Section 60I Certificate -a formality or an opportunity?

Parties seeking to have a parenting matter determined by a family law court will need to file a certificate from an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner.

The certificate is issued under Section 60I of the Family Law Act 1975.

Exemptions to a Section 60I Certificate

  • You are applying for Consent Orders
  • You are responding to an application
  • The matter is urgent 
  • There has been, or there is a risk of, family violence or child abuse 
  • A party is unable to participate effectively (eg: due to incapacity), or 
  • A person had contravened and shown a serious disregard to a court order made in the last 12 months.

When does an Accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner issue a Certificate?       

  1. The Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner may decide that the process of mediation is not suitable for your family. This could mean there are concerns about family violence, the safety of the parties and risks to children, the ability for each party to be able to negotiate, the physical or psychological health of one or both of the parties or other issues the practitioner feels are relevant.

 

  1. The mediation may not have been successful.

What is recorded on the Section 60I Certificate?

The Section 60I certificate will say one of the following things:

  • the other party did not attend
  • you and the other party attended and made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute
  • you and the other party attended but one or both of you did not make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute
  • the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner decided your case was not appropriate for Family Dispute Resolution.
  • the Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner decided it was not appropriate to continue part way through the FDR process.

How long is a Section 60I Certificate valid for?

The Section 60I Certificate lasts for 12 months.

The reasons to look at Family Dispute Resolution as an opportunity

Some people just wish to seek the section 60I certificate immediately and look at the process of mediation as a formality that they just have to get through and just set a court date.

The reality is that there are long delays in the court lists which have not been helped by the pandemic. There are huge expenses associated with court action. These expenses will eat into your families asset pool.

There is a large emotional impact on you and your children if disputes are protracted and not solved at the earliest opportunity.

It is important to look at the process of Family Dispute Resolution as an inexpensive, effective and cathartic opportunity for your family to resolve some issues and move forward.