【安和律师事务所】家庭冲突解决方式的转变

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家庭冲突解决方式的转变

在法律援助需求下解决家庭冲突时，通常的假设是冲突将直接在法庭上解决。然而，法庭程序在经济、情感上成本高昂，并且需要家庭成员投入大量时间。因此，现在更多的家庭寻求其他较少给家庭带来压力的解决方式。


这些家庭冲突解决方式有哪些呢？根据家庭情况的不同，包括家长协调、家庭治疗和调解。这些不同的方法和资源与家庭一起使用，赋予他们自行解决家庭争端的能力。本文将对家庭冲突解决的替代途径及最适合的家庭情况进行基本介绍。

家长协调

家长协调，顾名思义，是指两位成年人作为孩子的父母或法定监护人之间的安排。家长协调通常发生在经常发生严重冲突的分居父母之间，以保护他们负责的孩子并实施双方在抚养孩子方面的协议。


随着家长协调在家庭法领域日益普遍，专门的家长协调员（PCs）也成为家庭法的一部分。这些专业从业者与父母合作制定以儿童为先的计划，以及帮助他们学习冲突管理和沟通。家长协调是协助解决冲突夫妇之间的育儿问题的有用资源。如果冲突各方没有共同抚养孩子的责任，或者任一方不愿意与另一方沟通，家长协调可能很难应用到家庭情况中。

家庭治疗

越来越多的澳大利亚法院建议家庭寻求家庭治疗。虽然它不是严格的法律程序，但在某些情况下，家庭治疗师需要向法院报告治疗进度。还有其他情况，法院会将家庭推荐给家庭治疗，但不需要将治疗进展报告回法院。在决定是否进行可报告家庭治疗或非可报告家庭治疗时，建议与家庭法专家讨论家庭情况。虽然在许多情况下，非可报告家庭治疗似乎更可取，但可报告家庭治疗使法院在做出决定时拥有更大的清晰度。

调解

家庭法中的调解指的是第三方，通常是接受过调解培训的从业者，帮助双方达成协议的冲突解决过程。调解经常用于金融事务或育儿问题上的争端。


调解的过程可能在法庭程序开始前或开始后进行。但是，澳大利亚法律要求在可以开始涉及育儿问题的法庭程序之前，案件必须先经历家庭争议解决 - 一种调解形式。


调解过程中达成的协议可以通过您的法律团队正式化，并由澳大利亚法院法律约束。

使用替代冲突解决策略

许多这些冲突解决途径为家庭提供了很多帮助，更全面地解决了家庭冲突或帮助各方在继续法庭程序之前达成协议。然而，它们很多并没有取代法庭程序。更准确的是，将它们视为协助冲突解决的辅助手段，无论是帮助家庭思考抚养孩子的策略，还是在继续法庭程序之前帮助冲突双方达成协议。




在H&O律师事务所，我们的家庭律师在建议家庭选择哪种冲突解决方法方面拥有丰富的经验。如果您需要任何家庭事务方面的法律咨询，请随时联系我们的法律团队讨论此类事宜。

如果您对家庭法有任何疑问，请随时与我们联系。 您可以发送电子邮件至 [email protected] 或致电 (08) 8410 9069 安排预约/在线面试。
请注意，本文不构成法律建议，
H & O Lawyers 不会对您根据本文采取的任何行动承担法律责任。
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The Shift in Family Conflict Resolution

When family conflicts arise, and legal help is required to resolve the matter, a common assumption is that the conflict will immediately be resolved in court. However, court proceedings come with heavy costs financially, emotionally, and requires time from family members. As such, there is now greater push for most families to seek other forms of resolution that place less strain on families.


What are these forms of family conflict resolution? Depending on the family situation, these include parenting coordination, family therapy, and mediation. These different methods and recourses are applied and worked through with families, which empowers them to work through their familial disputes by themselves (Robbie, 2024). This article will give a basic introduction to the alternative avenues of family conflict resolution and the family situations that they are most suited for.

Parenting Coordination

Parenting coordination, as suggested by its name, refers to arrangements made between 2 adult parties that are the parents or legal guardians of children. Parental coordination often happens between separated parents who engage in heavy conflict with one another, to protect children under their charge and implement parental agreements between both parties in raising the children.


As parenting coordination becomes increasingly common in the area of Family Law, designated Parenting Coordinators (PCs) have also become part of the Family Law scene. These specialised practitioners work with parents to produce a child-first plan, as well as to help them learn conflict management and communication. Overall, Parenting Coordination is a helpful resource for navigating parenting issues between conflicting couples. It would be hard to apply it to family situations where the conflicting parties do not share charge over their children. It would also likely not work if either party is not willing to communicate with the other.

Family Therapy

Increasingly, Australian courts have been advising families to seek out Family Therapy. While it is not strictly a legal procedure, in some cases Family Therapy practitioners are required to report the progress of family therapy to the Court. There are other cases, where the Court will refer families to family therapy, yet not have the therapy progress reported back to Court. It is advisable to discuss family situations with a legal expert in Family Law when deciding whether to pursue reportable Family Therapy or non-reportable Family Therapy. While in many cases, it may seem that non-reportable Family Therapy is preferable, reportable Family Therapy enables the Court to have greater clarity when making decisions.

Mediation

Mediation in Family Law refers to the conflict resolution process in which another party, often a trained practitioner in mediation, helps both parties reach an agreement. Mediation is often used for disputes in financial matters or parenting issues.


The process of mediation may be taken before or after the start of Court Proceedings. However, Australian Law requires that cases must first undergo Family Dispute Resolution – a form of mediation – before court proceedings concerning parenting matters can begin.


Agreements reached in the process of mediation can be formalised with your legal team and made legally binding by the Australian Court.

Use of Alternative Conflict Resolution Strategies

Many of these avenues of conflict resolution have offered families much help, in more holistically resolving family conflicts or getting parties to reach agreements. However, many of them do not replace Court Proceedings. Rather, it is more accurate to view them as aids in conflict resolution, whether it is through helping families think of strategies to parent children or getting conflicting parties to reach an agreement before continuing with Court Proceedings.


At H&O Lawyers, our Family Lawyers have vast experience in advising families on which Conflict Resolution method is best for their family situation. If you need any legal advice on family matters, feel free to contact our legal team to discuss such matters.