Intro
When you’re trying to navigate one of life’s most significant challenges, divorce, it’s crucial to engage with a family mediator (family dispute resolution practitioner) you feel best suits you and your situation.
Finding a family mediator you feel comfortable with is important as they’re going to support you and your former partner to make important decisions around parenting, property, and finances.
Why Choosing the Right Family Mediator Matters?
Choosing a family mediator you feel comfortable with is a significant step in the right direction when going through a separation and divorce.
This person is likely to hear the most intimate details of your life, will be supporting you in decision making about your children, and will be providing important information about the mediation and divorce processes.
The decisions you and your ex come to may be some of the most far reaching of your life and having the right family mediator working with you will support you in the process.
What are the Qualities of a Good Family Mediator?
Proper Accreditation and Registration
As a member of a profession your mediator needs to be fully qualified and registered. Family dispute resolution practitioners (FDRP’s) are qualified mediators who have undertaken additional specialised post-graduate education. Following this they have applied and been deemed suitable for registration with the Office of the Attorney General of Australia. This indicates the regard they are held in within the family law sphere.
When choosing a family mediator it is important to recognise that all FDRP’s are mediators but not all mediators are FDRP’s.
Real Experience With Situations Like Yours
Qualified and registered family mediators have both studied and had experience with family mediation. They specialise in it and bring this learning and lived experience into their roles. Importantly, most FDRP’s are experienced mediators who move into the family dispute area of practice. They have a professional skill set that is best suited to family based disputes and have made the conscious decision to follow this mediation pathway. In short, they have the experience, knowledge, skills, and mindset that ensures they will be valuable members of the profession.
A Calm, Neutral and Impartial Approach
When seeking out a suitable family mediator it is important to trust your natural instincts to a degree. At the point of first contact you’ll develop a ‘feel’ for the type of person your family mediator is. You should be left with a strong impression that they’re calm, organised, knowledgeable, and professional. At Resolutions Australia we often talk about being both professional and personable. This means we can engage purposefully with clients in a manner that demonstrates our professionalism and knowledge and that is reassuring. We’re calm, clear, and never rushed!
We stress the nature of the family mediation process with clients and from this they gain a deeper understanding of how we maintain neutrality and balance from first contact until final sign-off. Remembering of course that these principles underpin all the work a family mediator does.
Clear, Upfront Pricing
When considering a family mediation provider to engage with one of the factors to consider is of course price. Unfortunately far too many providers simply don’t have their pricing structures immediately available. Websites mention ‘quotes’, or ‘getting in touch’ or simply have no information anywhere to be seen. This is frustrating for clients and, quite frankly, illogical. Here you are as a potential client, going through an incredibly difficult time, and to top it off you’re having to contact and discuss your situation with a range of providers simply to find out how much you’ll likely be paying for mediation. It’s another unwelcome job on the list.
Family mediators should have a clear, easy to understand pricing structure listed on their website. It should have a breakdown of the pricing, what is being provided, some explanatory details, and an invitation to get in touch if your situation may be outside the norm.
Flexible and Online Options
Considering different modalities of mediation is an important but often overlooked opportunity when considering a family dispute resolution service to utilise.
There are numerous options to consider including in person mediation, shuttle mediation where the parties don’t see or hear each other, online, lawyer-led, lawyer attending, co-mediation, child inclusive. All have their place and are not all mutually exclusive.
At Resolutions Australia we exclusively use online mediation. This can be done as a virtual face-to-face or shuttle mediation.
By offering options and information up front clients are able to make informed decisions about the method that they feel would work best for them. Bluntly put, gone are the days of having clients travel, come into an unfamiliar business setting, and try to make positive decisions while also feeling anxious about parking tickets, where they’ll find somewhere for lunch, and wondering how dark and rainy it will be for the long drive home.
One Consistent Point of Contact
When seeking a family mediator it’s important for clients to know they’ll have expertise available from the first point of contact. Knowing that any questions or enquiries will be dealt with by a qualified, accredited FDRP provides reassurance to clients going through what is an emotionally difficult experience.
At Resolutions Australia we ensure that every client has one point of contact. From first to last clients will only ever deal with their family mediator. No reception staff, no bots or AI, no intake personnel, no change of mediator at the last minute.
Having this stability ensures your family mediator has a thorough understanding of not just your situation but of you as the client. This depth of understanding helps better ensure your family mediation is an authentic, empowered, experience for all involved.
Questions to Ask Before You Book the Mediator
When seeking a family mediator be sure to ask any question that’s on your mind. Part of a mediators role is to provide information and guidance about the process and they should be willing to do this. Further, FDRP’s are legally obliged to provide certain information to clients and if this isn’t forthcoming early in the process then it may be best to go elsewhere. This information includes details about (but not limited to) a complaints process, fees charged, Section 60i certificates, and conflicts of interest.
Importantly, also think about how willing the mediator appears to be to answer questions and how they respond to questions asked.
At a minimum clients should ask about costs, the role of the family mediator, and what happens after mediation if an agreement is reached/not reached.
At Resolutions Australia we operate on the basis of no surprises. That is, we provide all the information we can to clients, discuss their needs, circle back on areas of uncertainty, and ensure that in preparing clients for mediation we have been upfront, transparent, responsive, and preemptive.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
When choosing a family mediator there can be a few red flags that appear. These are thankfully few and far between.
Make sure your mediator is an FDRP and registered. If not then they won’t be able to issue a Section 60i certificate if the mediation is unsuccessful. They likely also won’t have the specialised family dispute resolution knowledge and skills for the situation.
If pricing structures or details are unclear and the potential mediator defers or fails to provide enough information around what they charge then look elsewhere.
If, after initial contact, you just don’t feel entirely comfortable with the mediator then choose another provider. Choosing the right family mediator for you is an important decision and if the connection just isn’t there then it really isn’t an issue to call time and move on. The choice can be viewed as you would when choosing a doctor or counsellor.
Why Families Across Australia Choose Resolutions Australia
This is where Resolutions Australia gets to blow our own trumpet. And loudly!
We have spent time, money, and energy researching family mediation providers across Australia. We have surveyed clients (and potential clients) and developed a business model that builds on the best of what we discovered.
We found that a significant number of clients wanted to be able to mediate from the comfort and security of home. It made them feel empowered and confident. So that’s what we do, exclusively.
Many clients wanted to still be able to engage with shuttle mediation so we created a virtual pathway for doing exactly that as well as being able to have lawyers present online if desired.
Many potential clients were rightly annoyed at the lack of information many providers had on their websites about the costs involved. Not only do we have this information but you’ll see we’re one of the most cost effective family mediation providers in Australia!
At first contact clients want information and to gain a better understanding of the mediation process. We’re happy to talk for as long as is needed to support clients with this. Even if a potential client doesn’t choose us to mediate with us we recognise the important role we play in the family law sphere and see providing information as part of our professional obligations. Happy to help!
We mediate at a time that suits you. Evenings, weekends, public holidays, the middle of the night! We’ve done them all quite happily and successfully. We recognise that the days of traditional business hours are long gone. People need to engage on their terms and we’re only too happy to support them with this.
Flexibility, resilience, support, and client centredness. These four concepts underpin all we do and we’re hugely proud of it!
FAQs
What qualifications should a family mediator have?
A family mediator should have a post-graduate diploma in Family Dispute Resolution and be registered with the Office of the Attorney General of Australia.
How to pick a good mediator?
We put a lot of stock in client instinct. Do you feel positive about this person, are you engaging well, are they happy to talk and answer and support? Then check out the blog above to make sure they tick all the boxes.
What are the 4 types of mediators?
There are four main types or styles of approach to family mediation that FDRP’s use. They are; facilitative, evaluative, transformative, and narrative. Each has its own characteristics and FDRP’s make decisions about the style(s) to use with clients based on the situation, the clients, the particular point in the process, and where their own strengths lie. Get in touch and we’d be happy to go into greater depth with what each style involves.
Can I do family mediation online?
Absolutely you can and Resolutions Australia are the experts in the field.
