Access Law Group
Biography
Our Client Services Team, headed by Director Tom Ellicott, can assist you with any enquiries you have in relation to Family Law. Our team is very compassionate and understanding in delicate situations that can arise in Family Law.
Our areas of expertise include:
Binding Financial Agreements and Consent Orders
De Facto Relationships
Divorce
Parenting Issues
Property Settlements
Superannuation
Acorn Lawyers
Biography
Acorn Lawyers is a law firm located in the city of Wollongong. We offer a variety of legal services. Members of our Family Law Team are Accredited Specialists in Family Law. We can assist clients in the mediation process to resolve parenting and property matters. We also provide advice and assist clients in the Court process and representation in the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court. We offer legal assistance and representation in Care & Protection matters at the Children’s Court for adults and children. Our solicitors are legal aid panel members for Family Law matters, Independent Children’s Law matters and Care and Protection matters. Ms Mowbray of our office is a FDR Mediator and can assist parties with private mediations, for parenting matters and/or property matters.
ADAMS LEGAL
Biography
Our people at Adams Legal will provide you with advice and guidance right through your family law matter, either parenting or property with empathy and discretion.
We ensure you receive what is just and equitable and your children’s interests are paramount.
Our areas of expertise are:
* parenting and children
* property settlements
* superannuation splitting
*divorce
* de facto relationships
* binding financial agreements
Adaptive Mediation
Biography
Kate Grafenauer, principal mediator at Adaptive Mediation, has worked as a lawyer in the dispute resolution space for over 20 years.
After such a lengthy period of time spent litigating in various jurisdictions, she has seen the impact court proceedings can have on individuals and entities – stress, cost, delay, and future strain on business and personal relationships. It became apparent that there are rarely any real winners, which caused her to question why she remained working in the legal sphere. After much soul searching, she recalled the reason she studied law – to help people, unable to solve problems without some assistance, to find solutions that actually work for them.
It was a natural next step for her to become a mediator, and Kate now enjoys assisting and empowering parties in dispute find creative solutions that have far greater potential to preserve their ongoing relationships and financial and personal wellbeing.
Kate holds national accreditation as a mediator with the Resolution Institute and Australian Mediation Association and is registered with the Mediator Standards Board.
Allison Dillon Consulting
Biography
Allison is a current Regulation 40 Family Consultant and Single Expert for the Federal Circuit and Family Court and is available to complete short form reports, private family reports, and single expert reports offering comprehensive assessments and recommendations in alignment with court timeframes and requirements in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Southern Highlands, and South Coast areas. Her approach is objective, prescriptive, and empathic, ensuring that the best interests of the child are at the forefront of assessments.
Allison holds dual degrees in Social Work and Social Science and has over 35 years of experience working with complex children, young people, and families. Allison is well-equipped to provide expert evidence in family court matters.
Allison’s assessments consider a range of factors such as mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and child safety and wellbeing and she considers these factors in the framework of parental responsibility, who a child spends time with and lives with, to ensure that all factors affecting a child are being addressed. Allison offers evidence-based opinions in court to aid decision-making, aiming to elucidate family dynamics and children’s needs.
Allison’s approach blends thorough assessment with a nuanced understanding of family complexities, providing valuable insights and recommendations to the court and aligned with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Allison is adept at collaborating with legal and other professionals and is well-equipped to contribute positively to family law proceedings.
Allison is committed to providing thorough and insightful assessments that assist families and the court in making informed decisions.
Anglicare Counselling and Relationships Services – Illawarra
Biography
Counselling for individuals, couples and children. For counselling appointments please phone 1300 651 728.
Counsellors: our counsellors are experienced professionals who have completed relevant tertiary training including trauma informed practice, assessment of risk and neglect, family and domestic violence, family systems, and mental health.
Provision of counselling: to children, young people, individuals, couples and families around the range of issues including family and domestic violence, relationship and family breakdown, loss and grief, mental health including anxiety and depression.
Fees: are according to a sliding scale based on income.
Referrals for other support: Anglicare provides a suite of programs which our clients may also access to support their overall well-being including free food and financial assistance and financial counselling (call 8624 8600) , Family Mental Health Support Program (call 1300 651 728)
Anglicare Food and Financial Services – Illawarra
Biography
Emergency relief: a range of services including assistance with utility bills, food, pharmaceuticals.
Case Management service: providing intensive goal-oriented support to assist where there are multiple issues impacting on healthy living – including homelessness, financial difficulties, addictions, relationships, unemployment, mental health, parenting and family stresses.
Anglicare Food and Financial Services – Southern Highlands,
Biography
Counselling for individuals, couples and children. For counselling appointments please phone 1800 133 373.
Emergency relief for food assistance, help with energy accounts, Telstra accounts, food and fuel cards, as well as general advocacy and referrals.
Armstrong Legal
Better Talk Clinical Counselling
Biography
My name is Peter Burgoyne. My practice is named ‘Better Talk’ and is located in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra.
I am a qualified counsellor with 17 years post-grad experience. Have worked in a large social welfare agency from graduation to 2018 and am now in private practice. I specialise in Narrative approaches to therapy and have a background in trauma informed practice. My relevant experience is in individual and couple therapy, and I have a particular interest in working with men.
I am a former soldier, and have an excellent understanding of the experiences and contemporary support needs of service personnel. Service families are significantly over-represented in the relationship breakdown statistics in Australia, and this problem has only become worse over the last 20 years or so since Australia ramped up its operational commitments.
I hold a Master of Counselling and a Graduate Diploma of Counselling. Of course, I can supply documentary evidence at request. For further information, please contact me at the above email address or on 02 9159 6176.
CareSouth Family Connections
Biography
Our experienced and qualified workers provide high quality supervision of visits between children and/or young persons and their families. Providing where required written reports on the interactions and behaviours observed during visits.
Services include:
– Supervisions of contact visits for children and young people and their natural families
– Transportation of children and young people
– Family law supervised contacts and change overs
– Mentoring Services
Carter Ferguson Solicitors
Biography
Carter & Ferguson Solicitors can help with effective advice and representation in all areas of law relating to personal and family relationships.
At Carter & Ferguson we understand that family separation is a difficult and emotional time for the whole family, and a time when significant parenting and financial decisions need to be made. We take the time to really listen, and to explain the process and options available to ensure you feel engaged and comfortable with the process and the decisions you are making throughout this time.
Our team of professionals are committed to our clients interests and needs and are able to manage your matter effectively and with sensitivity through all stages, whether that be engaging in non-adversarial solutions such as negotiation and settlement conferences, or representing you and presenting your case at court.
How we can help:
- Co-habitation Agreements
- De-facto relationships
- Same sex relationships
- Division of property and assets
- Separation & Divorce
- Mediation
- Negotiated settlements
- Custody & Contact with children
- Parenting Agreements
- Family Court matters
- Domestic violence issues
- Spousal maintenance
- Grandparents interests
Catholic Care Families and Communities Program
Biography
The Families and Communities Program is a Commonwealth funded initiative that delivers therapeutic and educative relationship support to the community. The program offers flexible services to individuals, couples and families through Counselling and Relationship Skills Workshops .
Our Keeping Kids In Mind Program is a 5 week post-separation parenting workshop, which teaches parents how to deal more effectively with the emotional and practical issues of parenting after separation.
This workshop explores loss and grief in parents and children, communication with your ex-partner, anger, assertiveness, power grabs & the impact on children. This program also has a Case Management component which helps support and guide parents through the separation process.
CatholicCare Children’s Contact Service
Biography
What is the Children’s Contact Service?
We offer short term services that help and support families who are experiencing conflict and are finding difficult to co-parent following separation. We provide services for children aged between 6 weeks and 12 years old in a safe and neutral environment.
We work together with families to help them enjoy positive experiences with their children. We assist them to work towards co-parenting and managing their own contact arrangements. This is done by moving through progressively more independent service streams.
What services do we offer?
We provide Supervised Contact, Supported Contact, Changeover and Supported Changeover services. The services are designed to be progressive in nature, so suitable families will move through the different service streams on their way to self-managing their own contact arrangements.
When using our service, we may recommend other suitable services to help parents develop a supportive bridge so their children can feel safe and secure when moving from one parent to the other.
Where are our centres located?
We have centres in the Illawarra, Macarthur and Shoalhaven areas. They are all accessible by public transport.
Who can use the service?
While families with court orders are usually given preference, safety comes first. Both parents need to agree to our service rules and we need to be sure that the children, staff and parents will all be safe when using our service.
How to register for the service?
Each parent will need to contact our intake officers on 02 4227 1122 to register their details.
View our Fee policy and current waiting list at our website.
Cherished Connections
Biography
Cherished Connections (CC), is an ACCSA-affiliated, community-based Children’s Contact Service dedicated to fostering positive relationships between children and their families.
We offer immediate availability with no waitlist and a streamlined 4-step process from consultation to reporting, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for all involved.
Our services are delivered by highly qualified Family Time Facilitators who prioritise the best interests of the children. We maintain competitive rates while delivering top-quality, child-focused care and supervision.
We specialize in providing secure and reliable supervision for family time visitations and changeovers, particularly in situations involving:
- Court-ordered supervision
- High conflict between parents
- Safety concerns for children
- Uncertainty about the return of children post-visit
Our Commitment:
- Try our best to provide consistent Family Time Facilitators for each visit.
- Flexible scheduling with visits arranged within days.
- Adherence to industry standards with detailed reports usable in court.
- Supervised visits in natural settings such as parks, homes, and recreational venues.
- Strict privacy and confidentiality for all clients.
- Handling cases of extended separation, domestic violence, and child abuse investigations.
Community Links Wellbeing
Biography
Family Support Service – Youthwork, Casework, Allied Health, Mental Health and Groups for families and children
Dawson Lawyers
Biography
Dawson Lawyers provides legal services for conveyancing and property law; family law and de facto relationships; powers of attorney and enduring guardianship; wills, probate, estate planning and Family Provision Act claims; Local Court and Childrens Court appearances; business and commercial law; liquor licensing; debt recovery, insolvency and bankruptcy; and civil litigation.
Based in Wollongong, we service clients from both Sydney and the Illawarra region, and assist with property transactions throughout New South Wales for both local and international investors.
Dawson Lawyers’s family lawyers can provide assistance for a range of matters relating to family law and de facto relationships, including:
•Cohabitation Agreements
•Prenuptial Agreements
•Divorce & separation
•Spousal maintenance
•Division of property & assets
•Child support, child protection and child custody matters
Contact us now to arrange a consultation with an experienced solicitor.
Department of Communities and Justice
Biography
The Family Law Court Liaison team are co-located officials to the FCFCOA. Our role is provide information under the Care and Protection Act as well as the Family Law Act. The contact person listed here has been allocated to the Wollongong Registry.
DGB Lawyers
Biography
Family law advice from experienced professionals.
Notes
Ample free off street parking.
EJMediation
The Family Law Pathways Network Service Directory aims to provide access to accurate and up-to-date information about various support services throughout the Illawarra and Southern Highlands Regions. The directory will support members to make informed decisions regarding appropriate referral pathways to assist organisations operating as part of or alongside the family law system.
To include your service information in this directory please fill in the online application form. Services are encouraged to notify the Network Project Officer of any changes to service listings as they arise.
The Directory lists services who have identified themselves as working with families in crisis. Please note that the ISHFLPN does not personally endorse or recommend any specific service listed on this site and/or the Directory of Services. Any user must make an informed decision as to the engagement of any of the services listed in this Directory of their own accord.
