Trang and Duong

In the matter of Trang and Duong, heard before Johns J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the applicant, Ms Trang, sought a decree of nullity of her marriage to Mr Duong, solemnised in October 2016. The dispute centred on the validity of this marriage, with Ms Trang alleging it was void from its inception.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the marriage between Ms Trang and Mr Duong was void at the time of solemnisation. Specifically, the court was required to determine if Ms Trang was lawfully married to another person at that date, which would render the subsequent marriage void pursuant to section 51 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

Johns J found that Ms Trang was indeed lawfully married to another person at the time of her marriage to Mr Duong. Applying section 51 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), which provides that a marriage is void if either party was lawfully married to another person at the time of the marriage, the court concluded that the marriage was void ab initio. Consequently, a decree of nullity was pronounced.

The court ordered that pursuant to section 51 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), a decree of nullity of the marriage between Ms Trang and Mr Duong be pronounced on the ground that Ms Trang was lawfully married to another person at the time of the solemnisation of the marriage. The Initiating Application filed on 6 June 2019 was otherwise dismissed.