Remote family dispute resolution services for Covid and post‐Covid times

Client and practitioner perspectives

Bibliographic Data

ID21739828
AuthorsGenevieve Heard (0000-0002-1828-0595, Australian Council for Educational Research, corresponding author), Andrew Bickerdike (Australian Council for Educational Research), Sandra Opoku (0000-0002-3382-1783, Australian Council for Educational Research)
Year2022
Volume60
Issue2
Pages220-240
Publication date2022-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFamily Court Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1531-2445 • E-ISSN: 1744-1617
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/fcre.12639
PMID35601195
OpenAlexW4220953352
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited11

In 2020, residents in the state of Victoria, Australia endured months of government restrictions aimed at curbing multiple outbreaks of COVID‐19. Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) services continued to assist separating couples to sort out their parenting and property matters, necessitating a rapid and wholesale shift to remote delivery via telephone and video conferencing. This paper reports on interviews during and subsequent to ‘lockdown’ with clients of FDR services offered by a large, community‐sector provider. The data collected provide insights into the ways in which the pandemic affected the immediate needs and concerns of families as they navigated separation and shared parenting during the pandemic. Of importance to service development, the data include client responses to different methods of FDR service delivery and their reflections on how well these evolving methods were suited to their needs. Practitioner views were also sought on service delivery methods to provide a comprehensive picture of the advantages and challenges of remote delivery, and the ways in which it helped or hindered in catering to the needs of clients with safety concerns. Collectively the results of these analyses indicate that COVID has produced new risks and opportunities for the provision of FDR services, in both COVID and post‐COVID worlds. The evolving FDR service model will likely continue to feature multiple delivery options, regardless of the trajectory of the pandemic

Business · Internet privacy · Pandemic · Political science · Public relations · Service delivery framework · Service provider · Telecommunications · Videoconferencing · Computer Science · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Marriage and Family Dynamics · Medicine · Marketing

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