- Just contact us and we will invite the other party to participate on your behalf.
Your mediator will then lead you and the other parties into the room where the mediation will be conducted. Everyone involved will sit around a large conference table.
The mediator will welcome everybody to the mediation, explain the process and discuss some ground rules.
The mediator will invite each participant to make a brief opening statement. This is your chance to say what you would like to discuss at the mediation.
The mediator will use the information from each party’s opening statement to prepare an agenda.
The Mediator will then facilitate a conversation between the participants to discuss and work through the items on the agenda.
During the mediation, the mediator will call for a break or ‘private session’. The mediator will then see each of the participants individually in their breakout rooms for a confidential chat to see how they are going; whether there are any issues that they would like to discuss away from the other participants; and, to discuss any possible settlement options.
After the private sessions, the mediation will resume. Settlement proposals may be made and discussed.
At the end of the mediation, the mediator will give each party a summary of any agreement reached. This can then be taken to a Family Lawyer to form the basis of any formal agreement which is to be drafted. The mediator will, if applicable, issue a section 60I certificate where parenting issues have been discussed at mediation.
The mediator will discuss options for attending mediation including in person, video conferencing, telephone and shuttle mediation. Shuttle mediation involves the mediator moving from party to party to avoid the need for the parties to come face-to-face. Shuttle mediation can be used in person or through technology.
Nobody participating in mediation should ever feel pressured to agree to a particular outcome.
Even when there are Court proceedings afoot, mediation may assist in narrowing the issues and reducing the costs.
Mediation does not prevent parties from commencing Court proceedings if that becomes necessary.