Learning & events

On demand | Webinar | Managing power imbalance in a family mediation context

With Mark MacDiarmid

On demand | Online
“reflection and guidance from a practitioner working with challenging family contexts”

Managing power imbalance in a family dispute resolution context

This is the second in a series of webinars to explore managing power imbalance.

In this webinar Mark MacDiarmid offers consideration of the following questions in relation to managing power imbalance in the family dispute resolution context:

  • What is power?
  • What is our initial purpose in mediating this particular dispute (e.g. are we wanting to arrive at interim parenting Orders in a high conflict case; a final resolution of family property; an improvement in relationship or family alliances)?
  • Where does relevant power reside for the purposes of the mediation (e.g. with the parties, mediator, solicitor participants, venue, structure, the Court, the parties’ social, cultural and familial contexts)?
  • How might family violence dynamics be reproduced in mediation in ways that are both seen and unseen?
  • Having regard to the previous, where on the power spectrum does each party sit?
  • Structure as an intervention, and how it influences parties’ interactions, anxiety levels and capacity to reach agreement
The link to the recording of this webinar will remain active for at least 3 months from the date of purchase. We continue to consult with the given presenter as to whether extended availability is possible. We are therefore not able to guarantee access beyond 3 months.

About the speaker

Mark MacDiarmid
Family Law Specialist and Mediator

Mark MacDiarmid has been a lawyer for over 30 years. He is an Accredited Family Law Specialist, a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner and a registered Family Law Arbitrator.

Mark is a former Director of national law firm Gadens Lawyers (where he worked in the commercial law and banking & finance sections and was head of Gadens’ national franchising practice group), a former specialist family law consultant for Coleman & Greig Lawyers, and for many years was the Principal Solicitor of the Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre.

As a lawyer, Mark’s practice is currently focused on Independent Children’s Lawyer appointments, and as a mediator he focuses on legally assisted property and parenting mediations. He holds degrees in Arts & Law from the University of Sydney, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychology. He was recommended as a Family Law Mediator by Doyle’s Guide in 2021 & as a Parenting & Children’s Matters Lawyer by Doyle’s Guide in 2018 & 2019. Mark holds the following accreditations:

  • Accredited as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (‘FDRP’) by the Federal Attorney General’s Department
  • Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution from the Australian Institute of Social Relations
  • Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology from Charles Sturt University (the academic prerequisite for registration as a psychologist)
  • Member of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators
  • Member of the Law Society of NSW’s Family Law Settlement Service Mediator Panel
  • Member of NSW Legal Aid’s Early Intervention and Litigation Intervention Panels
  • Accredited as a Mediator under the National Mediator Accreditation System
  • Member of the NSW District Court Mediators Panel
  • Member of the Law Society of NSW’s Mediator Panel
  • Practitioner member of the Resolution Institute