Collaborative Training
Throughout the year, basic collaborative courses were run in Townsville, Northern New South Wales and two in Brisbane with a total of approximately 70 new practitioners trained which is fabulous growth in one year.
In February, we had the Canadian collaborative guru, Victoria Smith, once again come and provide two days of advanced training. This was a tremendous success.
Mediation Conference
Collaborative practice also made a big showing at the 2016 National Mediation Conference.
Four sessions focussed on collaborative topics including our Dr Anne Purcell, Cassandra Pullos and John Thynne and QCL were also sponsors of the conference and manned a booth for the three days with members to Spread the Word.
Participants were genuinely interested in collaborative practice and the take away message was that collaborative practice is working and has become a real alternative as practitioners and the public look for alternatives to hard core litigation.
Nathan Wallis Seminar – Gold Coast Family Law Pathways Network
In early November, the Gold Coast Family Law Pathways Network hosted a full day seminar with international speaker Nathan Wallis speaking on “The Developing Brain – Strategies for Best Practice”.
QCL provided $500 sponsorship through the Gold Coast Practice Group and achieved wide exposure. Nathan delivered a tremendous day of training with 55 practitioners attending.
2017 Strategic Planning Day
In October, the QCL committee held their annual strategic planning day. The day was very productive and focussed on:
- Ensuring appropriate training is available to potential and existing QCL members;
- The promotion of collaborative practice among professionals, the public and existing members;
- Growing the membership base;
- Continuing to provide beneficial services to the members; and
- Developing specific initiatives for increased regional engagement.
Sub-committees were formed in the following areas: Training and Mentoring, Governance, External Relationships, Marketing & Communication, and Finance. If any members would like to be part of any of these sub-committees, please contact Steph at qcl@officelogistics.com.au
Membership Growth
As the year draws to a close, QCL has 125 members (19 accountants, 10 financial advisers, 83 lawyers, seven mediators, five psychologists, and one student) and membership levels are expected to rise following recent training:
Geographically the members are spread across Queensland:
Brisbane 62
Gold Coast 18
Toowoomba 10
Cairns 10
Townsville 15
Sunshine Coast 2
Central Queensland 1
Other regions 6
Regional Groups
In August, president Kay Feeney travelled to Cairns and Townsville and meet with regional collaborative practitioners. Regional engagement is important to support the training that has done. Once trained, practitioners need the support and resources available to them from QCL.
National Group Formation
2016 saw the formation of the AACP – The Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals.
The purpose of this association is to be a coordinated voice and to ensure growth and consistent delivery of Collaborative services across Australia. It will be the conduit with the IACP and the local Australian associations.
We are excited to have our very own Cassandra Pullos as the AACP Vice President and Freda Wigan as Committee member. Jennifer Hetherington and Anne Purcell are also on various committees.
It is also interesting to note that the president of the AACP is a Psychologist which is not only unique internationally but also highlights the growing trend of this inter-disciplinary movement.
Practice Groups
Practice groups are an integral tool for building the Collaborative community. They provide a forum to network, education, problem solving, support and marketing.
We currently have practice groups in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Townsville and Cairns.
Bring a Friend to Practice Group Meetings
Practice group meetings will continue to be a keen interest of the collaborative committee because as you all know thriving practice groups leads to strong collaborative communities and that can only benefit each other and our collaborative clients. We hope you will adopt the bring a friend approach to practice groups to build the network of practitioners.