Parenting Co-ordination
Parenting coordination is a child-centred process designed to support separated parents in navigating their ongoing parenting challenges after final Court Orders have been established. With a focus on conflict resolution and fostering a cooperative co-parenting relationship, a Parenting Coordinator helps parents reach agreements on daily decisions related to their children and ensures the effective implementation and compliance with final court orders.
​
Once the formal Court process concludes, parenting coordination becomes invaluable in supporting parents during the often-vulnerable period of implementing final court orders. This process, which takes place after the court's decision, serves as a form of family dispute resolution. A Parenting Coordinator, as a trained professional, assists in educating parents, improving communication strategies, managing cases, and resolving disputes regarding day-to-day parenting arrangements to help foster or enhance a cooperative co-parenting relationship.
​
Cassidy, a family mediator trained in parenting coordination through Parenting Coordination Australia, is dedicated to helping separated parents. She is proud of her ability to assist numerous families and continues to offer support long after the court process is completed and final orders are in place. Cassidy uses her extensive knowledge to guide families through the parenting coordination process, ensuring smoother transitions and healthier co-parenting dynamics.
Can a Parenting Coordinator assist your family?
Our goal is to assist your family, and particularly your children, to navigate the implementation of the final court orders and ensure ongoing compliance.
Co-parenting isn't always easy. Your post separation co parenting relationship requires the two of you to communicate effectively to discuss and agree on many decisions regarding your children. Even with final court orders which stipulate where the children live and how much time they spend with each parent, there are ongoing parenting decisions that need to be made and agreed to which can never be covered by the terms of the final parenting orders/plan. These can include your child's home environment, bedtime routine, what school they attend, changeover times (including being continually late), negotiate 'make up' time and really anything that requires implementation of the Parenting Plan or final court orders which are in place.
Our role will change depending on your family and their specific needs.
Studies have shown that ongoing parental conflict can have a negative impact on children, both during their youth, adolescence and into adulthood. It is important that children are not exposed to ongoing parental conflict. A Parenting Coordinator can assist to facilitate the discussion and ultimate conflict resolution of matters which may be the root cause. Parenting Coordination is a child focused process and parenting coordinators help parents to remain child focused as well. By having a proper process to discuss the ongoing parenting arrangements, it may help parents to reduce their daily stress levels, and those of your kids.
Parenting coordination is a process to help parents discuss the ongoing parenting arrangements that arise, and resolve day to day disputes. These are often the disputes that see parents and families continually returning to the Federal Circuit and Family Court in relation to contravention of Orders or ongoing non-compliance with Orders. If they can be avoided, then your family can hopefully avoid the emotional and financial costs associated with returning to the family law courts.
How do you engage in Parenting Coordination?
The process to engage a Parenting Coordinator is relatively simple.
The parents need to either be ordered to engage in the process or agree to engage in parenting coordination after final court orders or a final parenting plan is made. You can include in the final parenting orders or plan made by consent that the parents will engage in parenting coordination. Alternatively, the family law courts are more commonly including it as an order after trial.
The first step is for the parents to make contact with our office. Your Parenting Coordinator is able to have an initial discussion with you and then arrange a time for an initial intake appointment. You will also be sent the formal engagement documents for you to read through.
The Initial intake appointments are conduced with each parent separately and are the only part of the process that is confidential.
After the intake session has been completed, the first joint session will be arranged. Typically joint sessions take place once per month, however, they can be once per fortnight if the parents feel it is necessary.
Outside of the joint sessions, parents can arrange one-on-one sessions with the parenting coordinator as needed. We recommend you discuss this option during a joint session to identify if it is needed.
The entirety of the fees for the parenting coordination process is shared equally between the parents, unless a Court has ordered otherwise.
Cost of Parenting Coordination
​​* Initial intake session: $250 plus GST per parent (1 x 45-minute session)
* Joint sessions: $250 plus GST per parent for each 90-minute joint session that is conducted.
Fees are payable at the time of booking, and if a session is cancelled within 24 hours of the appointment, then the cancellation fees are borne solely by the cancelling parent so as to not cause financial difficulty to the participating parent.
We offer Fixed Fees so that each parent is able to budget accordingly.
Additionally, you can choose to engage in a communication package. This enables your parenting coordinator to monitor the communication between the parents and assisting to facilitate child focused communication on an ongoing basis in between the joint sessions. These bespoke packages can be tailored to the specific needs for your family.
What a Parenting Coordinator is not.
Whilst Parenting Coordinators bring their professional skills to their work, in the Parenting Coordination process, they are not an investigator, arbitrator, mediator, counsellor, lawyer, family report writer or family dispute resolution practitioner.
If those professionals have previously worked with your family, it is not appropriate for them to be your Parenting Coordinator.
Parenting Coordinators in Australia do not make decisions where parents cannot agree.