The ALRC (back in 1991 I think) basically said polygamous marriages should not be allowed in Australia because it does not fit in with our morals, ethics, societal structure and dominent religion/culture. The Family Court does, however, allow polygamous wives from overseas marriages to claim maintenance from husbands, ask the FmCA to make residence/contact determinations etc over children. This is because the Famiy Court makes determinations for ALL CHILDREN. So in this respect, any polygamous marriage is treated as a marriage by the Family Court of Australia in determining dissolution of marriage and child orders etc etc.
The polygamous wife (and I assume husband too in some cases) that is nominated by the man/woman is the one that is considered the wife/husband in Australia. In other cases they are treated as de-facto couples. This is when we're dealing with which wife is considered the actual wife of the husband.
Remember, bigamy is an offence in Australia under the Marriage Act 1961 (s. 94).
