More than 250 people in almost 18 months have applied for divorce using an online service. The Federal Magistrates Court introduced its "e-filing" separation option in September 2009, allowing unhappy spouses to take the first step towards official separation over the internet. In the past 15 months, 268 South Australians applied to end their marriage online, , The Advertiser reports. Another service, where men and women are alerted via a text message when their divorce has been granted, has also been flagged by the Federal Magistrates Court.

Australian Institute for Social Research executive director Dr John Spoehr said many organisations had started to offer their services online in recent years and being able to apply for a divorce was no different. "The movement towards online service provision has been huge, whether that's law, health, community services . . . it's been pretty profound these past few years," he said. "It's a way of reducing admin costs and it's certainly more convenient for people to access this type of thing online."