Help with your mediation

Yes, anything discussed in a mediation is confidential.

Mediations are private and are not recorded. Discussions you have in a mediation are not available to the public or media.

If you have been invited to a mediation for a residential tenancy dispute, you need to attend unless you have authorised someone else, such as a housemate, to participate in the mediation and reach agreement on your behalf. A hearing will be scheduled for a later date if one of the parties does not attend and is not represented. 

In some cases, if you don’t come to your mediation, VCAT may order you to pay the other party’s costs.

Mediations are confidential. Details of what was discussed are not provided to the VCAT member hearing the case.

You will need to present your case again. Parties need to discuss and answer questions about the facts of the case (what happened, when, what you did, what the other party did) and provide evidence to support your claim. 

Anything said in the mediation by parties, such as settlement offers, cannot be later used in a VCAT hearing.
 

If we identify cases involving the same parties and rental property, we might ask the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria (DSCV) to cover all issues in the same mediation.

If you’re contacted by DSCV and believe there is a related claim that should be mediated at the same time, let the DSCV dispute assessment officer know. You can check with us whether cases have been grouped together or will progress separately.

If you resolve your dispute before you attend a mediation or hearing, the applicant needs to notify VCAT and all other parties in writing.

You can end your VCAT case in three ways.

See also: What happens if we come to an agreement before attending VCAT?

See: More help with your hearing or mediation