Child Inclusive Mediation”, in its name, seems at odds with how we practise law. How could we possibly include the child in how we mediate decisions regarding them?
The reality is that we have been doing it for a considerable period of time, via the family report process. Invariably, once we file proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court or Family Court regarding children, a family report is ordered. Children are then taken to be interviewed by the expert and 6-8 weeks later, we have the holy grail of parenting proceedings, the Family Report. It’s not unusual for two parties to read the same report but reach very different conclusions, thus often making mediation, in the traditional sense, less than smooth.
Behold the Child Inclusive Model of Mediation. The expert (not the children) is at the table. The expert brings the children’s wishes to the table and those wishes, coupled with the expert’s knowledge of what may be in the children’s best interests is right there at the table, not in written form but capable of being questioned, capable of clarification, right there at the table and not, 6-12 months’ time after the Family Report has been issued and the Expert is being cross examined at a trial.
No doubt there will be those occasions when the traditional mediation format and the Family Report will fit best for a particular matter at hand. The concept of child inclusive mediation has the capacity, in many respects, to fast track how parenting matters are dealt with and ideally without the need for Court intervention. Though, even if intervention is necessary after the Child Inclusive Mediation, the parties are going into that litigation with a relatively clear idea of what the children’s wishes may be but also what is in their best interests. Experts appear comfortable in adopting this model in children of all ages, including the very young. Whilst the children’s wishes may not need or be capable of being canvassed, the opportunity for the parents to have the expert at the table to ask questions of when the matter involves a very young baby will no doubt offer great assistance to parents.
Still not convinced?
Jennifer Macintosh received Federal Funding in 2006 to conduct a comparative study in relation to how parenting disputes were mediated. The study compared outcomes over one year for two groups of separated parents, who attended mediation over parenting disputes. These parents engaged either in a Child Focused intervention, or in a Child Inclusive intervention, at one of three Relationships Australia services (Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide).
One year post intervention, repeated measures analyses showed significantly better outcomes for the Child Inclusive group in the following areas:
• Lower acrimony in fathers in relation to their former spouses;
• Greater improvement in the parental alliance for fathers;
• Children’s experience of improved emotional availability of their fathers and greater sense of closeness to him;
• Greater contentment by children with care and contact arrangements, and less inclined to want to change them;
• Greater satisfaction of fathers with care and contact arrangements of their children, despite initially lower levels of overnight contact than the Child Focused fathers;
• Greater stability of care and contact patterns over the year;
• Preservation or improvement of the mother-child relationship, from the perspectives of both mother and child.
Read the report at https://www.ag.gov.au/Publications/Documents/ArchivedFamilyLawPublications/Report1.pdf. Please make contact if Child Inclusive mediation is something you would like to consider for your family.
