Beyond the Binary (BtB) · Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)
Family circumstances rarely fit a standard template. Beyond the Binary brings family violence expertise and an understanding of diverse family structures to questions of power, safety, meaningful participation and children’s lives.
Based in Perth, Western Australia · Remote appointments available
Family Dispute Resolution is more than a conversation between people with competing positions. Family violence, unequal resources, disability, communication needs and the history of a relationship can shape what each person is able to say, refuse or agree to.
Process design is part of the professional task. The starting question is whether FDR is suitable and what process would support safe, informed and meaningful participation. Suitability requires careful assessment and can change as new information emerges. People of every gender are treated with dignity. Assessment focuses on conduct, patterns and impact without assuming who has caused or experienced harm based on gender.
The thinking behind the practice
Kellene is a master-qualified family violence specialist whose work spans practice leadership, child safety, protective behaviours, counselling, governance and the design of resources that people can actually use. Her Master of Domestic and Family Violence Practice included research into family violence responses in Australian family law and Family Court processes. She brings this depth to the assessment of power, safety, each person’s ability to negotiate freely and the likely effects of proposals on children.
A person described as “difficult” may need a different communication method. A dispute described as “high conflict” may require an examination of coercion and resistance. A parenting proposal that appears balanced on paper may place an unworkable burden on a child. These are questions for assessment, not conclusions made from a label.
02 / Specialist practice
These concerns often overlap. The purpose of identifying them is to ask better questions, not to fit a family into another category.
Attention to patterns of violence and control, including financial and systems abuse, parenting used to extend control, fear, retaliation and unequal bargaining power. In some circumstances FDR should not proceed.
Communication, sensory needs, processing time, support requirements and executive functioning can affect participation and the practicality of parenting arrangements. Difference should be understood in context.
LGBTQIA+SB families, donor conception, non-biological parenting, gender diversity and kinship arrangements can raise questions that standard assumptions about family roles do not adequately address.
A considered FDR process
FDR assessment considers each person’s circumstances, whether they can participate and negotiate freely, what proposed arrangements would mean in a child’s life, and whether FDR is suitable. If it proceeds, the process is shaped around the family’s needs and the practitioner’s legal and professional obligations.
03 / FDR explained
Family Dispute Resolution is a facilitated process in which people affected by separation consider options and may reach their own agreement. The practitioner does not decide the outcome for them. An accredited practitioner must assess whether mediation sessions are appropriate before they begin and while they continue.
Consider each person’s account, family structure, children’s needs, safety, communication, culture and the history relevant to the dispute. Intake and assessment are distinct from a mediation session.
The 2025 FDR Regulations require consideration of family violence, safety, bargaining power, child-abuse risk, health, undue influence and anything else materially affecting the ability to negotiate freely.
Where FDR is appropriate, arrangements may respond to communication and safety needs. These could include separate sessions, online delivery, shorter meetings or legal support. An adjustment cannot make every matter suitable. FDR must end if a participant asks to stop or the practitioner is no longer satisfied it is appropriate.
Consider the child’s safety and daily experience, each person’s agency, and whether an arrangement can actually be carried out. A parenting plan can record an agreement, but is not itself a legally enforceable court order.
What FDR can and cannot do
FDR is a regulated process. The decision to conduct it, and any certificate, depends on the law and an individual assessment.
FDR can help people discuss proposals and record a parenting plan. A practitioner does not make parenting orders or guarantee an agreement. People seeking enforceable orders should obtain independent legal advice about consent orders.
Kellene conducts FDR in accordance with the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2025 and applicable Western Australian law. Where the law requires FDR before a parenting application, participants must make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute unless an exception applies. Kellene will not issue a certificate stating that all participants made a genuine effort unless she genuinely believes they made a real, honest attempt directed at resolving the issues. The prescribed certificate category, if any, is determined under the legislation and her professional judgment. An unresolved issue alone does not mean a participant failed to make a genuine effort. In some WA matters involving parents who were never married, a section 66H certificate is used instead of a section 60I certificate.
Kellene is not a lawyer. FDR can include procedural information and referrals for independent legal advice, not advice about a party’s legal rights or likely court outcome. FDR communications have statutory confidentiality protections with important exceptions, including certain child safety circumstances. The rules will be explained before sessions begin.
General information based on the 2025 FDR Regulations and Attorney-General’s Department certificate guidance. It is not advice about an individual matter.
Guides and further information
These government and human-rights resources explain the law and the options available. They are a starting point for questions, not a substitute for legal advice about your circumstances.
What FDR involves, when it may be required, and how to find support after separation.
Family Relationships OnlineHow an accredited practitioner considers safety, family violence, bargaining power, child-abuse risk and the ability to negotiate freely.
Attorney-General’s DepartmentWhy certificates are used, the different categories, and when each applies in Western Australia.
Certificate information and templatesWhat a parenting plan can cover, how it differs from consent orders, and keeping children’s needs central.
Family Relationships OnlineCurrent information on property, finances and superannuation, including changes that began on 10 June 2025.
Attorney-General’s DepartmentA plain-language introduction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the rights of children and young people.
Australian Human Rights CommissionWestern Australian court information about resolving property and financial issues, consent orders and pre-action steps.
Family Court of Western AustraliaQuestions people often ask
For most applications about parenting orders, people must attempt FDR and file a certificate. The law has exceptions, including some cases involving urgency, family violence or child abuse. Property and financial disputes have separate pre-action requirements. Get legal advice about how the rules apply to your situation.
No. Each person has an individual intake and assessment. The practitioner must decide that FDR is appropriate before mediation begins and keep assessing suitability throughout. A request, referral or payment for intake does not guarantee that FDR will proceed.
It depends on the individual circumstances and a careful assessment. Family violence, safety, bargaining power and each person’s ability to negotiate freely are considered. A different format cannot make every matter suitable. The practitioner may decide not to start or to end FDR.
No. A parenting plan is a written agreement signed and dated by the parents, but it is not legally enforceable in the same way as parenting orders. People considering formal orders should get independent legal advice.
Section 60I certificates relate to the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975. In Western Australia, section 66H certificates are used when the Family Court of Western Australia exercises state jurisdiction in a matter involving children whose parents were never married. The court’s jurisdiction and the circumstances determine which applies.
No certificate category is automatic. A section 60I or section 66H certificate has a specific legal purpose and the practitioner selects the prescribed category using professional judgment. Kellene will not state that all participants made a genuine effort unless she genuinely believes they made a real, honest attempt directed at resolving the issues. A dispute remaining unresolved, by itself, does not establish that someone failed to make a genuine effort. See the Attorney-General’s Department guidance.
No. FDR provides a structured process for considering options; it is not legal advice. Each person can seek independent legal advice before, during or after FDR. Kellene can explain the process and suggest where to find legal support.
Links were checked against current Australian Government, Western Australian court and Australian Human Rights Commission information in October 2026. Website information is general and may change.
Children and the process
Children need not be physically present for their experience to be central. Parenting proposals affect routines, transitions, relationships, schooling, health, sensory demands and safety. The question is what an arrangement would mean for this particular child.
04 / For professionals
Kellene works across the point where family violence practice meets children’s safety, service systems and family law. Her experience includes leading an integrated family abuse response, analysing perpetrator patterns and post-separation abuse, developing safeguarding and risk processes, and advising on governance, quality and accountability. She has worked in remote Aboriginal health for six years and brings substantial experience in compliance, policy and service improvement.
Through her broader advocacy and consultancy work, she has developed protective behaviours and respectful relationships education, facilitated individual and group learning, and created practical resources for children, families and professionals. Her draft FDR intake guide and WA client resource directory demonstrate the same attention to clear information, accessibility and real referral pathways.
Professional enquiries can include specialist consultation, training, practice frameworks, resource development and review of organisational responses to coercive control, child safety and inclusion. Projects are defined around the question, audience and expertise required.
05 / About Kellene
Accredited FDR Practitioner · Domestic and family violence practice leader · Founder, Beyond the Binary
Kellene holds a Master of Domestic and Family Violence Practice, a Graduate Diploma of Domestic and Family Violence Practice and a Graduate Certificate of Counselling. Her Master’s research examined responses to domestic and family violence in Australian family law and Family Court processes. She is accredited as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department.
Kellene’s perspective is informed by her own experience of mediation, FDR, the systems around separation and a matter that proceeded to a Family Court trial. She knows that what is written about a person and their family along the way can matter to how their circumstances are understood. Her lived experience, followed by further study and professional work, showed her the need for practitioners who look beyond the surface of a dispute and consider the context and experiences behind it. She brings that understanding alongside her professional training.
Beyond the Binary is intentionally a small, specialist practice rather than a full-time, high-volume service. Kellene plans to take on a considered number of FDR matters so she can give each family’s circumstances careful attention.
Her postgraduate qualifications in domestic and family violence practice and counselling, alongside her professional expertise in trauma-informed practice, support her work with children and families navigating separation. Her wider experience includes family violence practice leadership, child safeguarding, policy, governance, quality systems and six years working in remote Aboriginal health. She is also the author of Lara’s Light Lit by Lanterns, a children’s book about recognising and speaking up about unsafe secrets.
Kellene is committed to working with integrity and treating every person with respect, regardless of gender, identity, family structure or position in a dispute. Respect does not depend on agreement. Each person is heard and treated fairly, with the law and professional obligations guiding the process.
Beyond the Binary grew from a concern that apparently neutral processes can overlook the circumstances that determine whether people can participate and whether children will be safe. Kellene brings long experience working with governance, legislation, compliance and quality systems to her FDR practice.
Education and professional development
A combination of family violence, counselling, child safety, policy and FDR-specific learning informs the practice. Formal awards and shorter specialist training are distinguished below.
Family Dispute Resolution practitioner training and supervised placement; Safe & Together Model Core Training; UWA coercive control microcredential; comprehensive family violence risk assessment training; Protective Behaviours Practitioner training; motivational interviewing in family violence practice; predominant aggressor identification; child voice and child-inclusive interviewing; and Homicide Timeline training.
Kellene is an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, a Professional Member of Resolution Institute and an accredited Protective Behaviours Practitioner. Her accreditation can be checked through the public FDR Register.
Fees and payment
All amounts are in Australian dollars and are the total payable price, including GST where applicable. Each person receives their own invoice unless another arrangement is agreed in writing. Any additional work is discussed and quoted in writing before it begins. There are no hidden costs.
| Service | What is included | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Initial enquiry | Up to 15 minutes to explain the service and next steps. This is not an assessment. | Free |
| Individual intake and assessment | Up to 75 minutes with each person, separately, including preparation for a suitability decision. | $220 per person |
| Parenting FDR session | Up to 3 hours of mediation, with standard preparation and a brief record of outcomes. | $450 per person |
| Further FDR session | Up to 90 minutes where another session is appropriate. | $240 per person |
| Written parenting plan | Drafting agreed parenting arrangements after FDR, when requested. | $220 total |
| Professional consultation | Training, practice resources or organisational consultation, scoped and quoted separately from client FDR. | $250 per hour |
For two people who each complete intake and attend one three-hour parenting session: $670 per person, or $1,340 in total. A written parenting plan would add $220 in total if requested.
Up to two matters each month are reserved for people experiencing financial hardship: $150 per person for intake and $300 per person for the first parenting session. Standard accessibility adjustments, such as written agendas, breaks or online attendance, do not carry a surcharge.
There is no separate charge for a section 60I or WA section 66H certificate where one is appropriate following the FDR process. A certificate is not guaranteed. Matters needing extensive document review, additional participants, lawyer-assisted FDR or property discussion receive a separate written quote before any additional work begins.
Intake is paid at booking. A mediation session is invoiced only after suitability assessment and before its date is confirmed. A session cancelled or rescheduled with at least two business days’ notice has no cancellation charge. A late cancellation may attract $75 charged only to the cancelling person, with exceptions for illness, caring needs or safety concerns. If the practitioner decides FDR should not proceed, unused mediation fees are refunded.
Country, lived experience and inclusion
Beyond the Binary Family Mediation Services acknowledges the Whadjuk people of Noongar Boodjar as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the practice is based. We pay respect to Elders past and present.
We acknowledge and apologise to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the injustices and trauma of colonisation, including the Stolen Generations and policies and practices that forcibly removed children from their families, communities, culture and Country. We recognise the continuing strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their connection to Country. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
Lived experience offers knowledge of how family violence, separation and service systems are encountered in daily life. Beyond the Binary values that knowledge while recognising that no one person’s experience stands for a whole community. Each family’s circumstances are heard on their own terms.
We welcome men, women and gender-diverse people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, LGBTQIA+SB families, neurodivergent and disabled people, and families formed through donor conception, kinship, blending and other relationships. Inclusion means understanding who belongs in a family, how each person communicates, and what supports safe and meaningful participation in their circumstances.
06 / Enquiries
For Family Dispute Resolution enquiries, referrals and professional enquiries, email Kellene:
kellene@beyondthebinarymediation.com
Each matter will begin with an individual assessment. A request for mediation does not mean that FDR will be appropriate, and family violence or child abuse may affect whether FDR is required before a parenting application.
