What is Kids Talk?
Kids Talk is a program that gives children aged 5 to 17 the opportunity to be heard in family law decisions. Kids Talk is part of Victoria Legal Aid’s mediation service, Family Dispute Resolution Service.
How can Kids Talk help my family?
You and your children’s other parent or carer might have different views about what your children think and feel about their family situation. And your children will have their own thoughts, feelings and opinions.
Kids Talk helps children share their thoughts in a supportive environment. Kids Talk can help you and your former partner make decisions in mediation that reflect the needs of your children.
Why do we offer Kids Talk?
Family law says that children have the right to be heard and have their wishes considered. We want to:
- give children the chance to talk about their family in a safe and supportive way, without pressure to make decisions
- give parents and carers the opportunity to hear what is important to their child from an impartial and independent professional.
How Kids Talk works
When a Family Dispute Resolution Service case manager assesses whether your case is suitable for mediation, they will also consider Kids Talk. If we decide Kids Talk is safe and appropriate for your family and each parent agrees to participate, the Kids Talk team will assign a child consultant. A child consultant is an experienced social worker or psychologist trained to work with young people.
The child consultant will:
1. Speak with you to arrange a meeting
The child consultant will contact you to arrange a meeting with your children (at a venue close to the children). They will also arrange to speak to you after meeting your children.
2. Meet your children
The child consultant will meet with the children as a group first and then individually. Each meeting is usually 45–60 minutes. The child consultant will help the child explore and explain their family situation through drawings, toys and cards. They will tailor their approach to suit your child’s age, interests, needs and comfort levels.
3. Provide you with feedback
The child consultant will speak to you after meeting your children. They will help you understand your children’s thoughts and feelings about their family. This is a time to consider your children’s views before mediation.
4. Provide a written report of the Kids Talk meeting for mediation
The child consultant then writes a brief report suggesting topics to be discussed at mediation to support the child’s needs. This report is confidential and cannot be used in court.
The report is sent to you and the other parent, your lawyers and the mediator who will run your mediation conference. The mediator will use the Kids Talk report during the conference when discussing the children’s needs.
How old do children have to be to do Kids Talk?
We offer this program to children between the ages of 5 and 17.
If your children are too young, or it is not safe or appropriate for them to take part in Kids Talk, there are other ways a child consultant can help.
Other ways child consultants can help you
In some cases, the child consultant will not meet with your children. Instead, they will review your case and speak with you and any other parent or carer to gather information.
After this, they can provide tailored information to use in mediation. The information is based on evidence-based research and the age and stage of development of your children.
The child consultant will talk to you and the other parent or carer separately. The child consultant then writes a brief report based on this research, for mediation. This can help you prepare for mediation and make decisions that meet your children’s needs.
Find out more about our child consultants and their experience.
How are lawyers involved?
Most participants have a lawyer to support them in mediation through our service.
Lawyers can:
- advise you about whether to participate in Kids Talk
- go through the Kids Talk report with you when it is released, as well as attending mediation.
Preparing your children for Kids Talk
We recommend speaking with your children before their Kids Talk meeting. This helps them know what to expect. The child consultant can give you advice about how to approach this conversation.
You can tell your children:
- There will be a couple of meetings to plan how best to care for them.
- One meeting is between us, the parents or carers, and a professional person called a mediator. With the help of the mediator, together you’ll make a plan about how to care for your children.
- The other meeting is for your children to talk with a professional person called a child consultant if they want to. They can draw, play games, or chat about family, friends, and school.
- If your children agree, the child consultant will share some of what they talked about with you and their other parent or carer.
- Hearing from the child consultant may help you and the other parent or carer decide what plan works best for your family.
- Afterwards, you will check that your children are okay. They don’t need to talk about the meeting if they don’t want to.
More information
If you have questions about Kids Talk, please call our Family Dispute Resolution Service on 9269 0500 or email fdrs@vla.vic.gov.au.
If you are going through mediation at our Family Dispute Resolution Service you can ask to speak to your case manager, or the Managing Child Specialist.
Updated