It is an order which has the effect of saying that there is no legal marriage between the parties, even though a marriage ceremony may have taken place. (See Section 51 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth.) and Sections 23 and 23B of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth.)).
The Court may declare a marriage invalid on any of the following grounds:
❌ At the time the parties were married, one of them was married to someone else;
❌ The parties are in a prohibited relationship;
❌ The parties did not comply with the laws in relation to the marriage in the place they were married;
❌ Either party was not of a legal age to marry; or
❌ Either of the parties did not give their real consent to the marriage because:
1️⃣ Consent was obtained by duress or fraud;
2️⃣ One party was mistaken as to the identity of who they were marrying or the nature of the ceremony; or
3️⃣ One party was mentally incapable of understanding the nature and the effect of the marriage ceremony.
➲ Non-consummation of the marriage;
➲ Never having lived together;
➲ Family violence; or
➲ Other incompatibility situations.
See Marriage Act 1961 (Cth.) and the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth.) for more information on what grounds a party may apply for a decree of nullity.
If a decree of nullity is not applicable it will mean that a valid marriage was formed.
Therefore, if one or both of the parties want to end the marriage, they will need to make an Application for Divorce.
Important Notes:
This document is not intended for use in the Family Court of Western Australia as this Court uses its own versions of the equivalent Federal Circuit & Family Court of Australia forms generated by this process. Western Australia is unique amongst Australian states in being the only state with its own Family Court.
This application is not currently available for eFiling.
Alternatively, you can eFile an Initiating Application (Family Law) which provides a decree of nullity as one of the categories of initiating applications which can be made.
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