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Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation
Mediation

Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation

Going through separation or divorce is often emotional and difficult, and it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. To help you through, we offer affordable Family Dispute Resolution services, also known as family mediation, throughout NSW.

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Overview

Who It's For

FDR is for people who are separating, or have already separated, and need support to work through the next steps. Whether you need help making parenting arrangements or dividing assets, we provide a neutral space to talk things through and find a way forward.

How We Help

We help you stay out of court where possible – reducing cost, conflict and emotional toll. With over 75 years of experience supporting families, we guide you through the process calmly and respectfully. We also offer counselling, legal referrals and other supports, because separation is rarely just one conversation.

What to Expect

Our accredited mediators stay neutral and treat everyone with care and respect. We don’t take sides. Instead, we help you work through difficult decisions in a way that’s future-focused and practical. Mediation can be done online or in person, and our pricing is flexible to keep it accessible.

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What is Family Dispute Resolution? 

Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is a practical way for separating or separated partners to resolve disagreements, and make arrangements for the future. During your sessions, an independent and impartial accredited mediator will help you find an agreed outcome between you and the other person.

You'll jointly work through decisions in relation to your children, finances and property.

Read our comprehensive guide to FDR here >>

We can support you with:

01
Making decisions relating to your children, including drafting parenting arrangements
02
Dividing up shared and individual property, assets and finances
03
Family law information and referrals
04
Referrals to other services that can help support your children through separation
05
Post-separation workshops for parents and children
06
Domestic and family violence screening and referrals
07
Lawyer-assisted family dispute resolution
Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation

"I felt understood with my issues and I felt comfortable speaking honestly about my concerns in order to reflect and create my parenting plan. A parenting plan was something I felt I needed to do for some time and never did it in the early days of my separation, but always wanted to. I felt a bit anxious about finally going through with it, putting things officially on paper and talking to others about my concerns. But I felt really supported in my experience with my mediator."

- Mediation client

Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation

"The best thing about the service was the empathy and time given to listen to my side of the situation, which made me feel calm."

- Mediation client

Family Dispute Resolution and Mediation

‘"Having some online, and even phone calls, was a good way to feel for me to feel like I was in a real safe space and not feel intimidated by anyone and given time to respond."

- Mediation client

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FAQs

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FDR is a process for separating partners in Australia. It offers an alternative to family court or legal proceedings and is a structured process that helps individual parties express their thoughts and needs to one another. Unless their circumstances meet on of the exemptions, all parents separating in Australia are required to attempt to resolve their parenting disputes in FDR before approaching the court. If FDR is appropriate, we can help with parenting and property arrangements. Each person meets with their allocated FDR Practitioner individually to discuss their circumstances and identify why FDR may or may not work for them at that time. If we determine that it’s not appropriate for you and your family, we can inform you about the possible next steps.
Once you’ve made the decision to separate, it can be confusing and overwhelming to know what to do next. We welcome you to contact Relationships Australia NSW to help guide you through this process, and put you in contact with the services that you may need. We can help you determine the approach that’s most suitable for your unique situation. We also encourage all clients to seek their own legal advice.
If you are separating and have children, and your former partner refuses or fails to participate in the FDR process, our FDR Practitioner may issue you with a 60I Certificate. This enables you to apply to the Court for parenting orders. If you are separating and do not have children, and your case involves only property or financial matters, we recommend that you seek legal advice if the other party does not wish to participate in FDR. There are other reasons why an FDR Practitioner might issue a 60I Certificate. This includes if the Practitioner determines FDR is not appropriate for everyone involved at this point in time, or to confirm that everyone attended FDR and made a genuine effort but were unable to reach a full agreement on all parenting issues.
The first session with your FDR Practitioner is called a Pre-mediation assessment. This is an individual session between yourself and your assigned practitioner for 1.5 hours. The purpose of this session is to determine whether Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is appropriate for your situation, and whether it is likely to achieve the outcomes each party want. We’ll consider the parties involved, the issues you present, and the proposed timing of FDR.
In some cases it can be agreed by both the FDR Practitioner (mediator) and the other party for other people to be present during mediation sessions including lawyers or support persons, however, this needs to be discussed and negotiated ahead of time. Please talk to your Family Advisor or FDR Practitioner if you would like to consider these options.
After you make an enquiry about mediation, our staff will conduct a screening process. This is to find out more about you, your ex-partner, and how safe your situation is. If mediation isn’t suitable or safe for you, we can provide you with a Section 60I certificate. We can also refer you to other services that can provide you with support, such as counselling, behaviour change programs, and domestic violence support groups.
If you have specific requests for cultural or religious reasons, please let us know when you enquire, and we can work with you to try and accommodate your needs. We recognise people’s backgrounds, values, family circumstances and connections are diverse, and we work with people from all walks of life. We have extensive experience working with a wide range of families including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. We can also provide an interpreter at your sessions if necessary, at no extra cost to you.
If both parties reach an agreement during Family Dispute Resolution, this can be recorded as a Parenting Agreement. Please note that this is not a legally enforceable document. During your sessions, you may also come to agreements about property and financial decisions. If you do wish to make your agreements about your parenting, property and financial arrangements legally binding, you can apply to the Family Court to have your agreement made into a Consent Order.
If all parenting issues can’t be resolved, your FDR Practitioner will offer to issue you with a 60I Certificate which reflects the circumstances of your case. The Certificate may indicate that both parties have made a genuine effort to resolve their dispute during FDR, or that both parties began FDR but the Practitioner assessed further FDR as inappropriate. If you later decide to apply to the Family law court for parenting orders, the Court requires that a copy of the 60I Certificate is filed with your Court Application.
You can download our full fee schedule here. Fees are charged on a sliding scale based on your income, and start at $30 per hour.
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