Family Law

To apply for a divorce, you must have been separated for at least 12 months. Further, you or your spouse must be an Australian citizen, or live in Australia and regard Australia as your permanent home, or ordinarily live in Australia for at least 12 months before the divorce application. If you have the above requirements, you can file an application for divorce with the Federal Circuit Court.

It is a court order which prohibits a person from behaving in a particular manner towards a protected person. The purpose of an intervention order is to protect anyone against whom it is suspected the defendant will commit an act of abuse, including any child who may be exposed to the effects of abuse committed by the defendant against another person.

Yes. In making parenting orders in the best interests of a child, the Court must give the greatest consideration to the need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm. Hence, the court must consider if an intervention order is in place for the child or a member of the child’s family.

In Australia, several factors can potentially invalidate an overseas marriage such as:

1. Either of the parties was, at the time of the marriage, in a valid marriage to someone else;
2. Either of the parties was not of ‘marriageable age’ (not 18 years of age);
3. The parties are within a prohibited relationship defined in section 23B of the act (i.e. the parties are brother and sister);
4. The consent of either parties was not real due to one of the reasons set out in section 23B (the consent was obtained by duress or fraud, a party was mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed, or a party was incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony).