Divorce Application in South Australia: The Complete Filing Process

If you're ready to apply for divorce in South Australia, the good news is the process is almost entirely online. The less good news: the court portal gives you blank fields, not instructions — and a mistake can cost you the $1,170 filing fee and weeks of delay.

South Australian divorces are actually decided under federal law (the Family Law Act 1975) by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA). State agencies like Consumer and Business Services (CBS) and Service SA only matter for your marriage certificate and post-divorce name changes. Here's the full sequence, in order.

Step 1: Confirm you're eligible

You can file in Australia if you or your spouse meet any one of these under section 39(3) of the Family Law Act:

• You're an Australian citizen (by birth, descent, or grant)
• You regard Australia as your permanent home (domicile)
• You've ordinarily lived in Australia for the last 12 months

You must also have been separated for at least 12 continuous months with no reasonable likelihood of getting back together — that's the only ground for divorce in Australia. There's no fault finding; the court doesn't care why the marriage ended. Short reconciliations of under three months don't restart the clock, but they do pause it — those months get added to your separation period.

If you separated but kept living in the same house (increasingly common with Adelaide rents), you can still apply — but you'll need extra affidavits proving you lived separate lives under one roof: separate finances, separate rooms, telling friends and family you'd split.

One recent change worth knowing: since 10 June 2025, couples married less than two years no longer need a counselling certificate to file. The 12-month separation rule still applies, but the old counselling hurdle is gone.

Step 2: Gather your documents

The divorce paperwork itself is short. What you need before you touch the portal:

• Your marriage certificate — the official one from Births, Deaths and Marriages (CBS), not the ceremonial one. If you married in SA, a certified copy costs $72 (a $50 priority option is available if you're in a hurry). Married overseas? You'll need a certified translation plus a translator's affidavit if it's not in English.
• Your concession card (if you have one) — a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card drops the filing fee from $1,170 to $390.
• Details of children under 18 — the court must be satisfied proper arrangements are in place (section 55A), so you'll outline where the kids live and how they're cared for. This doesn't create custody orders; it's a summary for the registrar.
• Under-one-roof affidavits if applicable — yours, your spouse's (joint applications), and ideally a corroborating one from a friend or relative.

Step 3: File on the Commonwealth Courts Portal

Almost every Australian divorce is eFiled. Register on the Commonwealth Courts Portal, start a new file, and choose sole or joint application:

• Joint — you and your spouse apply together. No service of documents, and under the current FCFCOA rules, usually no court hearing. Fastest and simplest path.
• Sole — you apply alone. You must then formally serve the documents on your spouse, and a hearing may be listed (though since June 2025, sole applicants with no children under 18 issues can often have it decided on the papers under section 98A).

You'll answer the application questions (Parts A–F), upload your marriage certificate and any affidavits, sign the eFiling affidavit in front of a Justice of the Peace or lawyer, and pay the fee — $1,170 standard or $390 reduced, indexed from 1 July 2026. For joint applications, both parties must hold concession cards to get the reduced fee.

Get the sequence wrong — filing before your 12 months is up, uploading an unsigned affidavit, picking the wrong application type — and you risk adjournment and a forfeited fee. The South Australia Divorce Filing Process Guide walks through every portal screen in order, with worksheets to check each step before you submit.

Step 4: Serve the documents (sole applications only)

You are legally prohibited from serving your own divorce papers. Options:

• A professional process server — typically $120–$200 in Adelaide, and they know exactly what the court needs.
• Service by post — send the sealed documents with an Acknowledgement of Service form for your spouse to sign and return.
• Any adult who isn't you can hand-deliver them.

Whoever serves must complete an Affidavit of Service, which you upload to the portal within 28 days (42 if your spouse is overseas). If your spouse won't sign, is avoiding you, or has disappeared, you can apply for substituted service (email, social media, a family member) or dispensation of service entirely — but you must show genuine attempts to find them first.

Step 5: The hearing and your divorce order

Joint applications with no complications are usually dealt with without anyone attending court. Sole applications with children under 18 may require a short electronic hearing — a registrar checks the paperwork, not your marriage.

If the divorce is granted, it becomes final one month and one day later. There's no paper decree anymore: a sealed digital Divorce Order appears in your portal account. Download it — you need it to remarry, and it's handy for bank and licence updates.

One deadline people miss: a finalised divorce starts a strict 12-month countdown to apply for property settlement or spousal maintenance orders. Miss it and you'll need the court's special permission, which is expensive and rarely granted. Sort your property split early — tools like the government's amica service can help with that part (though amica can't file your divorce).

The short version

Eligibility → documents → portal filing → service (sole only) → hearing → divorce order. Most uncontested SA divorces run four to six months from filing to final order. The complete filing process guide maps every step with checklists and fillable worksheets so you file once and file right.

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