Mediation Services
We are here to help you to resolve your family law dispute and move forward. We can assist you in negotiating workable parenting arrangements, property and financial matters, or both.
We are passionate about helping families to improve their co-parenting relationship and communication, to avoid litigation and keep costs down. We are here to guide you through the post separation decision making process with expertise and compassion.
Skilled Guidance
Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)
Our Practitioners will guide you through the mediation process by assisting you to identify the issues in dispute and options for resolution.
We are neutral and impartial and provide guidance and support to both parties in negotiating workable arrangements. We can draft your agreements into a Parenting Plan. You can also have agreements drafted into legally binding Consent Orders or a Financial Agreement by a lawyer.
Agreements reached in mediation can be flexible and specifically tailored to the needs of your family.
We aim to assist you in resolving your disputes as efficiently as possible with enduring and robust agreements. We welcome you to return to mediation at any stage if your circumstances change and agreements need to be reviewed.
Supportive Services
Legally Assisted FDR
We encourage the involvement of legal practitioners during the mediation process. Whether this is to seek legal advice alongside the process, or have your lawyer attend the mediation session with you for support and advice in real time.
There are many benefits of legally assisted mediation - your lawyer can provide legal advice, assist in generating options for resolution and help you to articulate your position.
If you need help finding a lawyer, we can assist. We work closely with a number of collaborative family lawyers and can provide you with options to obtain legal support.
If you already have a lawyer, you are welcome to invite them to attend mediation with you. We will liaise with them to schedule your session at a time that is convenient. Our fees do not differ for Legally Assisted Family Dispute Resolution. You need to speak to your lawyer about their fees for attending the session.
Child Focused
Child Inclusive Mediation
Under the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right, to have a voice on issues that affect them.
We offer Child Inclusive Mediation to allow children to have a voice. Child Inclusive Mediation also provides parents with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their children’s needs and wishes.
In a Child Inclusive Mediation, we arrange for a trained Child Consultant to meet with your child or children. Following this meeting, the Child Consultant shares their feedback with you, and the other parent on your child or children’s views. Any feedback received from the Child Consultant is confidential and cannot be used as evidence in subsequent Court proceedings.
The Child Inclusive model is underpinned by evidence-based research and is designed to provide a basis on which parents can make decisions in the best interests of their children.
How does the process work?
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The first step is an individual intake appointment with the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (Mediator) who will discuss your issues, prepare you for the process and provide information and referrals to other services if required.
All parties have an intake appointment to assess whether it is appropriate to proceed to a mediation session. These appointments are private and confidential conversations and usually take place over the phone or online and last for an hour.
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If suitable, a mediation session will then be arranged on a day and time that is convenient to all. The session can be face to face or online and will last for four hours.
At this outset of the session, the FDRP will ask parties to state the issues that they wish to discuss and then an agenda will be formulated outlining the issues for discussion.
Both parties are then invited to put forward their ideas as to how each issue can be resolved. Lawyers can attend at this session to provide legal advice and support.
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If it is assessed after the individual intake appointments that FDR is not appropriate at this time, the FDRP can issue a section 60I certificate which demonstrates that you have attempted to resolve the matter via FDR, as is required prior to submitting an application to Court for parenting orders.
Sometimes it can take more than one session to resolve the issues and so parties may choose to come back for a further session if there are some outstanding issues after the initial mediation session.
If you are unable to reach an agreement, or if you would like an agreement reached at mediation drafted into a legally binding document, you will need to seek further advice and assistance from a lawyer. We can assist you in finding a family lawyer if you do not already have one.
Convenient. Flexible. Accessible.
We understand that finding time for appointments can be tricky, especially when you’re juggling work, family, and everything else. That’s why we offer flexible appointment options, including online sessions and after-hours appointments, to make mediation more accessible.
