Resolve it without the courtroom
Not sure what you need? Four questions.
Most people arrive knowing something is wrong and not knowing what to ask for. Answer these and we will tell you which process fits, what happens in it, and roughly how long it takes. Nothing is recorded and you do not have to give us your name.
What this tool does not do
It does not give legal advice and it does not assess your case. It tells you which kind of process fits your situation. If you need someone to tell you where your matter stands legally, you need a lawyer, and we will point you to free and low cost options.
You have been asked to attend mediation.
You did not choose this, and you probably have questions you would rather not ask the person who invited you. Here are straight answers. The mediator acts for neither of you, so this page is written the same way.
No. Mediation is voluntary and nobody can make you sit in a room.
But if this is about children, there is a consequence worth knowing before you decide. If you do not attend, the practitioner can issue a certificate recording that, and the other person can then apply to a court. The decisions still get made. They just get made by a judge, without your input, and at considerably more cost to both of you.
Declining does not stop the process. It removes you from it.
Generally no. What is said in family dispute resolution is confidential, and it is generally not admissible in court. That is the whole reason people can speak frankly in it.
There are limits, and you should hear them now rather than discover them later. A practitioner must disclose information where there are reasonable grounds to believe a child needs protection from harm, where there is a serious and imminent threat to someone's life, health or property, or where disclosure would prevent violence. The certificate itself also goes to the court.
Outside those, what is said in the room stays in the room.
Neither. A mediator cannot give either of you advice, cannot decide anything, and cannot take a position on who is right. If a mediator started acting for one party, they would have to stop the mediation.
If you want advice about where you stand, that is what your own lawyer is for, and you are free to get it before, during or after. Nothing here replaces that.
No. Shuttle mediation means you sit in separate rooms and the mediator moves between you. It can also run online, from wherever you are.
Plenty of mediations work this way. Asking for it is ordinary, and it is not an admission of anything.
Tell us at intake, privately. We speak with each person separately before anything is arranged, and that conversation is confidential.
If mediation is not safe, it should not happen, and the law provides exemptions for exactly that situation. You do not have to be certain before you raise it.
One thing worth sitting with
Mediation is the only part of this process where you still have a say in the outcome. Everything after it is decided by someone else.
Mediation House
Family dispute resolution and section 60I certificates, elder mediation, and property and financial mediation. Run by a registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and AMDRAS registered mediator. Both registrations are public and you are welcome to check them.
Family dispute resolution
Parenting arrangements after separation, and the section 60I certificate you generally need before you can apply to a court for a parenting order.
Enquire about this →Elder mediation
Care and accommodation decisions, sibling disagreements about a parent, powers of attorney, and estate tensions before they become litigation.
Enquire about this →Property and financial
Separating couples, business partners, co-owners. Confidential, faster than a court list, and you keep control of the outcome.
Enquire about this →Sending someone an invitation to mediate?
Point them at mediationhouse.au/#invited. It answers the questions people are reluctant to ask the person inviting them, neutrally, and it is far more likely to get a yes than trying to explain it yourself.
Every matter starts with a confidential intake
We speak with each person separately before anything else. That is where we assess whether mediation is safe and appropriate, and it is not a formality. If mediation is not the right tool, we will say so rather than proceed.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Commercial and workplace dispute resolution. Commercial disputes settle. The question is how much time and cost you burn before they do. We mediate under AMDRAS registration, confidentially, and scheduled in weeks rather than years.
Contract and supply
Disagreements over scope, performance, delay or payment, where both sides would rather not spend a year and a large part of the contract value finding out who was right.
alternativedisputeresolution.au →Shareholders and partners
Breakdowns between owners, deadlock, exits and valuations. Mediation keeps the dispute off the public record and out of your customers' view.
alternativedisputeresolution.au →Workplace and internal
Conflict between staff, between teams, or between an employee and management, addressed before it becomes a formal claim.
alternativedisputeresolution.au →Where the relationship matters
Suppliers, franchisees, co-owners, long-standing clients. Litigation ends relationships. Mediation is the only process that can end the dispute and keep the relationship.
alternativedisputeresolution.au →Worth doing early
The main cost of a commercial dispute is usually the time it occupies, not the settlement figure. Mediation before positions harden is faster, cheaper, and far more likely to produce something both sides will actually honour. Lawyers are welcome in the room and are not required.
How it runs
A short scoping call with each party, then a mediation session in person or online, with or without your lawyers. If you reach agreement you leave with heads of agreement on the day, which your own lawyers formalise. Quoted hourly or at a day rate, agreed up front.
Representing yourself? Start here.
Most people who represent themselves did not choose to. The process is not designed for you, the other side often has a lawyer, and the deadlines do not care that you are learning as you go.
Deadline calculators
Enter the date something happened and see exactly how long you have left. Deadlines are the single most common way a good case is lost.
elaw.au →The forms, explained
Which form you need, and plain English notes on what each section is actually asking for.
elaw.au →What the decision maker looks at
The test that applies to your kind of matter, set out in the order a tribunal or court works through it.
elaw.au →Free help worth knowing about
Community legal centres, the relevant ombudsman, and the free guides published by the tribunals themselves.
elaw.au →What we do not do
We do not give legal advice and we do not assess individual cases. Nothing on Elaw is advice about your situation. If you need someone to tell you where your matter stands, you need a lawyer.
Talk to us
Every matter starts with a confidential intake, and we speak with each person separately. Nothing is arranged until we have.
If you are worried about someone seeing that you contacted us: a phone call leaves the least trace. A WhatsApp message stays visible in the app, and shows when it was read. Use the Quick exit button at the top of this page to leave immediately, and clear your browser history afterwards.