Two certificates sit in the same neighbourhood of Australian family law and are constantly confused. They have different names that sound similar, different issuers, different statutory sources, and different triggers. Getting them wrong delays a court filing.
This post explains what each one is, who issues it, who signs it, and when you need which.
Two certificates, two different jobs
A Section 60I certificate and a Genuine Steps Certificate are not alternatives, and they are not substitutes. They live under different statutory regimes and serve different purposes within the same court process.
A Section 60I certificate sits in the Family Law Act 1975 and concerns whether a parent has attempted Family Dispute Resolution before applying for parenting orders. A Genuine Steps Certificate sits in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 and concerns whether a party has complied with the broader pre-action procedures before filing any application.
For a parenting application, a party needs both. For a financial application, a party needs only the Genuine Steps Certificate. The two work together; they do not duplicate each other.
What a Section 60I certificate is
A Section 60I certificate is the document an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner issues at the conclusion of a parenting FDR process. It records what happened in the FDR, not what was agreed.
The certificate is issued under section 60I(8) of the Family Law Act 1975 and Regulation 24 of the Family Law (Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners) Regulations 2025. The new regulations took effect on 1 April 2025 and introduced a revised certificate form, issued to a single person rather than jointly to both parties.
There are five categories the practitioner can certify under:
- 60I(8)(a): the other party did not attend or refused to attend
- 60I(8)(aa): the practitioner determined FDR was not appropriate
- 60I(8)(b): both parties attended and made a genuine effort
- 60I(8)(c): both parties attended but one or more did not make a genuine effort
- 60I(8)(d): FDR began but the practitioner determined it was not appropriate to continue
The certificate applies only to parenting applications under Part VII of the Family Law Act. It does not apply to financial or property matters. Issuing a Section 60I certificate for a financial matter is not within the practitioner's authority under Regulation 24.
What a Genuine Steps Certificate is
A Genuine Steps Certificate is a court form filed by the party themselves at the time of starting a proceeding or responding to one. It confirms that the party has complied with the pre-action procedures set out in Schedule 1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021, or that an exemption applies.
The pre-action procedures require a party to make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute before filing. For financial matters, Part 1 of Schedule 1 applies and requires the exchange of financial disclosure and a notice of intention to start a proceeding. For parenting matters, Part 2 applies and requires attendance at FDR or the existence of a recognised exemption. Where a matter involves both financial and parenting elements, both Parts must be complied with.
The certificate must be filed at the same time as the initiating application or response, under clause 9 of Part 1 and the corresponding clause of Part 2 of Schedule 1. Where a party is legally represented, the lawyer typically prepares and files the form alongside the rest of the application package, but the certifying signature is the party's, not the lawyer's.
Who issues each
Only an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner can issue a Section 60I certificate. Accreditation is conferred by the Attorney-General's Department and listed on the public Family Dispute Resolution Register. A practitioner who is not currently accredited cannot issue the certificate, and the certificate must include the practitioner's registration number.
No one issues a Genuine Steps Certificate. It is a self-executing court form. The party completes it, signs the Statement of Truth, and files it with their application. The court treats the certificate as the party's own evidence of their compliance, not as a third-party attestation.
Who signs each
A Section 60I certificate is signed by the accredited practitioner who conducted the FDR or who issued the certificate on behalf of another practitioner under Regulation 24(4). The party's signature does not appear on it. The certificate is issued to the party who requested it; the other party may or may not also be issued one, depending on what occurred in the FDR.
A Genuine Steps Certificate is signed by the party themselves, by way of a Statement of Truth that confirms the contents are true to the best of the party's knowledge. The signature is the party's, not the party's lawyer's and not the FDRP's. A lawyer can assist with the form and a mediator can supply supporting evidence, but the signature must be the party's.
When each is required
A Section 60I certificate is required when a party applies for parenting orders under Part VII of the Family Law Act, unless an exemption under section 60I(9) applies.
The recognised exemptions include matters involving family violence or abuse, urgency, an inability of one or more parties to participate effectively, and applications relating to alleged contravention of an existing order. The court can also accept that an exemption applies in other circumstances at its discretion.
The 2024 amendments to the Family Law Act tightened the parenting regime. From 10 June 2025, a parenting application can be refused for filing if a valid Section 60I certificate is not provided and no exemption is established.
A Genuine Steps Certificate is required for every initiating application and every response, in both financial and parenting proceedings, unless an exemption under Rule 4.01(2) of the FCFCOA (Family Law) Rules 2021 applies. Recognised exemptions include matters involving family violence or abuse, urgency, applications relating to divorce or nullity, child support, bankruptcy, and matters where the applicant would be unduly prejudiced by complying with the pre-action procedures.
What happens for combined parenting and financial matters
A parenting and financial matter filed together requires the party to comply with both Parts of Schedule 1 and to file the certificate or documents that each Part requires.
In practice, this means: the party files a Section 60I certificate for the parenting side, a Genuine Steps Certificate covering both Parts for the application as a whole, and the supporting documents the pre-action procedures require for each Part, including financial disclosure for the financial side. The Section 60I certificate and the Genuine Steps Certificate are not duplicates; one is evidence of compliance with parenting FDR, the other is the party's own statement of compliance with the full pre-action regime.
A worked example: a separated couple has been to FDR with an accredited practitioner. They reached agreement on the financial side but not on parenting. The practitioner issues a Section 60I certificate under paragraph (b) of section 60I(8), recording that both parties attended and made a genuine effort. The applicant then files an Initiating Application for parenting orders, attaches the Section 60I certificate, signs a Genuine Steps Certificate confirming compliance with Part 2 of Schedule 1, and files that too. If the application also seeks financial orders, the applicant files the same Genuine Steps Certificate addressing Part 1 as well, and attaches the relevant financial documents.
What financial-only FDR produces instead
The Section 60I certificate is not available for financial matters. A practitioner who conducts financial FDR does not, and cannot, issue a Section 60I certificate at the end of the process under Regulation 24.
What the practitioner can provide is a Letter of Attendance and Genuine Effort. This is not a statutorily prescribed form. It is a letter from the practitioner that confirms the dates each party attended FDR, the practitioner's professional assessment of whether each party made a genuine effort to resolve the dispute, and the outcome of the process. The party can attach the letter to their own Genuine Steps Certificate, or refer to it in the certificate, as evidence of compliance with the financial pre-action procedures in Part 1 of Schedule 1.
The Letter of Attendance and Genuine Effort serves the same evidentiary purpose as a Section 60I certificate for the financial side, confirming attendance and effort, without using a statutory instrument that does not apply to financial matters.
Western Australia: section 66H instead of section 60I
The Family Law Act 1975 covers parenting orders for the children of married couples nationally, and for the children of de facto couples in every state and territory except Western Australia. For the children of unmarried parents in Western Australia, parenting orders are made under the Family Court Act 1997 (WA), and the equivalent certificate is issued under section 66H of that Act.
A section 66H certificate is the WA state equivalent of a Section 60I certificate. It serves the same function, has the same categories, and is issued by an accredited FDR Practitioner. Where the Family Court of Western Australia hears the matter, a section 66H certificate substitutes for a Section 60I certificate. Where the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia hears the matter (married couples in WA, and parenting for de facto couples in any other state), a Section 60I certificate applies.
The Genuine Steps Certificate requirement under the FCFCOA (Family Law) Rules 2021 does not apply in the Family Court of Western Australia. WA has its own pre-action procedure regime under the Family Court Rules 2021 (WA), which a party should consult separately if they are filing in the WA Family Court.
What the court does if either is missing
If a Section 60I certificate is missing from a parenting application and no exemption is established, the court can refuse to accept the application for filing under the post-2024 framework. The applicant must then attend FDR, obtain the certificate or establish an exemption, and refile.
If a Genuine Steps Certificate is missing from an initiating application or response, the court can refuse to accept the document for filing, or accept it provisionally and later impose a stay of proceedings pending compliance with the pre-action procedures. The court can also award costs against a party who has not complied, including against a party who has filed the certificate but has not in fact taken genuine steps to resolve the dispute before filing. Section 114UB of the Family Law Act 1975 provides the costs power for parenting matters; the corresponding general costs jurisdiction applies for financial matters.
The practical effect of either certificate being missing is the same: delay and cost. Getting both right at the point of filing is faster and cheaper than fixing the omission after the application is rejected.
Why this matters at the start of a separation
A party who is heading toward a court application benefits from understanding the certificate regime early in the process. The Section 60I certificate is generated by attending FDR; the Genuine Steps Certificate is generated by complying with the full pre-action regime. Both take time.
The 12-month limit in Regulation 24(2) means a Section 60I certificate cannot be issued more than 12 months after the party last attended FDR, so the certificate is not something that can be obtained years before a court application.
The cleanest path to court, where court becomes necessary, runs through FDR first. Both certificates fall into place naturally as the result of a process that, in most cases, also resolves the dispute without the court application being needed at all.