The issue of a s. 60I certificates allows people to file an application in court to seek parenting orders.

A s.60I certificate can only be issued by a qualified Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) registered with the Attorney-General, following due process as required by the Family Law Act and Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) regulations.

The law requires separating families who have a dispute about children to make a genuine effort to try to sort it out through Family Dispute Resolution.

An accredited FDRP can issue a section 60I certificate where FDR has failed due to:

• non-attendance or FDR was not appropriate, or
• the parties made a genuine effort but couldn’t agree to the matters in dispute and require a court to resolve the issues, or a
• non-genuine effort was made by one or more people involved in the dispute

While a s.60I certificate does not serve any evidentiary basis, courts may award costs against a party on the basis of failure to attend or not making a genuine effort.

Fact sheet on s60I certificates for FDR | Attorney-General’s Department (ag.gov.au)