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Australian law says that that a person who is getting married must not already be married to someone else. This means that, before you can marry your new partner, you will need to divorce your previous partner. You said that you have been separated for over six years. Separation is not the same as being divorced.

To apply for a divorce, you must complete an application for divorce and file it with the Family Court or Federal Circuit Court and pay the filing fee. You can apply for a divorce by yourself as a ‘sole applicant’, or you can apply jointly with your spouse. The court will not consider why the marriage ended, but the court must be satisfied that the marriage has broken down irretrievably (i.e. there is no reasonable likelihood that you will get back together with your former partner). You must also have been separated for at least 12 months. If you have children under 18 years, a court will only grant a divorce if proper parenting arrangements have been made for the them.

A divorce usually takes effect one month after the date you lodge an application – but there may be unforeseen delays. You should not make any firm plans to marry your new partner on a specific date until after your divorce is finalised. However, you can complete and lodge a ‘Notice of Intended Marriage’ form with an authorised celebrant before the divorce is finalised. The law requires this form to be lodged with a celebrant at least one month before the date the marriage occurs. The celebrant must also sight a copy of your divorce order before your wedding can take place. This is to ensure that the celebrant is not authorising your marriage whilst you are still married to your former partner.