Family Dispute Resolution Service

What is family dispute resolution

Family dispute resolution is a type of mediation process. It can be less stressful and less expensive than court. It is confidential, and an independent family dispute resolution practitioner helps those involved in a family law dispute to:

• talk about the issues that are not agreed on
• think about different options as well as what is needed for the future
• consider other perspectives.

At dispute resolution, you can:

• develop a parenting plan that sets out arrangements for the care of your children
• sort out financial issues, including how property is divided, spousal maintenance and maintenance for children over 18 years old.

These kinds of agreements can be formalised as consent orders at court. You can get legal advice about different proposals, and legal help throughout the process.

When dispute resolution is needed

Generally, you can only apply to a family law court for an order about your children if you have attempted family dispute resolution and have a certificate from a family dispute resolution practitioner confirming this.

Often, even if you are at court, whether for children’s or property issues, you may still be asked to attend family dispute resolution. In some cases, the court will run its own dispute resolution conference.

About our Family Dispute Resolution Service

We offer an independent, confidential lawyer assisted family dispute resolution service.

Who can use our service

To use our Family Dispute Resolution Service, at least one person involved in the dispute must have a lawyer and a grant of legal assistance. Unless it is a property dispute, the other person can use our service without a lawyer, but we strongly encourage everyone to have a lawyer with them at dispute resolution, to make the best use of the conference time.

We can help you to find a lawyer.

Conference locations and format

We offer conferences at many locations in metropolitan and rural Victoria, including at many Victoria Legal Aid offices. We can also organise video or telephone conferences.

Cost

Our service is free. However, you may have to pay your lawyer’s fees if you do not have legal aid.

Interpreters

You can ask us for an interpreter in your language. You can also ring the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask to be put through to Victoria Legal Aid Family Dispute Resolution Service.

Feeling respected and safe at dispute resolution

We welcome all families, including rainbow families and caregivers of different generations and relationship. We know that each family is unique, and we believe each family matters. We understand that separation is very difficult for everyone in a family and that you may feel uncomfortable talking about it. We try to make sure our service meets the needs of all families, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

Find more about ways we work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

Safety

Safety is a priority for us. We will ask you if you are worried about your emotional or physical safety in the dispute resolution process, including if there has been family violence.

We will only book a conference if we consider it safe to do so. Our conferences can be set up in different ways.

You and the other party may be in the same room, different rooms or by video or on the telephone. We will not force you to be in the same room as the other party. We can also arrange for you and the other party to arrive and leave the conference at different times, so you do not see each other. Your case manager can:

• help you to develop a safety plan for the conference, so that you feel safe and protected
• give you information and resources to help you make decisions about your physical and emotional safety and that of your family members.

Find out more about Family violence and family violence intervention orders

Privacy and confidentiality

FDRS stores and maintains client information carefully and does not share it without your agreement or unless we must under the law.

All discussions during the assessment process, through our Kids Talk process, or with anyone at the dispute resolution session are confidential and cannot be used as evidence in any court or any legal case where evidence is given.

It is a serious offence to disclose any confidential information from the family dispute resolution process to any other person or body, including a court, and penalties apply.

In some cases we must share information (such as reporting it, if there is a risk of child abuse) and in others we may share information, for example if we:

• believe that there is a risk of harm to a person or their property
• become aware of a fraud or criminal act.

How our family dispute resolution process works

Each person in the dispute will go through intake and assessment, overseen by a family dispute resolution practitioner. This includes an assessment interview by phone with a case manager, who will do a full risk assessment to make sure each person is safe in the process and can negotiate freely, as well as gathering information to understand your case. If agreed, and it is suitable for your case, then we will book a family dispute resolution conference for you. A family dispute resolution practitioner (what we call a chairperson) will also run your conference.

Family dispute resolution practitioners are impartial and do not give tailored legal advice. They can give information about what a court will consider, and about what may be in the best interests of any children involved in your dispute, using their experience and knowledge about families and children and family law disputes.

All family dispute resolution practitioners at our service are accredited through the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

Find out more about our family dispute resolution practitioners.

Children’s voices in dispute resolution

Under the law, children’s best interests are the most important factor. The law requires dispute resolution practitioners, and judges, and lawyers too, to make this the priority and consider issues like children’s safety, their views, their developmental and other needs and parental capacity).

If the dispute is about children's issues, we will want to know about their experiences. If they are old enough and it is safe, we will give them the chance to have a say. Parents and carers will also get information to help them make decisions.

In appropriate cases, after speaking with parents or carers, we will arrange for young people to speak with a qualified child consultant before a conference takes place. We call this Kids Talk. The child consultant provides feedback by phone to parents or carers and a confidential written report about the experiences of children, to use in the dispute resolution session.

Find out more about Kids Talk.

Children do not attend conferences

You will need to make your own childcare arrangements, so you can fully participate in your assessment and any conference.

Property division through dispute resolution

If you and you former partner cannot agree on dividing property, and you have a net asset pool of $500,000 or less, or an estimated total net claim of $250,000 or less, excluding superannuation and meet other criteria, you may be able to apply for legal aid for a lawyer to prepare for and attend a Family Dispute Resolution Service mediation conference with you.

The law requires each person in a financial dispute to make full and frank financial disclosure – to be open about what they own and what they owe.

To attend a property conference, your case must be appropriate for dispute resolution, and you must have completed our financial statement. Each person needs a lawyer for property conferences.

Find out more about property dispute resolution.

Certificate of dispute resolution

At the end of the process, in children’s cases the dispute resolution practitioner will give you a certificate to say:

• all the parties attended dispute resolution and made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute
• family dispute resolution started, but part way through the chairperson decided it was not appropriate to continue
• one party did not attend family dispute resolution
• all the parties attended, but one or both parties did not make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute, or
• the case was not appropriate for family dispute resolution.

If you apply to the court for a parenting order, the judge may consider the certificate when making decisions in your case, including whether one of you should pay towards the other person’s legal costs.

If a court has referred your case to our service, the lawyers may also ask the practitioner to also complete a Dispute Resolution Certificate confirming dispute resolution was attempted.

More information, feedback and complaints

For more information about our Family Dispute Resolution Service, please contact us on 1800 136 832 or email fdrs@vla.vic.gov.au.

We also encourage you to contact us if you would like to provide feedback at any stage of the process or have a complaint about Victoria Legal Aid Family Dispute Resolution Service.

If we are unable to resolve any complaint you may contact Internal Legal Services at complaints@vla.vic.gov.au or write to GPO Box 4380 Melbourne Vic 3001.

Download our fact sheets

To support you through the family dispute resolution process, you can download our fact sheets: