eCourts Portal Western Australia: How to Use It for Divorce Filing

If you're filing for divorce in Western Australia, you won't use the same system as the rest of Australia. While every other state files through the Commonwealth Courts Portal, WA has its own separate platform — the eCourts Portal at ecourts.justice.wa.gov.au. This is the only way to lodge a divorce application with the Family Court of Western Australia.

The portal handles everything: your application, document uploads, fee payment, and post-filing service proofs. But the interface isn't intuitive, and the filing workflow has a mandatory offline step that the portal doesn't clearly explain.

Setting Up Your Account

Go to the eCourts Portal and select "Register a New Account" as an individual. You'll need:

• A valid email address (this becomes your address for service — get it right)
• A password meeting the portal's complexity requirements
• A mobile phone number for SMS verification

If you already have a family law file with the Family Court of WA (from an existing parenting or property matter), you need to link your portal account by entering your court file number and Person ID. If you don't know these, call the Family Court registry on (08) 9224 8222.

Starting Your Divorce Application

Once logged in, look for the "Assisted Lodgment" box on your dashboard. Select "Family Court of WA" from the options, then choose "Divorce" as the type of orders sought and click "Start Application."

The portal walks you through Parts A through G of the Form 3 application:

• Parts A-D — your personal details, your spouse's details, marriage details, and the date of separation
• Part E — residency and jurisdiction (you'll upload citizenship or visa evidence here if born overseas)
• Part F — arrangements for children under 18 (only if applicable). This section requires detailed disclosures about housing, schooling, health, and financial support. The reviewing magistrate scrutinises this closely
• Part G — final declarations

Save your progress at each step. The portal doesn't auto-save, and losing a partially completed application means starting over.

The Part H Pause: Print, Sign, Re-Upload

This is where most people get stuck. At Part H, you hit a wall:

1. Click "Preview" to generate a draft ZIP folder of your application
2. Click "Save for later" — you cannot lodge yet
3. Exit the portal entirely

Now you need to complete a physical step. Print the blank Affidavit for eFiling Application (Divorce) along with a copy of your draft application. Take both documents to a Justice of the Peace or a practising lawyer — these are the only authorized witnesses in WA. The witness must watch you sign the affidavit and then sign the bottom of every page themselves.

For joint applications, both spouses must swear the affidavit, though you can do it separately before different authorized witnesses.

Scan the completed, signed affidavit as a single PDF. Then log back into the eCourts Portal, navigate to Part H of your saved application, and upload it.

Paying and Lodging

After uploading the sworn affidavit, you'll need to:

1. Enter the exact date the affidavit was sworn
2. Confirm you've downloaded the mandatory Marriage, Families and Separation brochure
3. Click "Lodge"

The portal then prompts payment: A$1,170 standard fee or A$390 reduced fee (if you qualify), payable by Visa or Mastercard. Once payment clears, the system generates a sealed, court-stamped copy of your Form 3 application with your assigned hearing date.

Download this stamped document immediately. You'll need it for service if you filed a sole application.

After Lodgement: Uploading Service Documents

For sole applications, once you've served your spouse, you return to the eCourts Portal to upload proof:

• Select your active file from the dashboard
• Click "Add Document"
• Upload the completed Acknowledgement of Service (Form 6), Affidavit of Service (Form 7), and your Affidavit of Proof of Signature — all as PDFs

These must be uploaded well before your review date so the magistrate has them in the electronic court file.

After the divorce order is granted, you can download your Certificate of Divorce from the "View Document List" section once the one-month-and-one-day finalization period has passed.

Skip the Portal Guesswork

The eCourts Portal's workflow isn't obvious from the interface alone — particularly the print-sign-scan loop at Part H and the strict witness requirements. The Western Australia Divorce Filing Process Guide maps every screen and upload step so you complete the portal sequence correctly the first time, without risking your filing fee on a rejected application.

See more Western Australia guides →