Confidentiality

No communication made by you in family dispute resolution (FDR) will be disclosed by a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) unless disclosure is consented by you and the other party where both parties are aged 18 years or older or when required or authorised as follows:

The FDRP must disclose a communication made in FDR if he or she reasonably believes that disclosure is necessary for the purpose of complying with a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.

Additionally, an FDRP may disclose a communication made in FDR if he or she reasonably believes disclosure is necessary for the purpose of:

Protecting a child from the risk of harm (whether physical or psychological)
Preventing or lessening a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of a person
Reporting the commission, or preventing the likely commission, of an offence involving violence or threat of violence to a person
Preventing or lessening a serious and imminent threat to the property of a person
Reporting the commission, or preventing the likely commission, of an offence involving intentional damage to property of a person or a threat of damage to property
If a lawyer independently represents a child’s interest under an order pursuant to the Act

You should not disclose to any person other than your professional advisors for the sole purpose of legal advice a communication made in FDR unless compelled by law to do so.

INADMISSABILITY

You shall not at any time (before, during or after the meditation) contact the FDRP as a witness in any legal or administrative proceeding concerning the dispute or the mediation.

If the FDRP receives a subpoena order of similar effect from you or any entity associated with you, you shall pay the Mediators legal and professional costs, disbursements in relation to and including opposing the subpoena and indemnify and hold harmless the Mediator in respect of all orders for costs that may be made against the Mediator in relation to the subpoena.

PRIVACY

Mediation for Families™ are committed to providing you with quality services in addition to managing your confidential and personal information.

Information collected is for the primary purpose of providing our services to you. As Australian FDRP’s, Mediators and Lawyers we are governed by laws regarding the use and disclosure of your personal and confidential information where you information may disclosed where:

You consent to it’s disclose and/or use;
We are required or authorised by law to do so.

Your personal information is stored in a manner which reasonably protects from disclosure, modification, misuse, loss and from authorised access.

When your personal information is no longer needed for the purpose of which it was obtained, we will take steps to de-identify you, desensitise and bleach the data collected or will destroy the information obtained from you. Most information can be held in a client file, however when we are no longer able to provide a service or you have withdrawn from your engagement with us, we generally take all steps to delete your data. This is done without any notice provided to you, the other party, your legal representative, your support persons or anyone else that has been involved in your matter.

It is important to us that information held is accurate and up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information up-to-date, accurate and complete. Should you find that the information held is not up to date or accurate, please contact us as soon as reasonably practicable so we can update our records. This ensures that we can continue to provide you with a quality professional service.