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Family Dispute Resolution Lawyers in Melbourne
For separations involving a business, a family trust, significant assets or a high-conflict parenting dispute. We act for you through family dispute resolution, mediation and negotiation. The mediator is independent of both sides; our role is to prepare and present your case. We then turn the agreement into consent orders and, for property disputes, can take the matter to arbitration. Each step is prepared as if the matter were going to a hearing, so the outcome holds.
- Parenting mattersCertificate or exemption first
- Property mattersPre-action steps before filing
- ArbitrationProperty and financial only
Most complex matters settle. The question is on what terms.
Very few family law matters end with a judge deciding every issue after a final hearing. Most are resolved earlier: at family dispute resolution, at mediation, in negotiation between lawyers or, for property, before an arbitrator the parties choose. The law expects it. A parenting application generally cannot be filed without a family dispute resolution certificate, and the court's rules require genuine steps to resolve a property dispute before proceedings start.
What changes in a complex matter is what a fair agreement depends on. A business that has to be valued. A trust whose assets may or may not be property. Parents who cannot agree on a move interstate or overseas. The mediator or family dispute resolution practitioner is independent of both parties (in property matters, often a barrister acting as mediator), and each party's lawyer represents their client through the process. That is our role. We act for you, prepare the disclosure and the evidence as we would for a hearing, present your case and negotiate from there, so that what you agree to is something you understand and can rely on.
Preparing you and your case for FDR with an independent practitioner, advising you through it, and what the practitioner's section 60I certificate means for filing.
An independent mediator, often a barrister in property matters, with us presenting your case and making offers on the evidence.
Turning an agreement into orders the court makes and that can be enforced.
Property settlementA determination of property and financial issues by an arbitrator the parties choose.
Valuation and disclosure where the pool includes a company or a family trust.
Business ownersRelocation, international and high-conflict disputes where agreement needs careful handling.
Parenting mattersThe family dispute resolution certificate, and when the court will excuse it
Under section 60I of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), an application for a parenting order must not be accepted for filing unless it comes with a certificate from a family dispute resolution practitioner, or the court grants an exemption. The section's stated object is that people make a genuine effort to resolve a parenting dispute through family dispute resolution before they apply to court.
The certificate records what happened. The other party refused or failed to attend. The practitioner considered FDR not appropriate. Everyone attended and made a genuine effort. Someone did not make a genuine effort. Or FDR began but was not appropriate to continue (s 60I(8)). The kind of certificate can matter later: the Act notes that the court may take it into account when deciding whether to send the parties back to family dispute resolution, and when deciding costs.
Only a family dispute resolution practitioner can give a certificate (s 60I(8)): a person accredited under the Accreditation Rules or otherwise authorised to act as one (s 10G), who must be independent of all the parties (s 10F). It does not come from either party's lawyer, who acts for one side. Our role is to prepare you for FDR, advise you through it and explain what the certificate means for your next step.
Changed on 10 June 2025. For applications made on or after that date, the exceptions no longer apply automatically. An applicant without a certificate must ask the court for an exemption, and the court may grant one only if satisfied that one of the grounds in section 60I(9) exists (s 60I(8A), (8B)). Under the court's rules, the request is supported by an affidavit filed with the application (r 4.02).
Grounds for an exemption, section 60I(9)
- The orders are sought with the consent of all parties, or in response to another party's application
- Reasonable grounds to believe there has been, or is a risk of, child abuse or family violence
- A contravention of orders made on the same issue in the last 12 months, where there are reasonable grounds to believe the person has shown a serious disregard of them
- The application is urgent
- A party cannot participate effectively, for example because of incapacity or physical remoteness
- Other circumstances set by regulation
Where a matter involves both parenting and property, the court's pre-action procedures for both apply.
Parenting mattersThree routes to an outcome without a final hearing
Each has a different cost, pace and degree of finality. The right one depends on what is in dispute, how far apart the parties are, and how much of the evidence is still to be gathered.
Mediation and FDR
An independent mediator or FDR practitioner runs the process; in property matters it is often a barrister acting as mediator. In FDR the practitioner must be independent of all the parties (s 10F). Each party's lawyer represents their client: in lawyer-assisted mediation we are with you on the day, presenting your case so offers can be tested and recorded. What is said in family dispute resolution is generally confidential and not admissible in court, with limited exceptions, including where a child is at risk (ss 10H, 10J).
Negotiation and consent orders
An agreement binds once the court makes it into orders. Without proceedings on foot, that means an Application for Consent Orders with draft orders (r 10.04). The court must be satisfied that property orders are just and equitable (s 79(2), s 90SM(2)), and orders made on incomplete disclosure can be set aside for suppression of evidence (s 79A, s 90SN).
How property settlement works nowArbitration for property
An arbitrator the parties choose hears the evidence and makes a determination to resolve the dispute. Since 10 June 2025 the Act supports private arbitration as well as court-referred arbitration: a court can make orders to help it run, or end it (s 13F), and a registered award has effect as if it were a court order (s 13H). The Act's arbitration provisions cover financial and property matters only, not parenting (s 13E(1A)).
What the court expects before a property case is filed
There is no certificate for property, but the court's rules set pre-action procedures that each prospective party must follow before starting a proceeding, unless an exception applies (r 4.01 and Schedule 1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021). The court treats them as the standard approach. Unreasonable non-compliance can see the case stayed until the steps are taken, or a costs order made.
Invite dispute resolution
Give the other party a copy of the pre-action procedures, find out what dispute resolution services are available, and invite them to take part. Both parties are expected to cooperate on a service and make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute.
Exchange disclosure early
As soon as practicable: a schedule of assets, income and liabilities, a list of relevant documents, and copies of the documents asked for. Since 10 June 2025 the Act's own duty of full and frank disclosure applies while separated parties are preparing for a proceeding, not only once it starts (s 71B(5), s 90RI(5)).
Notice and a genuine offer
If dispute resolution is unavailable, refused or unsuccessful, a written notice of intention to start proceedings sets out the issues, the orders sought and a genuine offer, with at least 14 days to reply. The reply must answer with a genuine counter-offer.
When proceedings are filed, each party files a Genuine Steps Certificate saying what they did, or why an exemption applies. Exceptions include urgency, allegations of family violence, undue prejudice, and a previous application in the same cause within the last 12 months (r 4.01(2), (3)). Where a business has to be valued, the procedures favour a single witness instructed by both parties, if that is practicable.
Negotiating does not stop the clock
Married parties must start property or spousal maintenance proceedings within 12 months of the divorce order taking effect (s 44(3)). After that, the court's leave or both parties' consent is needed. A mediation booked for month eleven is a risk, not a plan.
De facto parties must apply within 2 years of the relationship ending, unless both consent (s 44(5)). A late application needs the court's leave, which generally means showing hardship (s 44(6)). Disclosure, valuation and mediation all take time, so build the timetable around the deadline. Property settlement
Before you agree to anything, know what it is worth
Initial consultations are confidential. We will tell you which route suits your matter, what has to be disclosed and valued first, and what a realistic outcome looks like.
Prepared as if it will be decided
Map the dispute and the pool
What is actually in dispute and what it is worth: the parenting issues, the asset pool, the companies and trusts behind it, and the deadlines that apply. That decides which route makes sense.
Prepare before the room
Disclosure and valuations assembled before mediation, not during it. Offers made on evidence are harder to refuse and easier to defend.
Make it final, or run it
Agreements documented as consent orders or a binding financial agreement, so they can be relied on. Where a matter will not resolve, we run it in court, prepared.
Trusted on the matters that mattered most
After speaking to many law firms, I felt that getting legal help was not for me. But my view completely changed after speaking with Special Counsel Peter Wood. He was knowledgeable, generous, kind, and genuinely caring.
Highly professional, compassionate staff with a high level of knowledge and competence. Reliable, reassuring and there when you need them. Highly recommend.
Questions about resolving a family law matter without a hearing
Last reviewed October 2026. Statutory references are current to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Compilation No. 101 (10 June 2025) and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 Compilation No. 4 (10 June 2025). This page is general information, not legal advice.
Resolve it on terms that hold.
If your separation involves a business, a trust, significant assets or a parenting dispute that needs careful handling, arrange a confidential consultation. We will tell you which route fits, what needs to happen first, and what a realistic outcome looks like.
Related: property settlement, binding financial agreements, separation and divorce, parenting matters and funding a family law matter.
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