Mediation is a process that can be both voluntary and court-ordered, and used in matters where parties are unable to resolve a dispute. The mediator acts as a neutral third party to help facilitate the discussions towards a potential agreement.

FDR or Family Law Mediation is a specialist form of mediation for, but not limited to, separated couples in dispute over such matters as children’s arrangements, property and financial settlements, divorce and child support. It can also be used in matters concerning grandparents and grandchildren.

Section 60I of the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act) requires parties that are in dispute about children’s matters to make a genuine effort to resolve that dispute by Family Dispute Resolution before they can make an application to initiate Family Law proceedings in the Family Law Courts. We support parties to engage with the Family Dispute Resolution process, but we are mindful that parties can’t be forced to participate against their will and that not all matters are suitable for mediation. Our mediators can answer your questions about suitability and participation.

Parties contact our service and make a booking for an individual and confidential assessment with one of our mediators. If one party commences the process, we will invite the other party to participate in the process and complete an assessment with the second party. If the matter is suitable for the mediation process, the mediator will book the parties for a 4-hour mediation session in most cases (6 hours for legally assisted or particularly complicated matters). Where necessary, parties may return for further mediation.

The parties to the dispute are required to be involved in the process. A party may request a support person to attend, but this is dependent on approval of the other party and ultimately up to the discretion of the mediator.

At Mark Constable Mediation, we have vast experience working sensitively and appropriately with clients from a range of cultural and linguistically diverse cultures without impeding the mediation process. We are happy to talk with you about how you can engage in mediation with the support of a suitable interpreter.

Children do not directly participate in the mediation process. However, we can provide Child Inclusive mediation with our Child Inclusive Consultants, if determined as appropriate and written consent is provided by both parents. We can discuss this further during your assessment.

As defined in the Family Law Act 1975, (The Act), the child has a legal right to have a meaningful relationship with both parents providing it is in the “best interests of the child “ to do so and the child is safe from physical or psychological harm. We acknowledge your children’s rights and where children are relevant to your matter, your children are our focus.

FDR is a completely confidential process, with limited exceptions being threat or risk to persons, property or concerns in regard to child abuse.

Mediation can take place with or without legal representation At Mark Constable Mediation we have a lot of experience working in mediation alongside parties’ lawyers. Whilst not always necessary, we encourage and support our clients' requests for lawyers to be either present or having the capacity to provide information and advice throughout the process. We can discuss further details with you during our initial conversations.

Our success lies in our skill, experience and capacity to complete the mediation process within a short time frame. We are committed to getting it done now and not some distant time in the future. Lawyers can be very expensive, and the court process incurs huge delays and exorbitant costs often beyond the reach of families going through separation. Our fee structure is clear, reasonable and available to you before you decide to proceed with us. There will be no hidden surprises and our mediators will answer any questions you have about the costs of mediation with Mark Constable Mediation. Our fees are the same seven days a week.

We pride ourselves on being able to offer our clients a range of options for mediation. We understand the pressures families and clients face taking time off work to attend appointments, making childcare arrangements to participate in mediation and the stresses parties experience waiting for appointments in the distant future. This is why we offer our clients appointment times outside of the usual 9 to 5 business hours. We have mediators available to work with you after hours on weeknights and on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as ordinary business hours. We are committed to providing a readily accessible and cost-effective alternative with short wait times to help you work towards swifter solutions.

We work with you to arrange a suitable format and location for your mediation. We are experienced in telephone and video conference mediation, we can provide an office space or book office space close to you. Our reach is long and wide and all our mediators provide services in both Melbourne city and regional Victoria.

At Mark Constable Mediation, all our mediators are highly qualified and accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners with a wide breadth of experience in Family Law and civil disputes (non-Family Law matters). We have practitioners who are nationally accredited with the National Mediators Standards Body (NMAS) and all our practitioners are registered with and accredited by the Attorney Generals Department as Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners. (FDRPs). The specific role of the mediator is to help parties clarify issues in dispute, and facilitate a respectful conversation taking place in the hope of potentially reaching a mutual agreement. The mediator is impartial and does not act for either party to the dispute. The mediator cannot give legal advice or direct parties to any particular resolution. They can, however, provide general guidance around child development and general legal information and principles. Discussions with the mediator remain confidential unless risk, threat or danger to any parties, children or property are determined or disclosed through the mediation process. Our mediators are compliant with mandatory reporting requirements that they will explain in greater detail during their discussions with you.

There is no guarantee that the outcome from FDR will be an agreement. We make every provision for a clear, unbiased, transparent and full mediation process to take place, giving parties every opportunity to reach a potential agreement. The agreement is never “our“ agreement but “your” agreement. If partial or full agreements are reached, our mediator will offer to document them in the form of a non-legally binding Parenting Plan or Parenting Agreement, financial agreement or other terms of agreement (depending on the nature of your individual matter).

We support parties who reach an agreement to understand the options for making such an agreement legally binding where parties consent to doing so.

Parties are under no pressure or obligated to reach an agreement through the mediation process. If the desired outcome is not reached for either party, then we would encourage you to seek legal advice to understand your future options. An inability to reach an agreement is not the end of the road. Upon advice, parties may look at returning to mediation, continue the process directly through their legal representatives or request the 60i certificate and make an application to the court.

Our mediators are highly qualified, skilled and have many years of experience working with complex financial matters.

After meeting with both parties for assessment, some cases can be determined by the mediator as not suitable or appropriate to proceed to mediation and a Section 60I certificate may be issued to reflect that, thereby allowing either party to proceed to court.