Mediation - Necessary Or Not?

Do I really need to go to mediation?

In the second part of our series on mediation we discuss whether you really need to go to mediation and if it is actually useful.

Mediation has become even more central to family law matters because of legislative changes that came into effect in September 2021. These changes required more family law clients to attend mediation in an effort to resolve their disputes before heading down the long and costly court road.

So in answer to the question that a lot of family law clients ask “do I really need to go to mediation?” the short answer is yes. It is a requirement that a majority of clients attempt to genuinely try and resolve their issues as quickly and cost effectively as possible. One of the avenues to do this is through mediation.

Is mediation actually useful?

Mediation will only be as useful as each party is willing to make it. Whether you are going through a public or private mediation service, you will be advised on how best to prepare for the mediation.

If you are not willing to try and resolve issues, or become so stuck in your position, that effectively signals to the other party that you simply will not negotiate. In this instance, mediation will most likely fail. If you are at this point and have not yet sought legal advice, it is highly recommended that you do. Lawyers can provide some great reality testing to you about your likely chances to succeed if you were to take the matter further and how much that will likely cost to do so.

There are many benefits to attempting mediation including:

1. Any decisions made will be made by the parties to the mediation. The mediator cannot make those decisions for you.
2. It is a cost effective way of trying to resolve the dispute.
3. You are able to have a discussion with the other party about various matters. This can include those things which a court generally wouldn’t make decisions on such as being flexible with care arrangements or who will take the child/ren to grandma’s birthday party next week etc.
4. There can be options for your children to have a voice in the mediation process (this will be discussed in greater detail in a further article).
5. Even if you cannot resolve all the issues in dispute, it is a great tool to see if there are any issues that can be resolved. This allows you to solely focus on those issues which cannot be resolved when going through a court process. This can be a very cost effective way of narrowing the issues which you are arguing about.  If you can agree on some matters but not everything, it is generally better to resolve what you can, rather than refusing to agree on anything just because you cannot resolve particular issues. 

What makes a good mediator?

Different mediators have different styles and backgrounds and some mediators work better with some people than others.   

It is important to keep in mind that the best mediators will push you outside of your comfort zone. They will reality test you and ask many questions that you may feel uncomfortable with. Their job is to try and help all the parties resolve the dispute/s. They are looking for the space in the negotiations where perhaps both parties might not be happy with the agreement, but they can live with it for the sake of resolving the matter.

Mediation can be a very useful tool to help resolve a wide variety of family law disputes. If you need any assistance or advice surrounding any family law matters that may require mediation, we strongly recommend you seek legal advice prior to mediation. We encourage you to contact our office to make an appointment with one of our solicitors to obtain advice on your situation on (07) 4963 2000 or through our online contact form below.