3 months or more, then the 12-month qualification period has to start anew. Though the Commonwealth had the power since federation in 1901 to make laws affecting divorce and related matters such as custody and maintenance, it did not enact uniform national laws until 1961, when the Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 came into operation. The Act continued the fault-based system operating under state authority. Under the Commonwealth law a spouse had to establish one of the 14 grounds for divorce set out in the Act, including adultery, desertion, cruelty, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment and insanity. In reality, the system was very expensive and humiliating for the spouses, necessitating appointment of barristers, often private detectives, collection of evidence, obtaining witness statements, photographs and hotel receipts, etc. Failure to prove a spouse's guilt or wrongdoing would result in a judge refusing to grant a divorce. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 was replaced by no-fault divorce system of the Family Law Act 1975. Divorce application Either party to a marriage may apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for a divorce, or both parties may apply jointly. However, an application for divorce cannot be filed before the expiration of at least two years since the marriage had been entered into. The application can be lodged online or using a hard copy form. A fee is payable. If the application is made by one spouse (called a "sole application"), the divorce documents must be served on the other spouse, at least 28 days before the court hearing if the spouse is in Australia or 42 days if overseas. The spouse can challenge the application in a "response", claiming, for example, that the timeframes set out in the Act have not been satisfied, or that the applicant is not an Australian citizen or resident, etc. The response must also be served on the applicant and filed in court. If both spouses agree to divorce a "joint application" is filed, which does not need to be served and no response can be made. An application for divorce can be made in Australia if either spouse: regards Australia as their home and intends to live indefinitely in Australia and is an Australian citizen or resident, or is an Australian citizen by birth or descent or is a naturalised Australian citizen (in which case a citizenship certificate will be required), or ordinarily lives in Australia and