Finding Common Ground

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia requires you to attend Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) before commencing parenting proceedings, unless exceptional circumstances apply to you. FDR is provided by an independent facilitator, called a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) who gives you an opportunity to come to an agreement in the form of a parenting plan, binding court orders or financial agreement. If you are unable to reach an agreement, you are issued a certificate indicating no resolution could be reached outside of Court. FDRPs are trained to assist you in resolving your dispute. They do not provide legal advice or make decisions in your matter.

Parenting plans are not enforceable by the Court but provide a framework for you and your ex in relation to the parenting agreements you have reached.

If you feel you need something more formal than a parenting plan, your agreement can also be formalised by way of binding Court Orders, known as Consent Orders. They are legally binding.  There are penalties for breaching Court Orders without a reasonable excuse.

Children can be involved in Family Dispute Resolution through a child inclusive process. This is not offered by all FDRPs and the appropriateness of children having input in this process will depend on factors such as their age and maturity and their parents’ ability to “hear” their children without criticism or blame.

If you and your ex-partner can come to a compromise, FDR is a more affordable, timely and less stressful process than engaging in Court proceedings.

The Court can refer your matter to FDR within the Court at any point in your proceedings. The two-part confidential process gives you an opportunity to resolve your dispute before a Judge is asked to make a decision for you. The Court wants to afford you the opportunity to have control over your circumstances and participate in making decisions which will impact you and your children into the future.

Part 1 tends to run for around 45 minutes and is usually conducted via phone or video conference. You (and your legal representative) will attend a conference with a Judicial Registrar. The purpose of this is for you to meet the Registrar, who will explain the process and next steps to you. The Registrar will also set out expectations for Part 2, and any material you should bring to assist in that conference. This is your opportunity to ask any questions about the process or relay any concerns you may have about engaging in Part 2 of the process.

The Registrar and/or Court Child Expert will open Part 2 by discharging their technical obligations and explaining the process to all parties. They will then confirm any areas of agreement and the outstanding issues to be addressed. The rest of the day will be spent negotiating and documenting any agreement that is reached. Negotiation can happen either jointly or via shuttle depending on which scenario will be more conducive to productive discussions.

If an agreement is reached, the Registrar can make the relevant orders on an interim or final basis, and you will not be required to appear before a Judge for a hearing. Should agreement not be reached, your matter will progress to the next stage of the Court process.

Discussions during FDR are confidential and therefore cannot be used in Court.  There are some exceptions to this privilege. For example, court staff are required by law to report a suspicion or risk of child abuse and violence or threats of violence to the relevant child welfare authority.

This fact sheet is for people who have been ordered to attend a Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) conference in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.