Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners (FDRP)

Our registered family dispute resolution practitioners are available after hours and can generally assist at short notice for urgent mediation about your family’s needs, helping you address parenting or property disputes as early as possible.

Family disputes that end up in court can be very expensive, time consuming and stressful. Mediation gives you more control over the outcome, is usually quicker and more flexible and can significantly reduce the emotional and financial costs for everyone involved.

A mediation conference is a meeting where the people in dispute sit down, often with their lawyers, and work with an independent mediator to identify the issues, discuss options and attempt to reach an agreement. If agreement is reached it can be recorded and later formalised for the court if needed.

If there are safety concerns, mediation can be arranged by phone, video conference or shuttle, where the parties are in separate rooms or locations. The family dispute resolution practitioner will design the process to prioritise safety and minimise distress for everyone involved.

Where mediation is arranged privately, the parties usually agree on the mediator in advance. If the court orders mediation, the court will often appoint a mediator or provider, such as a registrar or a conference through the Legal Services Commission.

If mediation does not resolve all issues, you may be able to try again at a later date or proceed with court action. Where court proceedings are on foot, the case will generally move toward a hearing, although you can still reach an agreement and settle the matter at any time before a final hearing.

Mediation can save money and time, is more flexible and convenient than formal court hearings and is usually less stressful and intimidating for families. It allows you to be directly involved in crafting solutions that work for your circumstances rather than having a judge impose an outcome.

Mediation is a private process. The mediator cannot disclose information shared in mediation to a judge, and in most cases the content of discussions cannot be used as evidence in court. If you have particular concerns about confidentiality you should obtain legal advice before the conference.

If you are not in court and reach agreement, the practitioner can direct you to experienced family lawyers to help you formalise the agreement, for example by consent orders. If no agreement is reached, you will be given guidance about next steps. If you are in court, any agreement can be documented for the court or, if there is no agreement, the matter will proceed towards a hearing.