Mediation Services
We are here to guide you through the post separation decision making process with expertise and compassion. We can assist you in negotiating workable parenting arrangements, property and financial settlements, or both.
Reaching agreements in mediation allows you to avoid the stress, uncertainty and financial burden of litigation.
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.
Our role is impartial; we offer guidance and support to both parties throughout the process.
We will work with you to create enduring and robust agreements. Agreements reached in mediation can be specifically tailored to the needs of your family.
We can draft agreements into a Parenting Plan, or a lawyer can draft agreements into legally binding Consent Orders or a Financial Agreement.
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 you to include your lawyer in the process. You might choose to seek legal advice alongside the process, or have your lawyer attend the mediation with you. Having your lawyer with you during mediation can be very helpful as they can provide you with legal support and advice in real time.
We work closely with a number of collaborative family lawyers. If you need any help finding a lawyer, we can assist.
If you already have a lawyer, we will liaise with them so that they can attend the session with you.
You will need to speak to your lawyer about their fees for attending the session. Our fees do not differ for Legally Assisted Family Dispute Resolution.
Child Focused
Child Inclusive Mediation
Under the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to be heard and have their wishes considered.
In a Child Inclusive Mediation, a trained Child Consultant meets with your child or children and invites them to share their thoughts in a way that best suits the child or children’s age and needs. This could be through the use of toys, drawings or other play-based activities.
The Child Consultant then speaks with you, and the other parent and will help you to better understand and consider your child or children’s thoughts and feelings.
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.
Any feedback received from the Child Consultant is confidential and cannot be used as evidence in subsequent Court proceedings.
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. Depending on each party’s level of safety and comfort and the mediator’s assessment, the session will be run in either a joint or ‘shuttle’ format’. A shuttle format is where each party remains in a separate room.
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.
Finding time for appointments can be tricky, especially when you’re juggling work, family, and everything else. We offer flexible appointment options, including online sessions and after-hours appointments, to make mediation more accessible.
