Under the Family Law Act, parents are required to make a genuine effort to resolve any parenting disputes in relation to their child or children through family law mediation before they are eligible to commence Court proceedings.
How to obtain a Section 60I Certificate?
To obtain a Section 60I Certificate, a parent is required to attend family law mediation with an Accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (“the mediator”). The mediator can issue a Section 60I Certificate in the following circumstances:-
- If a party does not participate mediation because the other parent refused or failed to attend;
- If a party did not attend mediation because the mediator did not consider the matter to be appropriate for mediation (for example, due to allegations of family violence);
- Both parents attended mediation and both made a genuine effort to resolve the matter;
- Both parents attended mediation, however one of the parents did not make a genuine effort to resolve the matter; or