About the Family Dispute Resolution Register

Background
What is the Family Dispute Resolution Register?
How to use the Family Dispute Resolution Register
How to apply for inclusion on the Family Dispute Resolution Register
Keeping details up-to-date on the Family Dispute Resolution Register

Background

From 1 July 2008, all individuals wanting to apply to a court for a parenting order will need to first attend family dispute resolution, and obtain a certificate from a registered family dispute resolution practitioner confirming that an attempt at family dispute resolution was made. This requirement applies to all applications, including those seeking changes to an existing parenting order. There are some exceptions to this requirement, such as cases involving family violence, child abuse or urgency.

More information about the requirement to attend family dispute resolution and the exceptions is available at www.familyrelationships.gov.au/fdr.

What is the Family Dispute Resolution Register?

The Attorney-General’s Department has established the Family Dispute Resolution Register to provide the public with information about individuals and organisations who:

meet the requirements under the Family Law Act 1975 to provide family dispute resolution and issue section 60I certificates, and
have agreed to their details being made available to the public.

How to use the Family Dispute Resolution Register

You can search the Family Dispute Resolution Register for a registered family dispute resolution provider in your local area by entering your town/suburb or postcode or state in the Location search fields.

You can also search for a particular registered family dispute resolution provider by entering the provider’s name in the Optional field. Certain other words or phrases can also be entered in the Optional field, for example, ‘free’ or ‘telephone’ if you want to find all registered family dispute resolution practitioners that provide services for free or over the telephone.

You can also combine location with optional search criteria. For example, if you wanted to find all registered family dispute resolution providers located in New South Wales that are operated by Relationships Australia, you would enter ‘NSW’ in the location search and ‘Relationships Australia’ in the Optional field.

More information about searching on the Family Dispute Resolution Register is available at Search Tips.

Once you have entered your search criteria, click on the search button to conduct the search. The search results will display all registered family dispute resolution providers that match the location search criteria and/or any words in the Optional field.

You can search again either by clicking on the clear button and entering new search criteria, or, by typing over the original search criteria and clicking on the search button again.

The search result for each registered family dispute resolution provider will include their:

name and practice name (for registered individual practitioners), or the organisation name (for registered organisations)
areas of service, client groups, methods of service delivery and general cost information, and
physical address and phone number.

If you click on any of the underlined links in a search result, you will see more details about that provider including their opening hours, proximity to public transport and any additional cost information.

All registered family dispute resolution providers are responsible for their own information displayed in the Family Dispute Resolution Register. See Disclaimer.

How to apply for inclusion on the Family Dispute Resolution Register

Individuals who meet the requirements under the Family Law Act 1975 to provide family dispute resolution and issue section 60I certificates can apply for accreditation and inclusion on the Family Dispute Resolution Register. To apply for registration, you can submit a completed Application for Accreditation as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner - Final Accreditation Standards with all required supporting documentation and a signed Commonwealth Statutory Declaration to the Practitioner Registration Unit in the Attorney-General's Department.

Information for family dispute resolution providers including application forms and instructions can be obtained through www.ag.gov.au/fdrproviders or by calling the Practitioner Registration Unit on 1800 025 255.

Keeping details up-to-date on the Family Dispute Resolution Register

Once registered, family dispute resolution providers are required to keep their details up-to-date. This can be done via email to fdrregistration@ag.gov.au or by sending a notification of the changes to:

Any queries about registration can be directed to the Practitioner Registration Unit on 1800 025 255.