Elements and Performance Criteria
- Respect and utilise other professionals
- Conduct the family dispute resolution process in a procedurally fair manner
- Ensure that participants reach agreement freely, voluntarily, without undue influence and on the basis of informed consent
- Ensure each participant has equal opportunity to speak, be heard and present needs, interests and concerns
- Assess the capacity for participants to engage in the dispute resolution process
- Assist participants to understand the implications and ramifications of available options
- Provide sufficient opportunity for participants to access advice and information from other experts
- Intervene in manipulative or intimidating negotiation tactics
- Obtain an undertaking from participants in financial and/or property disputes to disclose financial and related circumstances
- Advise participants of the desirability and availability of independent legal advice
- Encourage participants, where appropriate to obtain independent legal advice
- Assist participants to assess the feasibility and practicality of any proposed agreements in both the long term and short term
- Advise on and/or determine the process whereby resolution is attempted
- Inform participants of own qualifications and experience in dispute resolution
- Facilitate disputes within own limits of competence
- Refer participants to professional experts for psychological, counselling and/or legal interventions
- Facilitate participants' awareness of the interests of others affected by the dispute and proposed agreement
- Assist participants to consider the needs and interests of other parties, especially children, to the dispute
- Make available information about own training, education and expertise to aid participants' self determination in the dispute resolution process
- Respect confidentiality of participant information
- Discuss with participants their expectations of confidentiality before undertaking the family dispute resolution process
- Include provisions for confidentiality in any written agreements to enter the process
- Inform participants of the limitations of confidentiality
- Explain obligations of confidentiality and seek agreement for private sessions with participants
- Inform participants of any subpoena, or other notification to testify or to produce documents as soon as possible.
- Obtain participants' consent to discuss the content of dispute resolution process with parties' lawyers and/or other expert advisors
- Disclose to participants' representatives substance of agreements reached only after obtaining permission from the respective parties
- Maintain confidentiality in the storage and disposal of client records
- Terminate a family disputeresolution process whenever continuation of the process is likely to harm or prejudice one or more participants
- Respond to issues of misuse of the dispute resolution process
- Terminate or suspend the dispute process when it is being used for purposes other than mutual attempt to arrive at a fair solution or its usefulness has been exhausted
- Withdraw from the dispute resolution process when a proposed agreement is being reached that is considered by the practitioner to be unconscionable
- Assist participants to access further process options for dealing with their dispute