Enhancing Outcomes for Separated Families by Improving Family Mediation

Abstract:: About 100,000 adults and 60,000 children experience family breakdown each year in Australia, which wreaks enormous personal, social, and economic costs. Current mediation practice fails to resolve disputes about parenting for the majority of conflicted separated parents. The proposed research tests two important innovations in mediation: incorporating motivational interviewing, which is an evidence-based approach to addressing ambivalence about change; and co-parenting education that provides knowledge and skills to promote low conflict, effective co-parenting. The research is a collaboration with Relationships Australia, the largest provider of family mediation, who seek to incorporate the findings of the research into their practice.
Grant type:: ARC Linkage Projects
Funded by:: Australian Research Council

The University of Queensland