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This content is taken from the Family Law Court Website and the full text, and other useful public information, may be viewed at: http://www.familylawcourts.gov.a.

Divorce

The Family Law Act 1975 established the principle of no-fault divorce in Australian law. This means that a court does not consider which partner was at fault in the marriage breakdown. The only ground for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship, demonstrated by 12 months of separation.

Property Cases

The general principles for a court to settle financial disputes under the Family Law Act are based on:

• Working out what you've got and what you owe; that is, your assets (including superannuation) and debts and what they are worth
• Looking at the direct and indirect financial contributions to the marriage/de facto relationship, such as wage and salary earnings
• Looking at indirect financial contributions such as gifts and inheritance from families
• Looking at the non-financial contributions to the marriage/de facto relationship such as caring for children and homemaking
• Factors such as standard of living during the marriage/de facto relationship and the length of the marriage/de facto relationship
• Future requirements, including things like age, health
• Future resources, including financial resources, care of children and ability to earn, child support which is being or is likely to be paid, the financial situation of someone with whom you are now cohabiting, any legal obligation to support other people in the household.

You can read the law which outlines these factors in Section 75 and Section 79 and Part VIIIAB of the Family Law Act 1975. In addition, the Court, as far as practicable, is to make orders which will finalise the financial relationship between the parties (Section 81 of the Family Law Act).

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