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Divorce date calculator: when can you apply in Australia?

Enter your separation date to see the earliest day you can apply for a divorce in Australia, when it becomes final, and your property settlement deadline.

A woman checks an oversized cobalt year calendar beside a marked date card and lilac calculator.

Quick answer

In Australia you can apply for a divorce once you have been separated for 12 months and 1 day. There is no way to shorten that, even if you both agree the marriage is over. Put your separation date in below to see your earliest date, and the property settlement deadline that starts after it.

Got back together for more than 3 months? Use your most recent separation date. If it was shorter, your earliest date moves later by the time you were back together.

Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent or saved. Estimate only, based on the court's published rules as at October 2026. It isn't advice. Only a court or a lawyer can tell you how the law applies to you.

How the dates work

  • Earliest day to apply: 12 months and 1 day after the date you separated. The court says you must have been separated for "12 months and 1 day or longer" before you sign and file.
  • Divorce becomes final: one month and one day after the court grants the order, unless the court orders a shorter period.
  • Property settlement (married): you have 12 months from the date the divorce is final to apply to the court. After that you need the court's permission.
  • Property settlement (de facto): there is no divorce, and the deadline generally runs two years from separation. This is federal law everywhere except Western Australia, which has its own rules for de facto couples.

If you got back together

If you got back together once, for up to three months, and then separated again, the time apart before and after can be added together to make up the 12 months. The time you were back together doesn't count, so your earliest date moves later by that amount. If you were back together for longer than three months, the 12 months generally restarts from your most recent separation, so use that later date in the calculator. If this is you, check your dates with a lawyer before you file.

If you are still living in the same house

Being separated under one roof counts toward the 12 months, but you have to prove it. The court asks for an affidavit showing a change in the marriage, plus a third person's affidavit backing it up. Start recording the evidence now: separated under one roof: the legal and practical reality.

What the 12 months does not settle

A divorce ends the marriage only. It does not divide property, set parenting arrangements or assess child support, and none of those has to wait for the 12 months. Start with how property settlement works in Australia and run your numbers in the child support calculator. The full rules, including counselling certificates for short marriages, are in separation vs divorce in Australia.

Not sure what else needs doing while the clock runs? Use the free Atlas separation checklist: 119 steps across money, legal, kids and home. Tick them off as you go, no signup needed.

Sources and resources

Last checked: 21 October 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Dates are estimates based on the rules as published by the courts and legal aid bodies. Check your own dates with a lawyer or the court before you file. At last check the court's standard divorce filing fee was $1,170, with a reduced fee of $390 for eligible people; check the current fee before you apply.