Looking back at 2021 and forward to 2022

2021 has been another busy year for the Compass Resolution national network of family mediators under some very challenging conditions for separating families and their mediators.

2020 and 2021 have also been two of the most successful financial years primarily due to the way our dedicated and professional team of mediators and management team have adapted to the world of online work.

Despite what some say, and even though there has not been an increase in Family Mediator’s legal aid rates of pay for 20 years, Compass Resolution continues to demonstrate that it is still possible to sustain a viable legal aid contract with the right business structures and systems in place and, above all, with the commitment, dedication and hard work of an amazing team of family mediators and management team.

2021 has seen three of our family mediators retire after many years of mediation service to their communities while five others have joined our growing ranks, attracted by the opportunity to share experiences and resources and the support they receive from our professional management support team.

After 3 years in the making 2021 has also seen the completion and launch of our online multi-media Divorce Manual of resources and videos for separating couples.

The combination of our Divorce Manual and the support of our growing mediation team means that we continue the drive towards our dream of empowering and enabling as many separating couples as possible to work together, despite their situation, sorting things out for themselves and their children.

With around 150,000 people a year separating, we believe that the opportunity for 'out of court' resolution solutions is enormous. We also happen to believe that using the combination of a properly supported mediation process and one primary source of resources is the way to go and leads to far more successful mediations.

We are living in exciting times where the emphasis in society is very much on the principle of self-determination and empowering separating families to resolve things together and avoid court.

For example, in November 2020 the Family Solution Group published its report, the Govt introduced and added to its mediation Voucher scheme and various high profile Govt and Judicial individuals have seen fit to promote the mediation process, whilst Spring 2022 sees the introduction of ‘No Fault’ Divorce.

The ‘Winds of Change’ are blowing hard.

"We are recommending a campaign of public information and education with the aim of achieving a permanent shift in cultural attitudes"- The Family Solutions Group?

In 2022 Compass Resolution plans to develop and expand its mediation ‘support team’ of professionals including Divorce Coaches, Financial Neutral and Child experts ensuring that as well as providing clients with all the online resources they need, at a time they are needed, they will also have access to the right professional, at the right time, when they are most needed with all this being offered in the most efficient, cost effective and 'joined up' way.

We also plan to continue developing and growing our Divorce Manual with the addition of one new chapter and significant amendments to the ‘Do your own divorce’ chapter reflecting the impending changes to the Divorce law and a chapter dedicated to the Voice of the Child.

The last word should go to those courageous separating couples who have made and continue to make the choice to ‘resolve things together’ and create new positive beginnings for themselves and their children, without carrying the damage and destruction of court proceedings with them into the future.

These couples are the trail blazers, changing how people separate and divorce, proving wrong those who believe that resolving things together in mediation, in some very difficult situations, cannot be done.

Good luck to you all for 2022. May it be a year to remember for all the right reasons.