Parenting Coordination: Who Are Clients Looking For?

– 3-minute read

Among the enquiries we receive at Parenting Coordination Australia (PCA), one request stands out: clients looking for a male Parenting Coordinator (PC). Yet our National directory includes only a handful of men. That gap is worth recognising, particularly for experienced male professionals considering how their skills could meet an identified need.

PCA maintains a National directory of independent Parenting Coordinators. By reviewing our members’ profiles and the enquiries we receive, we gain a useful perspective on what clients and their lawyers are looking for.

Three requests feature prominently: practitioners with experience in domestic and family violence, those experienced in working with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence, and male PCs.

These observations come from our own enquiries, not a National workforce study. Even so, the pattern warrants a conversation about who is entering the profession and the choices available to families.

A SMALL POOL OF MALE PRACTITIONERS

When someone specifically requests a male PC, there are relatively few men in our directory for them to consider. Relevant experience, availability and suitability for the particular family can narrow those options further.

A preference for a male practitioner will mean different things to different people. We cannot assume the reasons behind it, and gender alone neither establishes professional competence nor guarantees a good fit.

But the requests are there. So is the limited choice.

For referring professionals, including family lawyers, family report writers and Independent Children’s Lawyers (ICLs), this is a practical consideration. Finding a suitable PC means matching a family’s circumstances with the practitioner’s skills and experience. A broader pool of qualified practitioners would offer more options.

For men already working with separated families, it raises a different question: could Parenting Coordination be a valuable next step in your practice?

EXPERIENCE THAT HAS A PLACE IN PARENTING COORDINATION

If you work with separated parents experiencing persistent conflict, you will be familiar with the distance that can exist between reaching a parenting agreement and making it work.

The parenting arrangements are documented. The difficulties continue.

Parents may return to disputes about communication, changeovers, school activities or how to put agreed arrangements into practice. These everyday issues are central to Parenting Coordination: a structured process that helps parents implement parenting arrangements and manage disputes while keeping their children’s needs in focus.

For family lawyers, psychologists, social workers, child consultants, ICLs and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners (FDRPs), aspects of this work may already feel familiar.

You may have considerable experience maintaining professional boundaries, managing difficult conversations and helping parents consider their children’s needs when their own conflict threatens to dominate.

Those skills provide a useful foundation. Specialist Parenting Coordination training builds on that experience by developing an understanding of the PC role, its scope and the responsibilities that come with it.

For experienced male professionals, in particular, Parenting Coordination may offer an opportunity to apply existing skills in a specialised area of practice.

THE OTHER REQUESTS MATTER, TOO

Interest in male PCs sits alongside requests for particular expertise.

Our enquiries indicate that clients are also looking for practitioners who understand domestic and family violence, ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence. This suggests that professional fit matters to those seeking a PC. They want someone equipped to understand the circumstances their family brings.

These areas require more than a general interest. Domestic and family violence experience, for example, must include the ability to recognise risk, undertake appropriate screening and assess whether Parenting Coordination is suitable for the family.

The Parenting Coordination Focus Group developed Guidelines for Parenting Coordinators in Australia, which provides an important professional reference for understanding the role and its boundaries. The guidelines reinforce the need for appropriate screening, attention to safety and careful consideration of the circumstances in which the process may be unsuitable.

For practitioners with relevant expertise, these enquiries offer insight into the experience clients value and the needs they want their PC to understand.

AN OPPORTUNITY WORTH EXPLORING

A handful of male directory listings on the PCA directory cannot tell us everything about Australia’s Parenting Coordination workforce. Nor do enquiries guarantee a particular volume of work.

Together, however, they highlight a gap between what some clients are requesting and the options currently available through PCA’s directory. Experienced male professionals, along with practitioners who have specialist knowledge, may not have considered Parenting Coordination as an extension of their existing work. The enquiries we are seeing provide a reason to take a closer look.

PCA’s upcoming Parenting Coordination training will be held online on 16, 23 and 30 October 2026. Designed for experienced family law and family relationship professionals, the training offers an opportunity to develop specialist skills for this work and to join a professional community of PCs.

Find out more on the PCA training page.

By Dr Anne Purcell