In December the Federal government closed the tender application process for the new Family Relationship Centres around Australia. While no centres were announced for the Central Coast the initiative shows the clear direction of the government and Family Law Court are taking - away from the adversarial litigation process towards alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation.
Divorce rates continue to rise and the cost of separation continues to be very high for both parents and children, both in terms of the process of separation and in terms of the often dramatic change to everyone's lifestyle when income and assets are split up.
Divorce rates continue to rise and the cost of separation continues to be very high for both parents and children, both in terms of the process of separation and in terms of the often dramatic change to everyone's lifestyle when income and assets are split up.
At this time people need support, not more conflict, and mediation is one of the ways of approaching the difficult challenges of separation and family conflict in a supportive rather than aggressive way.
Denise King, principle solicitor and mediator at Erina Legal is one of the Central Coast's strongest advocates of mediation as a way of building more positive solutions for families in dispute; not just once the separation has occurred but before people commit to ending their relationship.
Denise has spoken and run workshops on mediation to a number of Central Coast community groups, at the University of New England and at Stanford University in the US for a conference run by the International Federation of University Women. Denise is on the NSW Law Society's panel of Mediators and has been a member of LEADR, Australia's leading alternative dispute resolution organisation, for several years.
