DIVORCE FIGURES

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 August 1946, Page 8

DIVORCE FIGURES

SOARING FIGURES IN AUSTRALIA PETITIONS BY HUSBANDS (From C. R. Mentiplay, Special Press Association Correspondent.) SYDNEY, August 9. Although many share in the alarm and distress at the soaring divorce figures expressed by Mr C. F. Martin, the Attorney-General in New South Wales, few seem to have been.aroused to the extent of doing something about combating the increase. Expressing his determination to arouse the conscience of the State in. the approach to matrimonial conciliation, Mr. Martin said that- the only, piece of work in that field clone in New South Wales which merited consideration was that carried out by the Family Welfare Bureau, which was established in Sydney’ as an activity of the Australiaan Comforts Fund.

j A leading Sydney lawyer said toi day that the filing of petitions during : the war years had a direct relation- . ship to the movements of Australian divisions. Petitions by husbands , seeking divorce on the grounds of j adultery and desertion soon outnum•bered those by wives, and year after ’ year matters have stayed in this un- : balanced state. Boom Years.

I This lawyer predicts that this year and next will be boom years for divorces because of the return of prisoners of war of the Bth Australian ■Division. Supporting this contention, he states that in 1943, by which time . the divisions which had been serving in the Middle East had all passed through Australia on their way to I New Guinea, divorces had skyrocketI ed.

Husbands took the lead in all States, the total figures of petitions filed being 3482 by husbands and 2955 by wives. Last year, in New South Wales alone, 3180 husbands and 2263 wives petitioned on various grounds, and 641 husbands and only 292 wires were granted divorces on the grounds of adultery. Throughout the war officers were amazed at the number of men in their units who came to them for advice on matrimonial questions or requests for army legal aid. That is the Army angle only. An examination of State figures of petitions lodged indicates that, though most family trouble occurred in the' war years, there has been a steady increase since the turn of the century. Immediately after World War I, the figures almost trebled themselves. Now history has repeated itself and they have trebled again. Matrimonial Conciliation. Mr. Martin demands experimental adoption of matrimonial conciliation. In his view, it is necessary to endeavour to effect conciliation before the matter reaches the Courts, because experience proves that once the legal step is taken both parties are often eager to go through with it. He is intrigued by the system now operating in New Zealand and lie intends to investigate it personally if possible, but he regards it as yet unproved. At present he is finding that the most difficult part of the task is to convince the public of the serious nature of the position. In this, he is not helped by a section of the newspapers, which regard the situation as excellent material for comic cartoon and humorous articles.