First measure to be knocked back from 2015 budget would have raised cost of applications from $845 to $1195 and introduced family court fee of $120

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A budget measure that would see the cost of divorce applications skyrocket and was criticised by domestic violence advocates and lawyers has been reversed by the Senate.

Budget papers show that the government would have recouped $87.4m over four years from restructuring fees paid to the family court and the federal circuit court.

The cost of divorce applications was set to increase from $845 to $1195 from 1 July. The cost of issuing a subpoena would nearly double from $55 to $120, and amending an application in the family court would incur a new fee of $120.

Labor joined forces with the Greens and other crossbenchers in the Senate to pass a disallowance motion stopping the fee hike from going ahead. The final vote was 37-28.

It is the first measure from the government’s 2015-16 budget to be knocked back.

“The cost increases had nothing to do with the time or resources it takes for a divorce hearing and everything to do with the government increasing general revenue,” Greens senator Penny Wright said. “It just goes to show how ruthless this government is that they would try to profit from family breakdown.”

Labor’s Graham Perrett criticised the so-called divorce tax shortly after the May budget, saying the money saved would not go back into the over-burdened court system.

“It’s putting the money into consolidated revenue,” he told Canberra’s 2CC radio, adding that the treasurer, Joe Hockey, was reaching into people’s pockets during their “darkest hour”.

“No one is saying that justice is free or cheap,” Perrett said. “It’s not cheap to file for divorce now. No one goes into it lightly. It’s not done on a whim.”

Advocates for the survivors of domestic violence also slammed the fee increases, saying it would make it harder for women in particular to leave abusive relationships.

“It can only be detrimental,” Moo Baulch from Domestic Violence New South Wales said of the price hike.

“The changes to family law fees are particularly cynical when there is no option for divorcing parties other than to apply to the court, and even when they reach an agreement there is a fee imposed for consent orders,” Rick O’Brien from the family law section of the Law Council of Australia said.

The council last week called for the court fees to be reversed.

“Many people on middle-to-low incomes may now find it simply too expensive to enforce their rights through the courts, which will undermine the rule of law and the proper administration of justice,” its president, Duncan McConnel, said.

Around two out of every five marriages in Australia end in divorce, with just under 48,000 granted in 2013.