Accreditations & Legal/Judicial Experience
Mali brings a rare combination of extensive family law trial experience as a former Independent Children’s Lawyer, together with recent judicial experience as a Judicial Registrar of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. She is known for her warmth, her practical insight, and her ability to put people at ease, along with a clear understanding of the challenges families face when navigating separation and dispute resolution. Her career began in boutique family law firms, where she developed strong foundations in property and child support matters. She later moved into the government sector to specialise in complex parenting, child support disputes and child protection matters, working with some of the most vulnerable families in the community. This breadth of experience informs her calm, structured, and child‑focused approach to mediation today.
Qualifications :
- Family Law Dispute Resolution Practitioner
Accredited through the Attorney-General’s Department - Parenting Coordination Practitioner
trained through Parenting Coordination Australia - Former Judicial Registrar of the Federal Circuit and Family Court
- Former Independent Children’s Lawyer in the Federal Circuit and Family Court
- Former Separate Representative in the Children’s Court
- Founding Team member of the first Legal Aid Queensland Duty Lawyer Service
- Founding Team member of the first Family Advocacy and Support Services (FASS) Duty Lawyer Service at Legal Aid Queensland
- Senior Solicitor / Manager of the Family Law Services / Child Support Services Team at Legal Aid Queensland
“Mali brings a wealth of knowledge and practical expertise in family dispute resolution, parenting matters, and mediation. Her approach has consistently been professional, but what sets her apart is her warmth, genuine curiosity, and deep respect for the families she works with…. On a personal note, I have learned a great deal from working with Mali. Her thoughtful, measured communication and her commitment to ethical practice have influenced my own approach. She has a way of making complex, emotionally charged work seem manageable, always modelling patience, curiosity, and integrity. ” Ms Bhatti, Child Court Expert
Specialist Mediation Skills
Mali’s litigation background gives her a deep understanding of the challenges families face after separation, allowing her to offer thoughtful, practical guidance across the full spectrum of family law disputes from straightforward matters to those involving significant complexity. Her experience spans early work as one of the founding Legal Aid Duty Solicitors in the Family Court, where she supported self‑represented parents to resolve disputes quickly and pragmatically at the foot of the court, through to her role as a Specialist Judicial Registrar in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. In that role, she provided structured pathways forward for families dealing with domestic and family violence, entrenched parental conflict, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, parental capacity concerns, and children with significant medical or developmental needs.
Across the hundreds of mediations Mali facilitated while at the Court, her settlement rate was approximately 90%. The majority of these matters involved:
- Evatt‑listed parenting and property disputes, characterised by high‑risk allegations and complex family dynamics
- Property Conciliation Conferences ranging from modest asset pools to high‑value, structurally complex matters
- Complex litigant dynamics, including culturally and linguistically diverse families, high‑conflict parental relationships, and significant domestic and family violence concerns
- Parental capacity issues such as substance misuse, mental health conditions, neurodiversity, and cognitive vulnerabilities
- Children with significant needs, including medical diagnoses, behavioural challenges, mental health conditions, and neurodiversity
Judicial Registrar
Mali served as a Judicial Registrar of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia from 2022 to 2025. In this role, she:
- Presided over Parenting, Property, and Child Support duty lists, managing a docket of more than 200 matters at any given time
- Delivered hundreds of court‑based mediations involving complex parenting and property issues, assisting parties to evaluate the just and equitable provisions of the proposed outcomes, consider best‑interests principles, and determine whether the terms reached are appropriate to be made as an order of the Court
- Presided over high‑risk Evatt matters involving allegations of domestic and family violence, serious risk of harm to children, and parental capacity concerns such as mental health issues and substance misuse
This judicial experience informs her structured and tailored approach to mediations, ensuring that every matter is provided with specialist skill , care and the ability to provide information to parties relating to just and equitable or best interest outcomes.
Advocacy for Children
Mali served for over 14 years as:
- An Independent Children’s Lawyer in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
- A Separate Representative in the Children’s Court
- A Direct Representative for children in the Children’s Court
- She has represented the best interests of highly vulnerable children in a wide range of sensitive and challenging matters, appearing in 60+ trials. This extensive child‑focused background gives her a nuanced understanding of children’s developmental needs, risk factors, and the practical realities of parenting arrangements.
Family Law Duty Solicitor
Across 13 years as a Duty Solicitor in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, Mali:
- Assisted parties to navigate the stress and complexity of the litigation system
- Helped parties negotiate outcomes in parenting, property, and child support matters
- Drafted clear, legally enforceable minutes of agreement to avoid further litigation
- Advocated for litigants in court and assisted in negotiations to resolve matters swiftly
- Developed plain‑language, practical orders that Judges ordered and parties could understand and follow
This experience underpins her ability to support self‑represented parties in mediation with respect, clarity, structure, and empathy.