The Law Council of Australia and the National Pro Bono Resource Centre have teamed up again to host the second National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference, to be held on 14 and 15 November 2008 in Sydney.
The conference will centre on the key theme of "Working Together".
For further information visit the Conference website at www.a2j08.com.au
26 August 2008
Session 4, Stream 3 - Civil & Family Law
“It won’t hurt a bit...” A report card on Family Relationship Centres. Can there be justice when power is imbalanced?
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
I attended this session and heard George Turnbull and Liz O'Brien attack the concept and operation of the family Relationship Centres. Sue Pidgeon from the AG's Dept did not respond to their remarks so there was no respondent to represent 'the other side'. I did manage to point out as the session ended that it had been a very one-sided presentation and the chair referred me to this blog if I was so inclined. I work as a full-time mediator practitioner for Relationships Australia NSW and spent a year at the ( then new) FRC in Blacktown in Western Sydney. For the last five months I have been at the(still new) FRC on Sydney's Northern Beaches so I have considerable of clients from a very wide spectrum of socio-economic circumstances. Both speakers referred to 'power imbalance' and to the probability of agreements resulting in 50/50 care arrangements. I need to point ouit that overcoming power imbalance is a fundemental part of mediator training and is consequently an importany feature of any mediation. Furthermore , in the last 16months I have co-mediated 107 Family Dispute Resolution sessions and the parents reached agreement of one sort or another in 96 of these. Significantly not more than a handful of these have resulted in 50/50 shared care and in each of these cases it was because that was what the couple wanted. All of these couples have been saved an expensive legal process and some of the pressure on the courts has been eased. I also have to say that, in my view based on my experience, about one third of these agreements could 'fall over' within 6-12 months. This is not any reflection on the mediators but more on the nature of the individuals. Having said that, it doesn't follow that these cases will end up in court as the clients know that they can return to an FRC to try again and they certainly do. The feedback I have is that these FRC's are a very successful initiative and the vast majority of clients are thankful for them. Their actual effectiveness across the country varies significantly and I know from my dealings with some of them that they are less than satisfactory. The system employed by Relationships Australia NSW is very successful and enables clients almost three times the contact with professional staff than other organisations allow. I would be happy to explain the process to any interested firm or individual or send out explanatory material. I can be contacted on (02)9981 9708 or by email rond@ransw.org.au
1 comment:
I attended this session and heard George Turnbull and Liz O'Brien attack the concept and operation of the family Relationship Centres. Sue Pidgeon from the AG's Dept did not respond to their remarks so there was no respondent to represent 'the other side'. I did manage to point out as the session ended that it had been a very one-sided presentation and the chair referred me to this blog if I was so inclined.
I work as a full-time mediator practitioner for Relationships Australia NSW and spent a year at the ( then new) FRC in Blacktown in Western Sydney. For the last five months I have been at the(still new) FRC on Sydney's Northern Beaches so I have considerable of clients from a very wide spectrum of socio-economic circumstances.
Both speakers referred to 'power imbalance' and to the probability of agreements resulting in 50/50 care arrangements. I need to point ouit that overcoming power imbalance is a fundemental part of mediator training and is consequently an importany feature of any mediation. Furthermore , in the last 16months I have co-mediated 107 Family Dispute Resolution sessions and the parents reached agreement of one sort or another in 96 of these. Significantly not more than a handful of these have resulted in 50/50 shared care and in each of these cases it was because that was what the couple wanted. All of these couples have been saved an expensive legal process and some of the pressure on the courts has been eased. I also have to say that, in my view based on my experience, about one third of these agreements could 'fall over' within 6-12 months. This is not any reflection on the mediators but more on the nature of the individuals. Having said that, it doesn't follow that these cases will end up in court as the clients know that they can return to an FRC to try again and they certainly do.
The feedback I have is that these FRC's are a very successful initiative and the vast majority of clients are thankful for them. Their actual effectiveness across the country varies significantly and I know from my dealings with some of them that they are less than satisfactory. The system employed by Relationships Australia NSW is very successful and enables clients almost three times the contact with professional staff than other organisations allow. I would be happy to explain the process to any interested firm or individual or send out explanatory material. I can be contacted on (02)9981 9708 or by email rond@ransw.org.au
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