Mediation is a neutral and impartial form of resolution. It is provided by a professional Mediator who has been trained to help the parties work through conflict and towards an agreement. See our information about conflict here.
Mediation empowers you to make lasting decisions and agree outcomes that work for you. Your Mediator will remain impartial and facilitate your conversation to help you work towards agreement. This is an ideal form of dispute resolution for matters where the people involved want to retain an ongoing relationship, avoid court, and keep the dispute and outcomes strictly confidential.
Your Mediator will work with you to find out what the issues are and what everyone's intentions are for moving forward. Each person will have an initial call with your Mediator, which may be up to 30 minutes in length. Everyone will need to agree to proceed before the mediation session can be arranged.
Once everyone is agreeable to use mediation, your Mediator will need to ensure that you have each:
Please note that payments are usually made before the mediation session. The mediation fee is usually split equally between the parties but there may be other arrangements by agreement.
Your Mediator will help you by listening to each person's views and concerns, and rephrase responses where emotion may be taking centre stage.
A Mediator has been trained to be the person in the middle and allow you to have a conversation, share what's important, and help you think about how you can fix the situation.
The benefit of working with a Mediator is that everything is confidential and you will have a safe space to talk and share not only what brought you to this point but what your vision of a better future could look like. They will empower you to make your own decisions and support you to sense and reality check suggested outcomes.
At the end of the mediation, your Mediator will put your agreed terms into a document that you can sign. This is called a Mediation Agreement and is legally binding. For additional peace of mind, you can protect this agreement by going to court and applying for a Consent Order or Tomlin Order.
Mediation is always best when you can have a direct conversation. However, your Mediator can facilitate a shuttle only mediation. This means that your Mediator will only hold individual sessions with each person and work towards an agreement without any direct communication. Talk to your Mediator about shuttle mediation and if this is something that might benefit you.
In some rare circumstances an agreement is not reached. However, you will find in most situations that you will have made progress. Mediation is a balance of training as well as neutral support and most people take away some vital skills about how to talk and reach an agreement. It is thought that approximately a further 10 per cent of matters settle shortly after the mediation.
If you cannot reach an agreement, you may need to consider other options. These could include seeking legal or other professional advice. You can discuss your next steps if this is necessary but if everyone genuinely wants to resolve the matter, you have a very good chance of reaching an agreement.
Mediation is professional service that members of The Dispute Resolution Agency usually charge on an hourly basis. Some practitioners offer fixed fees, reduced fees, and some can help for free.
Each person usually pays their own costs on an equal basis but other arrangements can be agreed in advance.
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