Is Family Dispute Resolution confidential?

Yes. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) sections 10H and 10J protect what is said in FDR from being used as evidence in court. Mediation is confidential with limited exceptions, including a duty of care if someone is at risk of serious harm, mandatory reporting to protect a child, certain criminal matters, requests from an Independent Children's Lawyer, and what's needed to properly issue a Section 60i Certificate.

What does Interact Online charge for Family Dispute Resolution?

Fees are $242 per person per hour. A typical 1.5-hour pre-mediation session is $363 per participant. A 3-hour joint mediation session is $726 per participant, and a 4-hour shuttle mediation session is $968 per participant. If full fees would cause genuine financial hardship, please contact us before booking.

What is a Section 60i Certificate and do I need one?

A Section 60i Certificate is the document the Family Court relies on to confirm that you have made a genuine effort to resolve a parenting dispute through Family Dispute Resolution before applying to court. For most parenting matters this is required. Exemptions include cases involving family violence, child abuse, urgency or where one party cannot take part. Your FDR Practitioner can issue a Section 60i Certificate where appropriate.

What happens if we reach an agreement in mediation?

If you reach agreement, your FDR Practitioner helps you write it down clearly. You can keep it as a written record, formalise it as a signed Parenting Plan, or take it to your lawyers to be drafted as Consent Orders and lodged with the court so it becomes legally binding.

What if we don't reach agreement in FDR?

Not reaching a full agreement is not a failure of the process. FDR can still be useful for clarifying issues and positions, and for parenting matters it produces a Section 60i Certificate if you need one to apply to court. Your FDR Practitioner can talk through your options, including further mediation, arbitration or court.

Does the FDR Practitioner give legal advice?

No. FDR Practitioners cannot give legal advice. They facilitate the conversation and help participants generate and reality-test options. We strongly recommend getting independent legal advice before and during FDR so you understand your rights and the range of likely outcomes if your matter went to court.

Agreement to Mediate – Family Dispute Resolution

An overview of the terms, process, fees and your rights when working with our Family Dispute Resolution service.

Download the Agreement (PDF)

About this Agreement

Before we begin your Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) mediation, both participants sign an Agreement to Mediate. The agreement sets out how the process works, what confidentiality protections apply, what your FDR Practitioner can and can’t do, what we charge, and what happens if you reach an agreement – or don’t.

This page is a plain-English overview of what’s in the Agreement. The signed copy is the PDF above. Please read the PDF in full before your first session and bring any questions to pre-mediation.

Confidentiality and inadmissibility

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) sections 10H (confidentiality) and 10J (inadmissibility) protect anything said or admissions made during the FDR process from being used as evidence in court. By signing the Agreement, both participants commit to keep what is discussed confidential, and accept that options or proposals considered but not agreed to are not binding and cannot be used as evidence later.

Mediation is confidential, with limited exceptions. The exceptions are explained in the Agreement and your FDR Practitioner will also walk you through them during pre-mediation.

When confidentiality can be broken

Mandatory reporting – to protect a child from physical or psychological harm, abuse, neglect or family violence.
Duty of care – to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person’s life, health or property.
Criminal offence – to report or prevent the likely commission of an offence involving violence or threats of violence or property damage.
Independent Children’s Lawyer (ICL) – an ICL can legally request information to help them represent a child’s interests.
Section 60i Certificate – the FDR Practitioner may need to disclose limited information to properly issue a Section 60i Certificate.
Professional supervision – cases may be discussed in supervision, generally without identifying you.

Your role and responsibilities

By signing the Agreement you commit to:

Listen to the other participant and talk about your own needs and interests.
Use flexible thinking and negotiate with a willingness to compromise where you can.
Work towards an agreement everyone can live with.
Consider the best interests of any child affected by the decisions you’re making.
Speak for yourself and treat the other participant and your mediators with respect.
Comply with your obligations under the Family Law Act 1975 – we’ll help you understand what these are and encourage you to get independent legal advice.
Fully disclose information relevant to your family law situation. If full disclosure isn’t made, any court orders later based on the agreement may be at risk of being set aside.

Your FDR Practitioner’s role

Your FDR Practitioner is a qualified and accredited Family Law Mediator working under the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2025. They provide the FDR service in line with this Agreement and those Regulations.

Safety

FDR Practitioners must keep the process safe. They can terminate the FDR process at any time if it becomes inappropriate to continue, and they don’t have to disclose their reasons. They also decide on the format – in some cases they may require shuttle mediation, where participants are kept separate and don’t speak directly to each other.

Impartiality and conflict of interest

Your FDR Practitioner does not take sides. Their role is to facilitate the conversation fairly and supportively for everyone. If there’s any potential conflict of interest – a previous relationship, professional dealings or anything else – they will disclose it, and you’ll be asked whether you want to proceed with them or work with a different practitioner.

Interns

Sometimes a student completing their FDR qualification co-facilitates the mediation as an intern. Any intern is bound by the same confidentiality and inadmissibility rules as the FDR Practitioner. You’ll always be told if an intern is involved.

Feedback and complaints

We welcome your feedback after mediation through our online feedback form. If you have a concern, you can contact Interact Support at office@interact.support or use the contact form on our website. Each FDR Practitioner also has an independent complaint handling service we can refer you to.

The FDR process

The FDR process has two parts: separate pre-mediation sessions with each participant, followed by the joint mediation. Pre-mediation is where your FDR Practitioner gets to understand your situation, checks the matter is suitable for FDR, makes sure both participants can take part safely, and prepares you for the joint session.

Parenting FDR and Section 60i Certificates

For parenting disputes, the Family Law Act 1975 generally requires you to make a genuine effort at FDR before applying to court – a Section 60i Certificate is the evidence the court relies on. Your FDR Practitioner can issue a Section 60i Certificate where appropriate. There are some exemptions to the requirement, including matters involving family violence, child abuse, urgency or where one party can’t take part.

Self-determination

FDR is participant-led. Your FDR Practitioner won’t tell you what to decide. Their job is to help you have a useful conversation, generate options and reality-test them – the decisions are yours.

Getting legal advice

We strongly encourage you to get independent legal advice before and during FDR. Your FDR Practitioner can’t give legal advice. A lawyer can help you understand your rights, your range of likely outcomes if the matter went to court, and whether a proposed agreement is in your best interests.

Best interests of the child

For parenting matters, the law requires decisions to be made in the best interests of the child. Section 60CC of the Family Law Act sets out what that means, and your FDR Practitioner will help you think through the relevant considerations – the child’s safety, the child’s views (taking into account age and maturity), the child’s relationships, and the practical realities of any arrangement.

Property settlement FDR

We also provide FDR for property and financial matters. Property FDR follows the same confidentiality and inadmissibility protections. Full and frank financial disclosure is essential – both participants need a clear, shared picture of the asset pool before useful negotiation can happen. Independent legal advice is particularly important for property matters.

If you reach an agreement

If you reach agreement during mediation, your FDR Practitioner will help you write it down in clear terms. You have several options for the final form of the agreement:

A written record of what you agreed – useful for keeping everyone on the same page but not legally binding.
A Parenting Plan – a signed and dated written agreement about parenting arrangements. Not enforceable as a court order but the court will take it into account if matters are litigated later.
Consent Orders – if you want the agreement to be legally binding, your lawyers can draft Consent Orders and lodge them with the court. The court reviews them before they take effect.

If you don’t reach an agreement

Sometimes participants can’t reach a full agreement. That’s not a failure of the process – FDR has still been useful in identifying the issues, clarifying positions and (for parenting matters) producing a Section 60i Certificate if you need one to apply to court. Your FDR Practitioner can talk through next steps with you, including further mediation, arbitration or court.

Fees

Fees are charged per person per hour. Both participants pay the same hourly rate.

Service	Fee (per person)
Base rate	$242 per hour
Pre-mediation session (typical, 1.5 hours)	$363
Joint mediation – 3-hour session	$726
Joint mediation – 4-hour shuttle session	$968

Pre-mediation and joint mediation sessions are paid in advance. If your matter needs additional time, we’ll talk that through with you first.

Hardship

If paying the full fee would cause genuine financial hardship, please contact us before you book. We may be able to offer a reduced fee or refer you to a low-cost or free service that’s a better fit for your situation.

Cancellation and refund policy

Cancellation and refund terms are set out in full in the PDF Agreement. As a general guide, sessions cancelled with reasonable notice can be rescheduled. Late cancellations may incur a fee because the time has been reserved for you. If we cancel a session, your fee is refunded or moved to another booking.

Free and low-cost courses we offer

Separating parents and people preparing for FDR can access additional support:

New Ways for Families (free) – a short, structured programme that helps separating parents communicate and make decisions together with less conflict.
Anger Management ($69) – a self-paced course for participants who’d like practical tools for managing strong emotions during separation.

Read the full Agreement

The PDF below is the full Agreement to Mediate that participants sign before mediation begins. Please read it in full and bring any questions to your pre-mediation session.

Download the Agreement (PDF)

Last updated 30 May 2026