Child Inclusive Mediation is where all people with parental responsibility consent to the child or children being interviewed by a third party professional (not the mediator) with specific training in interviewing children. All parties must agree to the children being interviewed.
What are the benefits of child inclusive mediation?
Child inclusive mediation is a way of bringing the child’s voice into the mediation. Each child is given an opportunity to talk about their views, wishes, and experiences of their family arrangements. The children’s views and wishes can then be taken into account by the adults during the Family Dispute Resolution process. Although parents generally know their children best, the person who interviews the children will have professional training in children’s development and the impact of separation on children so they can provide feedback and suggestions on what arrangements could best meet the children’s needs.
Child Inclusive Mediation keeps each child’s perspective and needs at the forefront of the discussions. Agreements reached through Child Inclusive Mediation are generally more likely to be followed.
When is a matter suitable for child inclusive mediation?
Generally, Child Inclusive Mediation is only suitable for children 5 years and older. It requires adults to be able to thoughtfully consider the children’s views, no matter what those views may be. Child Inclusive Mediation is often not suitable where there are concerns that a person may place pressure on a child about what to say.
Child Inclusive Mediation is not an adversarial or forensic process where children are interviewed for the purpose of obtaining their views for a family court matter. Anything said by the children is not admissible in court proceedings.
Who interviews the child and how long does it take?
The child is interviewed by an independent, impartial third party who is trained in interviewing children. At Illawarra Family Law Mediation, all of the people who interview children have at least 10 years experience in working with children. You may ask for the curriculum vitae of our social workers if you would like to know about their qualifications and experience.
Children are interviewed in the absence of their adult caregivers. The length of the interview can vary, but on average the interviews are about 60-90 minutes long, with older children usually requiring longer meetings. The first part of the interview is explaining the process to the child and building a rapport with them. The children are never rushed to express themselves. If there is a sibling group, they may be interviewed both separately and together. The children are allowed to share as much or as little as they like.
Do the children attend mediation?
No, the children will never attend the mediation. When the children are interviewed, it will be explained to them that although they will be asked about their thoughts, feelings and experiences, it is the adults who make the decisions and try to find solutions.
How do the parties receive feedback?
There are two ways to provide feedback to the parties. The first is that the person who interviewed the children can attend the mediation and provide the feedback during the mediation. The second is that each parent will meet with the person who interviewed the children prior to the mediation. We often prefer the second approach, because it gives the parties an opportunity to process the feedback before mediation, which can then inform what the parties wish to discuss at mediation and the options they may consider.
The children’s views will only be fed back with permission from the children. If the children do not express a view, or they do not want their views repeated, feedback may be delivered in a generalised, non identifying manner.
If the parties are bringing their solicitors to mediation, the solicitors usually would not attend the feedback session if the feedback is prior to the mediation. However if a person would like their solicitor present, they are more than welcome to arrange for their lawyer to attend.
