date of filing, you are generally required to file a counselling certificate confirming that you and your spouse have considered reconciliation with a counsellor. If attending counselling is not possible, the court can dispense with the requirement where special circumstances are established, supported by an affidavit.
Do you have to go to court
Usually not. Divorce hearings are conducted electronically, and attendance is only required in specific situations, which include where the applicant has indicated a wish to attend, where the respondent has asked to attend in a matter involving children under eighteen, where a response opposing the application has been filed, or where you are seeking an order about service.
It is also sensible to attend if you have filed affidavit material that may need explaining, such as evidence of separation under one roof, or if your circumstances have changed since filing.
Once granted, the divorce is finalised one month and one day later unless the court shortens that period by special order. The order becomes available to download from the portal the following working day, and that sealed order is the only official record the court issues.
What divorce does not do, and the clock it starts
This is the single most consequential point, and it is the one most often misunderstood. A divorce order ends the marriage. It does nothing about your house, your superannuation, your debts or your children.
Those are separate applications, and you do not need to be divorced to deal with them. You can resolve property and parenting matters before a divorce, after one, or without ever applying for one.
The complication is that divorce introduces a deadline where none previously existed. Applications for property adjustment must be made within twelve months of your divorce becoming final, and after that you need the court’s permission, which is not always granted. Before a divorce there is no equivalent limit for married couples, so finalising a divorce while property remains unresolved shortens your available time considerably.
The practical consequence is that the order in which you take these steps matters. Many people are better served by resolving the financial arrangements first, or at least starting them, rather than treating divorce as the obvious opening move. Our pages on property settlements and spousal maintenance set out what those processes involve.
Key points
- Divorce is federal law, so there is no separate Victorian divorce.
- Applications go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
- Western Australia has its own Family Court for these applications.
- Australia has a no fault system, so the reasons do not matter.
- You must be separated twelve months and one day before filing.
- Separation requires that one spouse communicated the intention to end the marriage.
- You can be separated while living at the same address, with extra evidence.
- The filing fee is $1,170, or $390 for eligible applicants.
- Applications are filed through the Commonwealth Courts Portal.
- A marriage certificate must be filed with the application.
- Sole applicants must serve the application on the other party.
- Joint applicants both sign and no service is needed.
- Marriages under two years generally need a counselling certificate.
- Most applicants never attend a hearing.
- The order is final one month and one day after it is made.
Taken as a whole, the divorce itself is the simplest part of separating. The decisions that affect you financially for years afterwards sit in the property and parenting arrangements, which the divorce leaves entirely untouched while quietly putting a deadline on one of them.
General information cannot tell you how the law applies to your circumstances. If you would like advice on the order in which to take these steps, our divorce lawyers can talk you through it.