Collaborative practice conference in Perth, 15 August

A full day on collaborative professional practice, running 8.30am to 5pm AWST on Saturday 15 August.

The Collaborative Professionals WA conference runs on Saturday 15 August 2026 from 8.30am to 5pm AWST, hosted through the collaborative practice community associated with the Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals.

Collaborative practice sits in an unusual position in the Australian dispute resolution landscape: well established, evidence-supported, and structurally under-used. The model requires the parties and their lawyers to sign a participation agreement disqualifying the lawyers from acting in subsequent litigation, which aligns everyone's incentives toward resolution in a way that no other process achieves.

Why it deserves a second look now

Read the collaborative model against the court data and the case makes itself. Roughly 30,000 more matters were lodged than finalised nationally last year. Legal Aid NSW withdrew from parenting and property matters on 1 July. Family practitioners are carrying documented burnout loads.

A process designed to resolve disputes without a court date is not an alternative to the system in that environment. It is a relief valve for it.

The disqualification clause remains the barrier, and it is a real one. A practitioner who cannot bill the litigation is taking a commercial position that the collaborative process will work, and firms structured around litigation revenue have understandable reservations. Whether those reservations survive contact with a four-year queue is the question the conference exists to test.

Details

When: Saturday 15 August 2026, 8.30am–5pm AWST
Where: Perth, Western Australia
Registration: Via Humanitix
Audience: Lawyers, family consultants, financial neutrals and allied professionals

Interstate practitioners considering collaborative accreditation will find a full-day intensive a more efficient introduction than a series of webinars.

Practitioners considering the model should understand what accreditation involves before the day: training in interest-based negotiation, familiarity with the participation agreement and its disqualification provision, and a working relationship with the financial and family consultants who make the process function. It is a genuine reorientation of practice rather than a certificate, and a full-day conference is the right place to work out whether it suits how you actually like to work.