What is a Section 60I Certificate?
Unless there is a Court Order requiring attendance at mediation, the other party cannot be compelled to attend mediation/FDR. In the event that the other party declines to attend mediation in parenting matters, an FDR practitioner can provide you with a s60I Certificate which is valid for 12 months. You can use this certificate to apply to Court. If you apply to Court, the Court is likely to order mediation if it hasn’t already occurred.
A practitioner may issue a s60I Certificate for the following reasons:
- If a party declines to attend mediation.
- If the practitioner believes it is inappropriate to conduct FDR.
- If the parties attend FDR and make a genuine effort to resolve the issue or issues in dispute.
- If the parties attend FDR and did not make a genuine effort to resolve the issues in dispute.
- If the parties begin attending FDR and the practitioner considers it inappropriate to continue mediation.
The s60I Certificate is a statutory form and practitioners cannot change the wording.
What happens if the other party refuses to attend mediation on the date I proposed?
As per guidelines issued by the Attorney-General’s Department and the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2008 (Commonwealth), practitioners are required to offer a reasonable choice of days for attendance at FDR. Practitioners can issue a s60I Certificate if it is evident the parties are using delaying tactics, however, only after a reasonable choice of days has been provided.
Can Stewart Family Law arrange and conduct mediation?
Yes. Judy Stewart of our office has facilitated mediations since 1995. Our friendly staff can assist with arranging mediation and inviting the other party to attend. We offer dedicated mediation rooms at no extra cost and we have an online calendar to assist you to select a convenient date for mediation.
Judy is a recommended Leading Family Law Mediator on the Doyle’s list. She is a Registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner able to provide certificates required under the Family Law Act to commence Court proceedings for parenting disputes.
What is our process for issuing Section 60Is?
After our office issues initial invitations to mediate, the other party is provided 7 days to respond. If we do not receive a response within 7 days, we will issue a follow-up invitation allowing the other side to respond within a short timeframe. If after this time, our office does not receive a response from the other party, we may issue a s60I Certificate. If the other party refuses to mediate with our office, we may issue a s60I Certificate. We may also issue a s60I Certificate if we consider that the other party is unreasonably delaying the mediation process.
Contact us to arrange Family Dispute Resolution today.
