Common Questions

FDR is a specialist form of mediation for separated couples with disputes relating to children, property settlements, divorce and child support.

The Family Law now requires separating parents to attend FDR before they are able to institute court proceedings with regard to their children. One of the aims of this legislation is to encourage parents to try to resolve their differences without having to go to court and to give both parents a greater say in their children’s futures. There are some exceptions such as cases involving violence or child abuse.

Mediation Victoria can help you reach agreements with regard to all areas of disagreement including children’s arrangements and property settlements.

FDR provides an opportunity for all the parties involved in a dispute to take control of the conflict and play an active role in agreeing upon a resolution. As the decision needs to be agreed to by both parties, there is a much higher rate of compliance with the agreement.

Regardless of the nature of the dispute, FDR assists by helping families build better relationships and to focus the parents on the best interests of the children. By opening up the lines of communication between the parents, a lot of the distress of the separation can be significantly alleviated.

Strong research now shows that separation is not necessarily harmful to the children. Children are resilient and highly adaptive and can generally cope with separation. It is ongoing, bitter, unresolved conflict that can cause the most damage. If managed well by the parents, separation does not have to be harmful for children.

Mediation Victoria will ensure you leave the mediation armed with knowledge and strategies around how to reduce the conflict your children are exposed to.

FDR is a significantly cheaper, faster and more private dispute resolution process than taking the matter to court. The parties have a lot more flexibility as to when and where to meet rather than having dates imposed on them by a court.

FDR practitioners are impartial and have no decision-making powers. We do not give legal advice.

The FDR Practitioner’s role is to help the parties define the issues in dispute, keep the lines of communication open and help the parties to express their interests clearly and respectfully. Mediation Victoria assists in the development of options to resolve the issues and to help the parties overcome any obstacles to reaching an agreement.

Mediation Victoria will provide a written copy of any agreement reached at FDR or mediation.

Mediation or FDR can be used with or without legal representation.

There are many ways in which lawyers may participate: attending mediation/FDR with their clients; providing information and advice by phone throughout the process, and advising on the final agreement made. It is up to you and your lawyer to decide how, or if, your lawyer participates.

It is common practice to seek independent legal advice on any agreement made in FDR.

The first step is to meet separately with both parties to the dispute to ascertain the suitability for FDR. This initial meeting with each person takes approximately 1-1.5 hours.

If FDR is suitable, a session is then scheduled for the parties to meet together at an agreed time. FDR sessions generally take around two hours. In some cases, a resolution can be reached after one session. Multiple sessions are sometimes required for more complicated matters.

All parties are required by the Family Law Act to attend FDR before they can start court proceedings with regard to their children.

There are some exceptions, including cases of family violence or child abuse or where the FDR Practitioner believes that undertaking FDR is not appropriate for the situation.

FDR is a completely confidential process. If parties are unable to reach agreement and the matter goes to court, the FDR practitioner cannot be subpoenaed to give evidence in court, nor can the parties provide evidence of anything said during the FDR process.

There are limited exceptions to this. All mediators are obliged to report child abuse, a threat to a person’s life, or any other criminal activity to the relevant authorities.

Agreements reached at FDR are not legally binding. However, if parents proceed to court at any time, the court is required to consider the terms of the most recent parenting plan when making an order in relation to the children, if it is in the best interests of the children to do so.

It may be recommended that you take the agreement to a solicitor to be drawn up into a formal document and registered with the court. If the agreement is developed into consent orders, then it is legally binding.

In other situations the parties may feel it is sufficient to simply sign and date the agreement made at FDR.

If you attend FDR and are unable to reach an agreement, we can issue you with a Section 60I certificate, enabling you to make an application to the court to resolve any issues.