The Family Dispute Resolution Process

The Family Dispute Resolution Process may look something like this:

• Usually one parent contacts the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner first and comes in for an Assessment, Exploration and Preparation Session or Sessions.
• When and if appropriate, the other parent is then invited to come in for their own Assessment and Exploration Session or Sessions.
• At any stage in the process, if Family Dispute Resolution is considered inappropriate with reference to the Family Law Amendment Regulations 2009 by the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, a 60I Certificate can be issued to one or both parents, if requested.
• The other parent may be invited by either the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner or by the first parent. If the other parent chooses not wish to be a part of the process, the first parent is entitled to be issued with a 60I Certificate.
• The other parent comes in for their own Assessment, Exploration and Preparation Session or Sessions.
• If and when appropriate, both parents are contacted to book a time for a joint Family Dispute Resolution Session.

If Child-Inclusive Family Dispute Resolution is considered appropriate of particular importance to the process:
• The Child-Inclusive process will be explored and discussed during a joint Family Dispute Resolution Session.
• The child or children will each have individual sessions with the trained practitioner. Typically two or more sessions per child, being one hour each session.
• Individual and joint feedback Family Dispute Resolution Sessions are then held with the parents to give the parents a sense of how each child is traveling and what they are needing at the present time.

• Family Dispute Resolution Sessions are then held in which an Agenda is constructed; proposals and counter-proposals are tabled for each Agenda Item; areas of common ground are identified; areas of difference are identified; the nature of differences is identified; room for compromise explored; alternative options generated; and negotiation facilitated. At times, interim agreements are made and trialed and parents return to Family Dispute Resolution to review what worked and what didn't. At other times, a full Parenting Plan is constructed.
• Some parents choose to lodge their agreement with the Family Court. In that case, one of the parents engages legal assistance to convert the Parenting Plan into proposed Consent Orders. The other parent may choose to engage legal assistance to read through the proposed Consent Orders prior to signing them. The proposed Consent Orders can then be lodged in the Family Court. The Family Court then stamps the Orders making them legally binding.