M5 - Learner Manual
14. Services and Agencies Relevant to Mediation
Legal Aid NSW
The Family Dispute Resolution Service of Legal Aid NSW helps people to resolve their family law dispute without going to court by inviting the parties involved in the dispute to attend a mediation.
Sourced on 28/7/22: https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/what-we-do/family-law/family-dispute-resolution
NSW Department of Fair Trading
Fair Trading provides a free mediation service concerning housing and property, which often assists in achieving a resolution without needing to resort to more formal and costlier avenues such as the Tribunal or courts.
NSW Small Business Commission
The NSW Small Business Commission offers a cost-effective commercial mediation service to help solve many types of disputes without the high cost and delays inherent in going to court.
https://www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au/what-we-do/mediation
The Law Society of NSW
Family Relationships Online
https://www.familyrelationships.gov.au/separation/family-mediation-dispute-resolution
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
Assistance with dispute resolution can be obtained through Legal Aid, Community Legal Centres or private legal practitioners.
Legal Aid is generally subject to means and assets tests as a well as restrictions on the type of matters that assistance can be provided for.
Community Legal Centres can provide free advice and some, but not all, can assist you with representation. A list of Community Legal Centres in each state and territory can be found on the Community Legal Centres Australia website.
Private legal practitioners work on a fee-for-service basis. Each state and territory has a Law Society or Institute (for solicitors) as well as a Bar Association (for barristers). Law Societies and Bar Associations often operate:
· referral services to a legal practitioner who can help
· mediation services, and/or
· maintain lists of arbitrators.
Law Society websites all have a ‘Find a Solicitor’ and ‘Find a Mediator’ function to search for solicitors and mediators in your area.
The following webpages provide information on external dispute resolution services:
· Family Relationships Advice Line
· Attorney-General’s Department Family Dispute Resolution Register
· Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators
· Legal aid bodies in your relevant state or territory
· Attorney-General's Department: amica - An Online Dispute Resolution Tool
Community Justice Centres
Community Justice Centres (CJC) provides free mediation services. CJC mediators can mediate in different sorts of matters including neighbour disputes, community disputes, small debts and disputes at work.
You can arrange mediation at CJC by contacting CJC.
If you ask CJC to arrange mediation, CJC staff will contact the other people involved in your dispute and invite them to mediate. If the other people agree, mediation may be arranged as soon as one week after your first call. Mediation at CJC is free.
The CJC website provides a range of resources to help you prepare for mediation.
People Community Justice Centres
People Community Justice Centres (CJC) has a program to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people mediate disputes and it has Aboriginal mediators. For more information on this program, go to the CJC website.
Fair Work Commission
If you make an unfair dismissal or general protections application to the Fair Work Commission (the Commission), you will be asked to attend a conciliation conference before your case goes to a hearing. A conciliation conference is very similar to mediation and the information on this site about preparing for mediation will help you prepare for a conciliation conference. For more information on conciliation in employment matters, go to the Fair Work Commission website.
If you make a complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman you may also be asked to attend a mediation conference. For more information on this process, go to the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
Family Dispute Resolution
Family Dispute Resolution is a process for resolving disputes about the care of children in family matters.
In Family Dispute Resolution, the people involved (for example parents, grandparents) meet with a mediator to talk through problems and try to come to an agreement. If you want to apply to a family law court for a parenting order (an order about children), you first need a certificate to say you have attempted Family Dispute Resolution.
There are some exceptions (for example, urgent matters or situations involving violence or child abuse). For more information on exemptions, go to Family Relationships Online.
If you think one of these exemptions applies to you, or you have another reason why you don't want to try family dispute resolution, you should get legal advice.
You need to use an accredited (approved) person to do this sort of mediation. It can be provided by private providers or by government Family Relationship Centres. You can find contact details for accredited FDR providers on the Family Dispute Resolution Register.
The mediator in family matters is called a "Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner".
For more information on Family Dispute Resolution:
· go to the Legal Aid New South Wales website Best for Kids
· go to the Family Relationships Online website
· ring the Family Relationship Advice Line on 1800 050 321, or
· get legal advice.
Private Mediators
There are private mediators who offer mediation services for a fee. Some may specialise in a particular industry or type of dispute. Private mediators will charge for mediations and the cost will often depend on how long the mediation lasts.
To find a private mediator you can:
· contact the Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs and Services on the Law Society NSW website.
· contact a Registered Mediation Accreditation Body and ask for details of mediators registered with them. For more information go to the Mediator Standards Board.
· search the Yellow Pages telephone directory.
Court or tribunal referrals to mediation
In some cases, a court or tribunal can refer you and the other party directly to mediation before it hears your case.
For example:
· In Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO) cases, the Local Court can refer the parties to mediation.
· In small claims debt matters, the Local Court can order that the parties try mediation and adjourn the case so they can do this.
· In fencing disputes, the Local Court or the Local Land Board can refer the parties to mediation and adjourn (postpone) the case so that the parties can first attend the mediation.
If you have a matter before the Local Court and you would like to try mediation, you should ask for a referral to mediation on the first date the case is listed (in small claims matters this is called the Pre Trial Review). In most cases you will be referred to Community Justice Centres for mediation.
For more information on small claims matters, see the Debt - Small Claims section of this website. For more information on AVO matters, see the Apprehended Violence Orders section of this website. For more information on fencing matters, see the Fences section of this website.
If you come to an agreement at mediation, if all parties agree, you can ask the court or tribunal to make 'consent orders' in the same terms as your agreement. If the court does this, it means the agreement can be enforced in the same way as other orders of the court. If you are not sure whether you would like the court to make consent orders in the same terms as your agreement, you should get legal advice. For more information about agreements reached at mediation, see What happens at mediation?