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Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body in a legal proceeding. In Australia the law for divorce is "no fault" which was a major reform to family law introduced by the Family Law Act 1975(Cwlth) in which proof of marital misconduct or "fault” is not required for either parties in a marriage. Prior to this introduction divorce was dealt under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 which outlined 14 grounds for divorce including adultery, cruelty, insanity and desertion. This required a married couple who wanted a divorce to apply under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 on the ground of ‘fault’ that one or both parties acted in a way that undermined their marriage. This divorce law was considered ineffective and unjust as it required one party to prove fault in the other which was often hard to prove thus parties often saw the other as an enemy causing more turmoil for families. Another factor that proved the divorce law ineffective and unjust is that a couple who wished to obtain a divorce had to wait five years for a divorce to be obtained. People found themselves stuck in an unhappy relationship. How would the parties have managed this time? How would the law achieve justice for the victims of domestic violence?

Hence this Act was replaced by the Family Act 1975(Cwlth) which removed all other grounds for divorce introducing the ground of an “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” shown by both parties and also the Family Court was established which hears all matters related to marriage and divorce. To prove the relationship has irretrievably broken down the parties must live “separately and apart” for 12 months which is set out in the Whiteoak and Whiteoak case (1980) where the couple could not trea...

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...ng justice to both parties in a marriage as domestic contribution made by a wife is considered equal to the financial contribution of the other party. This was established in the case the Marriage of Kemp (1976) 2 Fam LR 11, 289. Spousal maintenance provides justice to those who are unable to support themselves due to caring for children and inability to work due to illness.

Overall the law in dealing with divorce is fairly effective as it achieves justice for all individuals in the marriage through the Family Law Act Amendments providing judgements based on the best interests of the child, contribution of each party to the family including non-financial and financial contributions. However through the mandatory counselling the law lessened its effectiveness in achieving justice for parties as this increased trauma for those who were victims of domestic violence.