Mediation has been around for centuries, in one form or another. It is a process in which an independent person (the mediator) helps two or more people who are in dispute to negotiate their concerns and come to an agreement to resolve the dispute.

Mediation is a non-confrontational approach to resolving your family dispute, and our independent mediators will guide the involved parties through a negotiation process towards reaching an agreement and resolving the dispute.

• We contact all parties and confirm that they are willing to mediate
• We send all parties a BWB Mediations Information and Agreement Pack
• Based on the information provided, the Mediator may then contact all parties to explain the process and assess suitability for the mediation
• Our professional and approachable team will confirm a date, time and location for the agreed mediation
• At the mediation, your mediator will explain the structure, style and general process for the mediation day

Advisors and support persons can be present in the mediation if everyone agrees to them being present. Participants, advisors and support persons are all bound by the rules of confidentiality. What is said within mediation is confidential.

Typically, any document drafted and signed at mediation is not binding. A document called a “Heads of Agreement” or “Parenting Plan” can be drafted and signed, but these terms of agreement must be drafted into a different form to become binding. As all mediators at BWB Mediations are lawyers, practical assistance can be provided to make the most of your written mediation agreement if you are not legally assisted.

You can speak to the mediator alone, and you almost always will have a chance to do so – it is a very normal part of mediation to have a ‘break’. Whilst generally all mediations will be conducted in the same room, BWB mediations can arrange for mediations to be held where the parties are in separate rooms, or conduct it over the telephone or by video communication.

Yes. When you engage us as your mediation or family dispute resolution conference provider you are working with BWB Mediations, a mediation service arm with the added bonus of our years of specialist family law experience. As we are not engaged as either party’s lawyer we are able to provide an impartial and completely independent mediation service for everyone involved.

You do not have to have a lawyer present at mediation. While our mediators are also experienced family lawyers and understand the law, they are not able to provide you with legal advice as they are acting as independent mediators between both parties.

We offer mediation services 7 days a week in Brisbane, and from Monday to Friday in Toowoomba. We’ll endeavour to schedule your mediation as soon as we possible. We don’t want to drag this out any more than you do; a swift resolution is the best resolution.

We can hold your mediation at our offices, at any of the Toowoomba, Ipswich & Brisbane locations, or at an alternative venue agreed by all parties involved in the mediation ahead of time.

Please contact our team on 07 4639 0000 or [email protected] and they will be able to provide you with all the necessary information and schedule your mediation.

We offer various fixed fee packages to suit a variety of needs and budgets. These range from $1,875 plus GST for a half-day mediation to $3,000 plus GST for a full-day mediation on weekdays. Additional fees will apply if you choose to involve another provider such as a social scientist or psychologist from our network of providers, or your mediation is held on a weekend. You can see our fee schedule here.

Generally, both parties will share the cost of mediation services. For this reason we are able to invoice each party separately so that payment can be made using direct debit, BPAY or EFTPOS – whatever is easiest. If one party is paying for the mediation we will issue a single tax invoice.

At BWB Mediations we require payment of our fees 7 business days prior to your mediation date, and 10 days prior if you choose to use our BPAY option.

You can cancel your mediation by calling our office on 07 4639 0000 and advising our team. If the mediation is postponed or cancelled within five (5) working days of the mediation date, 50% of the fee is payable (unless a replacement mediation with another family can be arranged).

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