Divorce costs Australia $101 billion

28 August 2023: Family separation and divorce costs Australia $101 billion a year. That was one of the take-home messages at the launch of the 2023 State of Separation report by the Melbourne-based Separation Guide.

It’s just one of many startling conclusions from a report that highlights how:

• the cost of living makes separation impossible for many;
• acrimonious separation is on the rise;
• engagement with the law is changing;
• women are at risk of financial disadvantage; and
• the impact on businesses is huge, but largely unrecognised.

Produced by the Separation Guide, a technology platform that connects separating couples and professionals in a less adversarial environment than offered by family courts, the State of Separation Impact Report 2023 is based on three years of research by The Separation Guide, along with data from over 200,000 website users and 16,000 anonymised questionnaires.

We know about the emotional costs and harm to families and children. But we’ve got desensitized to them. Perhaps the financial and economic facts – that divorce costs Australia $101 billion a year – can give urgency to the need for change.