Family · Mediation
Where it can be settled out of Court, we settle it.
Family Dispute Resolution is faster, cheaper and easier on the children than Court. It is also a procedural requirement before filing most parenting applications. We help you make it count.
What we handle
Mediation preparation, attendance, and the documents that follow.
Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is a form of mediation conducted by an accredited practitioner, designed to help separating couples reach agreements about children and property without going to Court. Since 2007, FDR has been a procedural requirement before most parenting applications can be filed.
Our role is to prepare you for the mediation, advise on the realistic range of outcomes, and where requested, attend with you. We also draft the documents that turn a mediated agreement into an enforceable arrangement — a Parenting Plan, Consent Orders, or a Binding Financial Agreement.
For cases involving family violence or where direct contact is unsafe, shuttle mediation is available. The parties never see each other; the mediator carries proposals between them. We coordinate with FDR providers experienced in this format.
If you are here because…
Three places mediation files most often start.
You have to attempt mediation before Court.
Section 60I of the Family Law Act requires parties to attempt Family Dispute Resolution before filing a parenting application, with limited exceptions. We help you prepare for FDR so it has the best chance of resolving the matter.
You want to avoid Court.
Mediation is faster, cheaper and significantly easier on the children than the Court process. Where both parties are willing to engage, it resolves the great majority of matters.
Direct contact is unsafe.
Shuttle mediation, where the parties never meet face-to-face and a mediator carries proposals between them, is available. We coordinate with FDR providers experienced in shuttle work.
Common questions
What people most often ask on the first call.
No. Mediation is a structured negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party — a Family Dispute Resolution practitioner. It is voluntary in substance, even where attempting it is procedurally required. The mediator does not decide; the parties do.
You can attend without one, and many people do. The trade-off is that proposals made in mediation are easier to evaluate with legal advice in your ear. We can attend with you, or be on the phone, or simply prepare you in advance — whichever you prefer.
The FDR practitioner issues a Section 60I certificate, which is the procedural ticket to the Court. We then file the application and run the matter as litigation. Failed mediation does not mean lost time — the work done in preparation usually streamlines what comes next.
A handshake or even a signed Heads of Agreement at mediation is not automatically enforceable. To make it binding, the agreement needs to be converted to a Parenting Plan, Consent Orders, or a Binding Financial Agreement depending on the subject matter. We draft whichever applies.
In cases of family violence, child abuse, urgency, or where one party will not engage in good faith. The Section 60I exceptions cover these situations. We will tell you honestly on the first call whether mediation is the right path or whether the matter needs to go straight to Court.
We'll call you back the same business day.
Tell us briefly what's happening. Steven will call you back for a free 15-minute conversation, the same business day. No obligation, no pressure to engage us afterwards.
Thank you. We'll be in touch today.
Your message is with our team. If it's urgent, you're welcome to call us directly on (08) 8522 6025.