We started the last financial year by setting ourselves a big challenge – reimagining our core case management system.
Each year, Fair Way handles thousands of disputes and behind every dispute, lies our case management systems. These systems support our people to do the work we do every day and they enable us to effectively deliver our services to many New Zealanders. They are at the core of everything we do.
In any building project, there are many moving parts. All it takes is one issue for the whole project to be put on hold, resulting in consequences for everyone involved.
New Zealand’s team of five million achieved a feat envied by many other nations - quashing the spread of coronavirus within our shores. This did not come without sacrifices. While we put aside many of our usual liberties for the greater good, the flip side of the coin was economic turmoil.
The independent report Te Taniwha I Te Ao Ture-ā-Whānau released this week which outlines the experiences of 36 people through the family court process is not dissimilar from the findings in Te Korowai Ture ā-Whānau, written by the Independent Panel who examined the 2014 family justice reforms in May 2019.
The Family Dispute Resolution Act 2013 is New Zealand’s first alternative dispute resolution (ADR) statute establishing a framework for the accreditation of specialist family mediators. It also foreshadows a time when families will be required to attempt ADR before filing Court applications.
The arrival of winter signals the seasonal adjustment to our routines. Add to this the fall out and resounding economic uncertainty COVID-19 has delivered there is no doubt Winter 2020 will test our mental resilience, our empathy and our compassion, in ways we may not have experienced before.
As mediators we meet people when they are stuck in challenging situations which stretch their ability to be patient, reasonable and empathetic. Our role as mediators is to design processes which facilitate their capacity to participate in mediation and in this way to provide the opportunity for them to move forward.
Are you a recently separated father or male caregiver? Have you been through the family mediation process? What was your experience?
Have your say in this study being conducted by researchers at the University of Auckland.
About the study
The University of Auckland Law School is seeking male participants who have been to Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) in the past two years for a study that examines how men experience the FDR process.