Parenting Coordination: Bridging the gap between conflict and cooperation
Parenting Coordination: Bridging the gap between conflict and cooperation
Date & time: 25 March 2025, 1.30pm to 4.00pm AEDT
Managing parental arrangements for separated and divorced parents can be fraught with conflict and dispute. Parenting Coordination is a dispute resolution process focussed on the children. It is designed for separated parents, in high conflict with each other, to minimise the day-to-day conflict, ease compliance with court orders and parenting agreements, and most importantly, protect the children and focus on their needs.
Join this live webinar to gain a greater understanding of Parenting Coordination, its importance, the role of the parent coordinator and to learn about parenting coordination in practice.
Facilitated by: Anne-Marie Cade, Divorce Coach & Family Mediator, DivorceRight and Adjunct Lecturer, College of Law
At the end of this live webinar, you will earn 2 CPD points.
Course Outline
- Introduction and Overview
- What is Parenting Coordination (PC)?
- Definition and origins of the practice
- How PC fits within the continuum of family dispute resolution processes
- Overview of the international practice of PC
- Overview of the AFCC Guidelines for PC
- Why is PC Important?
- Impact of high-conflict separation/divorce on families and children
- Benefits of parenting coordination for families and the legal system
- Understanding the role of the Parenting Coordinator
- Core functions of a Parenting Coordinator
- Scope of authority and legal framework
- Court-ordered vs. voluntary PC
- Confidentiality, neutrality, and ethical considerations
- Case studies to illustrate the role in action
- Parenting Coordination in practice
- The PC Process
- Initial intake and assessment
- Developing a parenting plan
- Ongoing monitoring and intervention
- Tools and techniques used in PC
- Effective communication strategies for co-parents
- Methods for managing inter-parental conflict
- Decision-making frameworks for PC professionals
- Challenges and Complexities
- Interactive segment: Considering different scenarios
- Breakout Discussions
- Participants share insights and strategies
- Legal and professional considerations
- Parenting coordination agreements
- Components of a strong PC agreement
- Drafting and enforcing PC clauses in court orders
- Collaboration with legal professionals
- How lawyers can support clients in PC
- Working with PCs to resolve disputes outside the courtroom
- Ethical considerations
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
- Ensuring fairness and impartiality
- Q&A
- Open forum for participant questions
- How to introduce PC to clients or incorporate it into practice
- Closing Remarks
- Recap of key takeaways
This live webinar is ideal for practitioners nationwide, recently admitted lawyers, practitioners returning to family law, practitioners transitioning into family law practice, and experienced family law practitioners.
This webinar is produced in NSW and features a VIC based practitioner. This webinar is available to practitioners from all jurisdictions.
If you intend to claim CPD units for this educational activity, please note that CPD activities are not accredited by the Law Society of NSW or any other equivalent local authority, with the exception of Western Australia. If you hold a practising certificate in a state or territory other than Western Australia and this educational activity extends your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your practice needs or professional development, then you should claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. The annual requirement is ten (10) CPD units each year from 1 April to 31 March. Some practitioners, such as accredited specialists, are required to complete more than ten (10) units each CPD year.
Practitioners holding WA practising certificates are eligible to earn CPD points for this course. For instructions to earn CPD points, please click here.
The time listed for this course is Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Please take note of any time differences if you are registering from QLD, WA, SA, NT or from outside Australia.
Substantive Law – 1 point
Professional Skills – 1 point
Anne-Marie Cade
Divorce Coach & Family Mediator, DivorceRight
Anne-Marie Cade is a family lawyer who is also an experienced Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Nationally Accredited Mediator as well as a Parenting Coordinator and Certified Divorce Coach.
Anne-Marie is the founder and CEO of Divorce Right, a boutique mediation and divorce coaching practice. She is passionate about the work she does as an Alternative Dispute Resolution professional to help her clients reach a peaceful resolution. She provides mediation services as well as coaching and training on topics such as constructive conflict resolution, effective communication, divorce coaching, negotiation, resilience, wellbeing, and parenting coordination. In her coaching and training she provides valuable insights and strategic advice on building conflict intelligence, constructive conflict resolution, conflict management and navigating difficult conversations.
She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to conduct research internationally in “Best Practice in Parenting Co-ordination” with a view to informing the implementation of the practice in Australia. She has been recognised for her innovative work, receiving the LexisNexis and Janders Dean Legal Innovation Award in 2016. She was also recognised as winner of the Thought Leader of the Year at the Women in Law Awards in 2017. In 2023 she won Australian Mediator of the Year at the Australasian Law Awards. More recently in 2024 she won the following awards at the Australian ADR Awards - Conflict Coach of the Year, ADR Project of the Year and ADR Innovation of the Year. In 2024 she also received the Resolution Institute Certificate Award for Service to dispute resolution
Anne-Marie has a Masters in Family Dispute Resolution and Negotiation. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Law in Victoria for their Practical Legal Training course.
Please be aware that this webinar organised by the College of Law may be recorded for use on our websites, marketing materials and publications. By attending and participating in a College of Law Continuing Professional Development course, you consent to the College of Law photographing or recording and using your image and likeness and/or voice.