How Has Australia Changed Between 1959 And 1975

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The legal change of divorce law in Australia changed dramatically in the year of 1975 when deciding on a divorce became easier to resolve but because of the uprise of divorce in 1976 several problems effected more families and still is now. Unhappy marriages before 1975 were a problem but since the uprise of divorces in 1976 more spouses have said to have been unhappy after a divorce as well because of all the financial and emotional problems of the splitting up of the family, causing the children as well as the parent’s difficulties all around. Prior to 1975, from the years between 1959 and 1975, divorces were decided on certain faults that occurred during the marriage that had to be proven in court. In several cases, this led to humiliation for the partner at fault and dishonesty within the courts for people …show more content…

A divorce was only allowed if a spouse was committing or showing habits of adultery, habitual drunkenness, mental illness, laziness, and cruelty. Only one out of fourteen reasons had to be proven in court for a divorce to occur (Timeline.awava.org.au). The biggest change made by the FLA (Family Law Act) was the elimination of matrimonial fault (Monahan, 1998, 64). The change of the divorce law in 1975 benefitted married couples who wanted a divorce without having to show evidence of problems within the marriage and this is exemplified in the divorce rate statistics. In the years between 1959 and 1974 divorce rates were below 20’000 a year. This increased to over 65’000 in 1975. In several cases, “irreconcilable differences” is used. This is used when the spouses can’t agree and never will be able to on each other’s opinions within the marriage, particularly on how to raise the children and basic fundamental issues involving the marriage. This legal term will then permit the divorce and this is followed by a 12 month separation which makes the divorce official