Underage forced marriage, also known as forced child marriage, is when someone under the age of 18 is forced to marry.
The law regulating marriage in Australia is contained in the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth).. It is against Australian law to force, threaten or trick anyone into getting married.
We look at the marriage and divorce statistics Australia.
Under Australian law, children under 18 cannot give their permission to marry. Children under the age of 18 are not able to give permission to marry, unless they are 16 or 17 and have permission from a Court. End Child Marriage Australia: Research report on the forced marriage of children in Australia. Children as young as six years old are being forced into child marriage in Australia, and more than 100 cases of forced child marriage are currently being investigated by the Australian Federal Police, new figures reveal. Forced child marriage is illegal in Australia. Usually, a person must be over 18 years of age to be legally married. Under federal law, a marriage is defined as ‘forced’ if a person doesn‘t freely and fully consent, or they are incapable of understanding the nature and effect of a marriage ceremony. Specific laws outlawing forced marriage were introduced in Australia in 2013.
Criminal Code and the Crimes Act 1914 were also amended in order toprovide protections for vulnerable witnesses giving evidence in Commonwealthcriminal proceedings, including victims of human trafficking and slavery Organisation: National Children's and Youth Law Centre Year: 2013 This report, undertaken by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre (NCYLC), provides children’s rights-based analysis and evaluation of the current responses of service providers to child victims of forced marriage in Australia. In Australia, people are free to choose whether to get married and who they want to marry. Australia has laws against slavery, slavery-like practices and human trafficking. Marriage in Australia is regulated by the federal government, which is granted the power to make laws regarding marriage by section 51(xxi) of the constitution. The Government’s response to forced marriage forms part of this strategy. By law, a forced marriage is one where, because of coercion, threat or deception, a person enters into a marriage without freely and fully consenting. The Marriage Act 1961 applies uniformly throughout Australia (including its external territories) to the exclusion of all state laws on the subject. Since the introduction of the no fault divorce under the Family Law Act in 1975, the crude number of divorces per 1000 residents has dropped from 4.6 divorces to just 2 in 2016. It is also against the law to encourage or help organise a forced marriage, and to be party to a forced marriage if you are not the victim. Under Australia’s current policy, victims who disclose a risk of forced marriage or who experience a forced marriage must engage with law enforcement to access a government support program. These laws make forced marriage a crime.