Section 60I
The certificate you need before you can file.
Under s60I(7) of the Family Law Act you generally cannot apply for a parenting order without filing a certificate from a registered family dispute resolution practitioner. We are registered, and we issue them.
A certificate is not a judgment and it is not a finding against anyone. It records what happened when dispute resolution was attempted — nothing more, and nothing less.
The short version
Four things to know before you read further.
Most people arrive at this page having been told they need a certificate, without being told what it is.
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- Kinds of certificate under s60I(8)
- 12
- Months a certificate stays valid for filing
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- Exceptions in s60I(9) where no certificate is needed
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- Certificates that say who was right
How it works
Eight things about certificates.
Written from the Act. If something here conflicts with what you have been told by a registry or a solicitor, ask us — do not assume the page is right about your matter.
- 01
What it actually is
A section 60I certificate is a document issued by a registered family dispute resolution practitioner recording that dispute resolution was attempted, or that it was not appropriate to attempt it.
It is filed with an application for a parenting order. Without one — and without an exception applying — the court generally will not accept the application. That is its entire function: it is a gate, not a verdict.
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The five kinds
Section 60I(8) sets out exactly five. The practitioner issues whichever one matches what actually happened; it is not a matter of discretion or negotiation.
- The other party did not attend, because they refused or failed to.
- The practitioner assessed the matter as not appropriate for dispute resolution.
- Both parties attended and both made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute.
- Both parties attended but one of them did not make a genuine effort.
- Dispute resolution started, and the practitioner decided partway through that it was not appropriate to continue.
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What "genuine effort" means, and what it does not
It is about participation, not outcome. Someone can make a completely genuine effort and still reach no agreement — that is common and it produces the third kind of certificate, not the fourth.
Equally, a certificate recording that someone did not make a genuine effort is not a finding of fact the court is bound by. It is the practitioner's record, and the court draws its own conclusions. People overweight this: it is visible to the judge, but it does not decide anything.
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When you do not need one
Section 60I(9) sets out the exceptions. If one applies you can file without a certificate — and in some of these situations you should be filing rather than mediating.
- The application is for consent orders — you have already agreed.
- There are reasonable grounds to believe a child has been abused, or is at risk of abuse.
- There has been family violence, or there is a risk of it.
- The matter is urgent.
- A party is unable to participate effectively — through incapacity, disability or physical remoteness.
- The application concerns a contravention of an order made in the last 12 months, in defined circumstances.
- 05
Twelve months, then it expires
An application for a parenting order must be filed within 12 months of the date the certificate was issued. Leave it longer and you will have to return to dispute resolution before you can file.
This catches people out. A certificate obtained "to have it ready" while you continue negotiating can quietly run out while the negotiation drags — and the expiry is the point at which you discover it.
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Property matters do not need one
Section 60I applies to parenting orders only. A property or financial application is not gated by a certificate.
It is gated by something else: the pre-action procedures in Schedule 1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court Rules require you to make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute, including by participating in dispute resolution, before filing. Non-compliance can be taken into account, including on costs. Different mechanism, similar practical effect.
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Who can issue one
Only a family dispute resolution practitioner registered under the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations. Not every mediator is registered, and a mediator who is not cannot issue a certificate however experienced they are.
Both government-funded Family Relationship Centres and private practitioners can issue them. A Centre costs little or nothing; a private practitioner costs more but can usually convene faster, offer more privacy, and shape the process around the family rather than a standard template. If the twelve-month clock or a court date is a factor, that difference matters.
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What the certificate does not do
It does not decide your parenting matter. The court still determines arrangements on the basis of the child's best interests, and a certificate has no bearing on that assessment.
It also does not make anything you said admissible. Communications in dispute resolution remain confidential under s10H and inadmissible under s10J, with narrow exceptions — principally a serious threat to life or health, or an indication that a child has been abused or is at risk.
Getting one
What it takes, in practice.
The certificate is a by-product of the process, not a product you can buy on its own. Here is the realistic shape of it.
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Two to four weeks
Typical
From first call to certificate, assuming the other party responds. We cannot issue one without first attempting to involve them, and that is the step with the least predictable timing.
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Included in the fee
No separate charge
Where a certificate is required we issue it as part of the mediation, whatever the outcome — including where the other party declines to attend and the first kind applies.
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Even if they refuse
Kind one
A party who ignores the invitation does not block your application. After reasonable attempts to involve them, a certificate issues recording the refusal, and you can file.
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Even if it fails
Kind three
Attending in good faith and not reaching agreement is the ordinary outcome of a hard matter. You get a certificate, and you usually also get a narrower dispute, which makes any hearing shorter.
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Assessment is real
Kind two
If intake shows mediation would be unsafe or futile, we say so and issue on that basis rather than taking a fee for a day that should not happen.
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In either language
EN / PT
Intake, pre-meetings, the session and the certificate can all be conducted in Portuguese or English.
Need a certificate? Start with the call.
Twenty minutes, no charge. We will tell you whether an exception applies to your matter, how long a certificate would realistically take, and what the whole process would cost.
Parenting mediation