Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2025

The Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner) Regulations 2025 commence on 1 April 2025.

The new regulations include several changes that will impact accredited FDR practitioners. Most of the changes come into force immediately. Others, like the need for us to approve who can act as a complaints-handling body, have a transitional period. This allows time for you to lodge applications and for us to make decisions. 

The following content summarises the key changes. You should also visit the Federal Register to familiarise yourself with the new regulations. 

We will upload a new section 60I certificate, which must be used from 1 April 2025, and other relevant information to our website on 1 April 2025.

Summary of key changes

Accreditation criteria – fit and proper person

Under the current regulations, you must be considered suitable to perform the functions and duties of an FDR practitioner. The new regulations build on this by regulating that you must be a ‘fit and proper person’ to be considered suitable to be an FDR practitioner. 

In addition to current factors that may affect your suitability to perform FDR (such as being prohibited from working with children), new factors will be considered. These include:

• whether you have made false or misleading representations about your status as an FDR practitioner

• whether you have been subject to disciplinary action, either in your capacity as an FDR practitioner or about your provision of FDR

•  the history of complaints (if any) about your provision of FDR that have been substantiated by an approved body or any other body that considers such complaints

• whether you have been disqualified from conducting a professional practice (other than FDR)

• whether you have provided false or misleading information in your application for accreditation.

Accreditation criteria – professional indemnity insurance

Currently, you must hold professional indemnity insurance to provide an FDR service. If you meet the accreditation criteria, but do not hold this insurance, you are only conditionally accredited (and cannot practice) until you provide evidence of insurance cover.

From 1 April 2025, you must hold professional indemnity insurance when you apply to be accredited. This better reflects that professional indemnity insurance is essential to be able to practice as an FDR practitioner.

It also means that you must maintain professional indemnity insurance coverage while accredited. If you fail to do so, your accreditation may be suspended or cancelled.

Accreditation criteria – pathways for competencies and qualifications

The new regulations detail 4 different pathways for accreditation as an FDR practitioner. While these pathways are similar to the pathways that exist under the 2008 regulations, they are now presented in a simpler and easier-to-read way.

First pathway

You must have been assessed as competent in all of the requirements of the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution delivered by a registered training organisation, or an approved course (delivered by a higher education institution) assessed to achieve an equivalent outcome.

Second pathway

You must:

• have completed the core units of the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution delivered by a registered training organisation (or the equivalent approved units offered by a higher education institution) 
• hold an additional qualification that is equal to or higher than a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. conflict management, law, dispute resolution, or psychology). The additional qualification must be different to the qualification under which you completed the core units of the graduate diploma.

Third pathway

You must:

• have completed the core units of the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution delivered by a registered training organisation (or the equivalent approved units offered by a higher education institution)
• be a registered practitioner with the Board of Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS) for the 2 years before you apply for accreditation.

The requirement to have held AMDRAS (previously referred to as NMAS) accreditation for the preceding 2-year period is a new requirement. It recognises that valuable experience can be gained from work experience in the general mediation sector, and that this is a pathway to obtaining the more advanced skills required to support complex family dispute mediations. This additional requirement also brings this pathway more in line with the requirement to demonstrate additional skills and experience required in the second pathway (gained through further study).

Historical pathway

The historical pathway allows people who completed their studies before 1 April 2025 to apply for accreditation on the basis of holding those qualifications.

You will still hold a relevant qualification if, before 1 April 2025, you have:

• completed a Vocational Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution (which is no longer available)
• have a postgraduate award which was certified under the old regulations (where that postgraduate study may not be certified under the 2025 regulations).

Similarly, you can apply for accreditation after 1 April 2025 if you:

• have obtained the 6 compulsory units of competency of the Graduate Diploma (or the equivalent units of a certified postgraduate award) before 1 April 2025 
• have a relevant additional qualification (outlined in the second pathway), or are registered with AMDRAS, and have been for the 2 years prior, (as outlined in the third pathway).

If you are accredited under AMDRAS and have commenced study in the Graduate Diploma (or certified equivalent course) before 1 April 2025, you may also meet the requirements for accreditation once you successfully complete your studies. 

Former pathway

The old 3-unit pathway will no longer be available to meet the accreditation criteria. 

If you are currently accredited under this pathway and then cancel your accreditation, you cannot use this pathway to re-gain accreditation. Further study will be required.

Otherwise, you could suspend your accreditation instead of cancelling it. This would allow you up to 5 years to return from suspension and start providing services again under this older qualification pathway.

Family Dispute Resolution Register – names will be made public

Under the new regulations, all accredited FDR practitioners will have their name included on a public register. This will show as [First name] [Surname]. If you have provided a ‘preferred name’, this will show as [First name] (Preferred name) [Surname]. For example, William (Will) Brown. 

No other information is included on the public register unless you provide it yourself, such as your business details.

The increased transparency will help people to check if someone is an accredited FDR practitioner.

If it would be inappropriate to publish your name you may be able to use a pseudonym. We will need to approve this and it would only be in exceptional circumstances (for example, where genuine harm could come from your name being made public). 

A very large majority of FDR practitioners already have their names included on the public register. If you do not wish to make your name public, you will need to tell us why a pseudonym is essential. If approved, we will issue you a pseudonym, which will appear on the public register.

To request a pseudonym, email the Practitioner Accreditation Unit at FDRregistration@ag.gov.au and ask for a pseudonym discussion. Please do not provide personal information in this email. 

We will ask for information that broadly outlines your case for having a pseudonym. We recognise your right to privacy and will not seek a detailed personal background. However, we will require information that indicates why a pseudonym would be a reasonable requirement, rather than a personal preference. Consider an appropriate pseudonym for you to use. There may be situations where we do not agree to the use of a pseudonym, or your preferred pseudonym (for example if the name is too common and/or may cause confusion).

Continuing professional development – improving knowledge and understanding of family violence

You will still have to undertake 24 hours of continuing professional development every 24 months. Under the new regulations at least some of these activities must increase your knowledge and understanding of family violence. This reflects the importance of being able to appropriately detect family violence and, if present, assess whether FDR is suitable. 

As community and academic knowledge of family violence continues to grow, FDR practitioners should maintain contemporary skills in this area. We expect that new material will be available and easy to access each compliance period. You must keep a record of your professional development activities for 7 years.

Suitability assessment – part of the FDR process

Remember that an assessment of suitability for FDR remains an important responsibility in providing FDR. There are some changes to the assessment of suitability for FDR, including that the FDR practitioner must now assess if there has been undue bias or influence exerted on a party to the dispute or if there is any other matter present that may have a material impact on the ability to conduct the FDR, that causes the FDR practitioner to consider that FDR may be unsuitable. 

Greater coverage of confidentiality provisions

Under the new regulations, information exchanged in the early phases of the FDR process, such as intake and suitability assessment, is covered by the confidentiality provisions in the Family Law Act if it is shared directly with the FDR practitioner. This supports a freer exchange of information relevant to FDR.

This same coverage does not apply to information if it is shared with someone who is not an accredited FDR practitioner, for example an intake officer.

Requirement to retain records and information

Under the new regulations, you must securely store family dispute resolution records, including case notes and files, and retain them for at least 2 years.

Cancellation of accreditation – suspensions over 5 years

Under the new regulations you can suspend your accreditation for a maximum of 5 years. If your suspension is not lifted within that time, it will be automatically cancelled. We will not have any discretion in this matter. If you are seeking to have a suspended accreditation lifted, you should commence the process early to allow enough time for us to assess your application.

If your accreditation is cancelled under these circumstances, you can reapply for accreditation in the future. However, you would have to meet the accreditation criteria specified in the new regulations.

If your accreditation is already suspended when the new regulations begin, the 5‑year period starts on 1 April 2025.

Higher education providers – approval of certified courses and units of courses

Under the new regulations appropriate courses offered by higher education providers can continue to be certified as equivalent to the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution. However, we must now approve certified courses. This means that higher education providers can no longer independently certify that a course is equivalent. We can also revoke that certification under certain circumstances, for example if the course no longer covers the required content.

Approved complaints bodies

To be accredited (and maintain accreditation), you must have access to a complaints mechanism. Under the new regulations, complaints bodies must seek formal approval to act as a complaints mechanism for FDR practitioners. An application form is available by request via FDRregistration@ag.gov.au.

Professional associations and organisations funded by the government to provide FDR services will need approval to act as a complaints mechanism before you can use them to provide your FDR service.

We will publish a list of approved complaints bodies on this website. 

You must belong to an approved complaints body, and notify us of this, by 1 October 2025.

This means that organisations or professional associations wanting to act as a complaints mechanism for their staff or members will have 6 months to be approved. If not approved, any staff or members will need to transition to an approved complaints body before 1 October 2025.

Section 60I certificate

Schedule 1 contains a new section 60I certificate. From 1 April 2025, you must issue the new certificate.

The new certificate has slightly different wording to the current certificate. The certificate is now issued to a single person, rather than the couple. This is the person that asks for the certificate to be issued.

When issuing the new certificate, you must include your name as it appears on the public register of FDR practitioners, as indicated on the certificate. You must also include your signature and registration number at the bottom of the certificate.

If you are issued with an approved pseudonym, you must use this when completing the form.

The new certificate encourages you to strike through or delete unused paragraphs or categories. This will help to make it clearer for the recipients.