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Ahead of the 2025 federal election the Australian Government has assumed a caretaker role.

We are operating in accordance with caretaker conventions. 

Navigating family dispute resolution

Family dispute resolution (FDR) is a type of mediation that helps separating families reach their own agreements. During FDR, families will discuss the issues in dispute and consider different options.

FDR uses an accredited practitioner who mediates without taking sides. The practitioner will encourage the family to focus on the needs of their children.

The main goal of FDR is to help participants agree on a parenting plan that sets out future parenting arrangements.

It is a practical and low-cost way for separating families to sort out future parenting arrangements with professional help.

Separated parents are required by law to attempt FDR before they can apply to a family law court for parenting orders, unless their situation makes them exempt.

Visit Family Relationships Online to find out more about how the FDR process works, including how to start and how much it will cost.
 

Family dispute resolution practitioners

An FDR practitioner is an independent person trained to mediate and negotiate. They specialise in family disputes. They are neutral and don’t take sides with any of the people involved. They facilitate the process by encouraging people to talk about the issues in dispute.

We are responsible for accrediting FDR practitioners. An accredited FDR practitioner must meet specific standards and obligations contained in the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2025.

FDR practitioners can be either:

  • private, which means you need to pay for their services

  • subsidised by the Australian Government, which means their services are either free or modestly priced.

You can find a private FDR practitioner using the Family Dispute Resolution Register.

Many community-based providers offer government-funded FDR services. To find one, you can either:

  • search online using the Find local help search to look for a Family Relationship Centre or family dispute resolution service near you

  • call the Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321.

For more information about finding a FDR practitioner, you can visit the Find a family dispute resolution practitioner page.

You should try to agree on an FDR practitioner together. If you cannot agree, you may both choose different FDR practitioners. Those practitioners could try and work together to both conduct FDR for you. For example, they might agree that:

  • they will both be involved in the process

  • one practitioner will coordinate the process, and the other will help if needed.

If the other party refuses to attend FDR with your chosen practitioner, your practitioner may give you a section 60I certificate noting that the other party did not attend. However, if you refuse to attend FDR with the other party’s chosen practitioner, the other party may also be issued with a certificate by their chosen practitioner.

You should be aware that there are consequences for not attending FDR. This can include the court awarding costs against you.

The court has the power to refer parties to FDR under section 13C(1)(b) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). 

If this happens, you might be offered FDR through the court, conducted by a judicial registrar who has been authorised to conduct FDR by the court’s CEO.

For more information visit the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.


Confidentiality and inadmissibility

Things that you say in front of an accredited FDR practitioner are confidential. This means that the FDR practitioner cannot share your information or story with other people. There are some exceptions to this. They may be able to share some information with others to prevent:

  • a crime from being committed
  • someone’s life or health from being threatened.

Usually, what is said during FDR cannot be used as evidence in court. When evidence cannot be used in court it is ‘inadmissible’. However, an FDR practitioner must report child abuse or anything that indicates a child is at risk of abuse, and this may be used as evidence in some circumstances.

Sometimes you might be assessed by an intake offer before you are able to speak to an accredited FDR practitioner. It is important to be aware that anything you say to an intake officer, or anyone who is not an accredited FDR practitioner, is not confidential in court proceedings.

Visit the What stays confidential in family dispute resolution page to find out more information. 


Situations where you may not need to do FDR

We can give you general information about what situations can make you exempt from needing to do FDR. Section 60I(9) of the Family Law Act lists these situations.

If an FDR practitioner needs legal advice about whether a particular situation may be exempt from FDR, they should contact the Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321 and ask to speak with a legal adviser.

In most situations, you need to attempt FDR before applying to a family law court for parenting orders. There are some exceptions to this. You may be exempt if any of the following apply:

  • You are formalising an agreement through ‘consent orders’.
  • There are reasonable grounds to assume that family violence or child abuse has occurred.
  • You are responding to an application to court.
  • A decision needs to be made urgently.
  • A person is unable to participate effectively (for example, due to incapacity or geographical location).
  • A person has contravened and shown serious disregard for a court order made in the last 12 months.

The court decides whether any of these exceptions apply. An accredited FDR practitioner cannot make this decision.

FDR practitioners can tell you if they believe your situation qualifies for an exemption. But they can’t decide if an exemption applies or not.

If an exemption applies, you can make an application to court without attending FDR. 

However, you can still attend FDR if you want to. For example, some people prefer to try FDR even if there’s been domestic or family violence. If you’re worried about your safety, your practitioner can take steps to make FDR safe.

FDR practitioners can issue section 60I certificates even if an exemption might apply. This means they can give you a certificate saying that they believe conducting FDR would not be appropriate. The FDR practitioner must assess whether FDR is suitable for you before issuing the certificate. You can ask them to do this either with or without attending an FDR session first. 

The person filing the application to court applies for the exemption. You can claim an exemption even if you have been to FDR and have a certificate.

You should tell court staff if you are relying on an exemption. The court staff will tell you what you need to supply. This could include a completed form, supporting documents or both.

If both parties are jointly applying for consent orders, they can jointly claim the exemption. If you are filing a response to an application, you don’t need to claim an exemption.

If the court does not accept that an exemption applies, it may order you to attend FDR before it accepts or hears your application.

You do not need to attend FDR before filing an application to court if it relates to the contravention of a parenting order. you are applying because a person has contravened a parenting order. The court must be satisfied that the person who has contravened the order has shown a ‘serious disregard’ for their obligations under the order. 

The Family Law Act does not define what ‘serious disregard’ is. This will be a matter for the presiding judicial officer to determine. 


Situations where you may need to do FDR more than once

When there has been a change in circumstances, you might have to do FDR again. This is because you must attempt FDR before you can file any application about parenting matters. This means that needing to try FDR multiple times is very common. You might have to attend FDR every time an issue comes up.

However, sometimes one party uses a range of litigation tactics to gain an advantage over or to harass, intimidate, discredit or otherwise control the other party. They might use the family law process, or make multiple applications and complaints in multiple systems such as child support, child protection and police.

If you have participated in FDR with the other party recently, and you believe they are using FDR to harass or intimidate you, you should tell the FDR practitioner. It helps if you can give them details of other FDR processes you have already participated in. If the FDR practitioner believes that FDR is not appropriate, they can issue with you a section 60I certificate.


If FDR is unsuccessful

If the mediation is not successful for any reason, an accredited FDR practitioner can issue a certificate which you can give to the court to prove that you attempted FDR. The certificate is called a ‘Section 60I certificate’ and can only be issued by an accredited FDR practitioner.

The practitioner can also issue a Section 60I certificate if FDR is not appropriate for the situation. This could mean there are concerns about:

  • family violence
  • the safety of the parties
  • risks to children
  • the ability for each party to be able to negotiate freely
  • other issues the practitioner feels are relevant.

The Section 60I certificate will say one of the following things:

  • The other party did not attend.
  • You and the other party attended and made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute.
  • You and the other party attended but one or both of you did not make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute.
  • The FDR practitioner decided your situation was not appropriate for FDR.
  • Part way through the FDR process, the FDR practitioner decided it was not appropriate to continue.

For more information about section 60I certificates, visit the Section 60I certificates for family dispute resolution page.

If you are not happy with the certificate, we cannot ask the practitioner to change it. You will need to speak to the practitioner directly to ask for more information about why they have issued you with that particular certificate.

What happens if you don’t make a genuine effort

If you do not attend FDR or make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute, the court may order you to pay the other party’s legal costs. It can also influence the timing of your hearing in court.


Complaints

To make a complaint about your experience with an accredited FDR practitioner, start by raising your complaint directly with the practitioner.

If you are not satisfied with their response, you will need to take your complaint to their approved complaints body. All accredited FDR practitioners must give you information about their complaints process when you start FDR, including which complaints body handles their complaints.

If you do not believe the FDR practitioner gave you this information, or you need help working out which approved complaints body to contact, please contact our FDR Accreditation Unit:

If your complaint is about a government-funded service such as a family relationship centre, rather than about your experience with a specific FDR practitioner, you should first ask the organisation to deal with your complaint. 

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been handled, or you are not comfortable pursuing the matter directly with them, you can lodge your complaint directly with us.

Lodge your complaint directly

You can also read more about the complaints process or contact us by:

If you make a complaint to us about a practitioner, we will collect any personal information you provide for the purpose of identifying you as the complainant. 

If we decide it’s necessary, we may pass on your personal information and the substance of your complaint to the practitioner concerned or the practitioner's complaints handling body in order for them to respond to the issues raised. 

Aside from the appropriate body, we will not disclose your personal information to anyone not named in the complaint. If you do not provide suitable identifying information, we may not be able to act on your complaint.

For information about how your personal information is managed, refer to our Privacy Policy.
 

Related links

Find a family dispute resolution practitioner
What stays confidential in family dispute resolution