Steps to the Mediation Process

We are a team of qualified Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners (FDRPs)

and able to issue 60I Certificates. 

1. One party will contact Life Mediation to make an appointment for an intake session.
 

2. Party 1 has an intake (one on one) session with the mediator, which will take 1 hour. In this intake you will get to ask questions, tell your story and the mediator will prepare you for a hypothetical mediation and might give you some tasks to do so you are well prepared for the mediation.

3. Party 1 will invite the other party to come to mediation. They will contact Life Mediation and we will make an appointment with them for their intake. Or Life Mediation will invite the other party (Party 2) to engage in the mediation process. We will engage the other party twice, as a minimum, and at least once in writing. The other party has a week to respond to this invitation. That does not mean an appointment has to be made within a week. If you engage the other party yourself and they contact us, there is no extra cost. If we have to invite the other party in or if we have to verify that the other party is not engaging in mediation, there is a  fixed fee for 1 hour of our time, which is in the amount of $247.50 (incl. GST)

Mediation Scheduling Policy:

At Life Mediation, we understand that each party may have different preferences regarding the timing of mediation. To ensure a balanced and effective process, we have established the following policy to guide scheduling:

Neutral Scheduling Approach:

As a neutral, our role is to ensure that neither party has undue influence over the timing of the mediation process. To achieve this, we aim to balance the needs of both parties by setting a reasonable schedule that accommodates both parties' timelines, without giving preference to one over the other.

Intake Session Timing:

Once Party 2 agreed to proceed with mediation, we request to have their intake session booked within a maximum of two weeks from the initial invitation and complete the intake within 3 weeks after the initial invitation. This ensures that we can gather the necessary information promptly and prepare for the mediation process.

Mediation Session Timing:

After the intake sessions have been completed, the mediation session will generally be scheduled within one month after the intake session of Party 2. This timeline allows adequate preparation for both parties and ensures that all necessary issues can be addressed without unnecessary delays.

Exceptions:

We recognise that unique circumstances  may require adjustments to the schedule. If both parties agree on a different timeline, we are flexible in accommodating their preferences. However, when parties have conflicting preferences, we follow this policy to maintain neutrality and fairness, ensuring neither party controls the timing.

We understand that some clients cannot attend within the timelines of our policy. If that is the case, we ask the client to let us know so we can let the other party know what the other party is not able to attend mediation at this moment in time. When the client is ready to engage within the timeframe, they can engage us and start the process again.

4. If the other party is not responding or does not want to engage in mediation, the party who initiated the mediation process can ask the mediator for a certificate to go to the family court if the mediation is about children's matters. If the mediator has not contacted the other party, the mediator would have to do this first before the certificate can be issued. Cost would apply.
 

5. If the other party wants to engage in the mediation process, then he or she will make an appointment for their one on one intake session.

6. After the mediator has seen both parties, she can assess if mediation is suitable for this particular matter. If mediation is suitable, she will decide based on both parties' intake session what the best way is to run the mediation session. If mediation is not suitable, then she can issue a certificate if the matter is about children.
 

7. If mediation is suitable, the parties will have a joint mediation session. A mediation takes 3 hours if it's a session without lawyers present. When lawyers are present, the mediation will take half a day or a full day and the prices are different. If you want to do a lawyer-assisted mediation, please let us know so we can send you the details. We can only conduct a lawyer-assisted mediation if both clients are able to bring a lawyer to mediation or it is agreed that only one client brings a lawyer to mediation. In the event that clients cannot agree on lawyers being present or not, we will only be able to conduct a non-lawyer-assisted mediation. 
 

8. To organise the joint mediation session, the mediator will send out an email to both clients and will ask you to come up with a date that you both can attend. A small admin fee would apply. In the event that it takes our staff more time to organise the session, we will charge for the time spent organising the mediation session. 

9. The mediator will type up the agreement if the party has come up to an agreement in the session. She will discuss with you what the next steps are to make this document into a legally binding document so you and the other party can make agreements around this. Drafting of the agreement is $200 (plus GST).

10. A 60I Certificate can be issued at anytime in the process. For example, if one of the parties does not want to engage in mediation, if parties cannot come to an agreement or if the matter is not appropriate for mediation. The validity of the certificate is one year from the date of issue.

11. If any of the parties have a complaint about the mediator, then they can put in their complaint with the mediation body that she is a member of. Our mediators are members of the Resolution Institute. https://www.resolution.institute

Cancellation Policy:

• After receiving the booking confirmation email and should you decide to cancel,  a $50 admin fee will be charged.
• A $495 fee will be charged if cancellation is made within 24 hours prior the scheduled intake session.
• For joint mediations, the party who cancels the booking within 24 hours prior the scheduled session will pay for the whole amount charged for that session.

Refund Policy:

• 50% of the payment will be refunded if you inform us 72 hours before your scheduled date about the cancellation.