Empowering individuals, families and communities to overcome the challenges of life.
CatholicCare provides a range of services to promote individual, family and community wellbeing. Supporting families through relationship breakdown, separation and co‑parenting across the Darling Downs and South West Queensland. CatholicCare services an area of approximately 487,456 km2 from the Darling Downs including Toowoomba, Warwick and Dalby, to the South West including Roma, St George, Cunnamulla and Charleville.
CatholicCare mediation services work to support families develop parenting agreements and also provides a range of family and relationship education programs and personalised, professional and ethically-based counselling services.
Services Include:
Legally Assisted Mediation
The Toowoomba FRC is now able to provide Legally Assisted Family Dispute Resolution (LAFDR) in appropriate circumstances. This form of FDR typically involves both parties having a lawyer present in the mediation room with the FRDP(s) during the Joint FDR Session to support the problem-solving and agreement-making phase of FDR (Two-Lawyer LAFDR). The role of the lawyers in Two-Lawyer LAFDR is to observe and occasionally ask questions rather than advocate for their client’s wishes in the mediation room. Both parties will still be required to verbalise their own concerns and demonstrate a genuine effort to resolve the issues in dispute. Either party can consult with their lawyer privately during the Joint FDR Session in order to obtain advice.
The Toowoomba FRC collaborates with a number of established local legal services to provide LAFDR that is non-adversarial and child-focused. In some cases, we can assist parties to access legal representation or parties may wish to bring their existing lawyer. Either way, both parties require a lawyer to be present in order for Two-Lawyer LAFDR to occur.
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Child Inclusive Mediation
Enabling children’s voices to be heard through the separation process. The Child Inclusive Family Dispute Resolution (CIFDR) enables the voices of the children to be heard through the Family Dispute Resolutions (FDR) process.
Our FDR service assists families to understand their children’s needs following separation and to develop age appropriate Parenting Plans to support their child/ren to reach their full potential.
Child Inclusive Family Dispute Resolution/Mediation (CIFDR) can support your child/ren to have a voice throughout the mediation process and can enable both of you, as parents, to hear the experiences and perspectives of your child/ren.
This process can assist you and the other parent to build a better co-parenting relationship and to work towards parenting arrangements that are in the best interests of your child/ren. Careful consideration needs to be given before involving child/ren in this process. For CIFDR to be an effective process and of benefit to your child/ren, both parents need to be genuinely open and willing to hear and give serious consideration and reflect on the feedback from your child/ren’s sessions with the Child Consultant as well as any recommendations made by the Child Consultant.
CIFDR aims to support you as a parent to sensitively respond to your child’s needs and experiences. It invites you to consider your children’s developmental needs and to work together to refocus on your child/ren’s needs.
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Rural Family Dispute Resolution
Our Rural Family Dispute Resolution Service delivers property mediation, mediation and dispute resolution services to assist families with managing conflict and developing parenting plans that best support the interests of any children involved.
Working across the South West Region with offices based at Toowoomba, Warwick and Roma.
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Property Settlement
The Family Relationship Centre also provides FDR services relating to Property Settlement so that separated partners can negotiate and agree on financial matters without litigation.
Our team respects cultural differences and beliefs and works supportively with diverse relationships and family arrangements to provide positive outcomes for children and families.
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SPARK Program
SPARK (Separated Parents Raising Kids) is an educational group that is designed specifically for separated parents who want the best for their children. The program assists individual parents with communication skills, conflict management, the court system, attachment parenting and blended family structures.
We understand that parents in these circumstances really struggle with communicating with the other parent around the children’s arrangements, how change‑overs can be problematic, and that ‘buttons get pushed’ and things can quickly escalate into highly‑charged arguments.
This program is designed to address these types of issues, in small modules of just 2-hour timeslots. Each module is inter-related with the others, but they are all separate.
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Family and Relationship Services
Individual Counselling
This service focuses on a range of needs for all individuals including those impacted by trauma, drought, domestic violence, grief and loss, anxiety, relationship concerns and self-esteem.
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Couples Counselling
This service offers counselling for couples in a relationship who are encountering difficulties in a wide range of areas including communication, connection, parenting, intimacy and safety.
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Children’s Counselling
Our experienced children's counsellors use a number of age-appropriate techniques to support children's emotional, social and behavioural development. Some common reasons parents seek counselling support for their children include:
1. if a child struggling with parental separation;
2. if a child is struggling with anxiety;
3. any form of childhood trauma;
4. any issues around identity; and
5. if the child is experiencing bullying.
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Family Therapy
Family therapy focuses on supporting all individuals within a family structure to develop healthy communication, functioning and development through strength-based support and to promote the overall emotional and mental health and wellbeing of all individuals.
Family therapy occurs via individual, couples and family (group) counselling sessions.
Counselling appointments can be made here: https://portal.catholiccare.services/COUNInformation/
To start the mediation process, online forms can be completed here: https://portal.catholiccare.services/FRCEstForm/
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WHADDUP Youth Program - Indigenous Learners Program and South Activities aged 10-17 years.
Whaddup is a youth program held every Friday night during the school term in Toowoomba for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander youth aged 10-17 years. Whaddup focuses on reinforcing healthy lifestyle choices and deterring youth from risk taking behaviours.
