Abstract

For several decades, policymakers in England and Wales and Australia have implemented various measures designed to increase uptake of family mediation. In both jurisdictions, mediators are ultimately responsible for determining whether, in the circumstances of each case, mediation is a suitable method of dispute resolution. To discharge this duty, mediators must be able to reliably identify cases where there has been, or is a risk of, domestic abuse, and must be suitably equipped to determine whether any risks arising from abuse can be effectively managed. In this paper we use a contemporary comparative analysis of the implementation of mandatory family dispute resolution in Australia to argue that inadequate training and screening regimes undermine both the voluntary nature of the mediation process and the safety of participants. Ultimately, we argue that there is both a pressing need for, and scope to, strengthen the safeguards in place to protect victims/survivors of domestic abuse in England and Wales and make recommendations as to how this might be achieved.