Meet the Collective
The Mediation Collective is a collaborative practice, where each practitioner works with clients and other professionals to achieve the best outcome possible for the family as a whole. Our collaborative approach allows you to design a settlement tailored to your situation. You’ll be an active part of the process, instead of having a judge make decisions for you. All practitioners are highly experienced FDRPs, nationally accredited mediators, and collaborative coaches who have been working with families and businesses for years.
Bernie Bolger
Master of Laws (LLM); Master Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy (MCAP); Grad Dip. Family Dispute Resolution (FDRP) and Nationally Accredited Mediator (NMAS); Dip. FS (Financial Planning); B.Sc. (Pharm.) (Hons.).
Bernie believes good communication and empathy are key to cutting through all sorts of difficult relationship issues – from family dynamics to separation and divorce. Along with being an experienced family dispute resolution practitioner and business owner, Bernie has post graduate qualifications in Law, Psychotherapy and Financial Planning.
Her combined skills in business and counselling continue to produce real and sustainable results for clients. She is trained in Collaborative Practice and is Vice President of the Board of the Australian Association of Collaborative Professionals. She has been included in the Doyle’s Guide since 2019 as a Leading Family Law Mediator in NSW.
Gloria Hawke
Gloria Hawke BA (Communications), Grad Dip. Family Dispute Resolution (FDRP) and Nationally Accredited Mediator (NMAS)
Gloria is a highly experienced family dispute resolution practitioner and mediator. Her empathy and pragmatism allow her to ensure each person is heard and their needs understood, while reaching realistic and durable agreements that keep disputes out of court. Gloria was rated as a ‘leading family law mediator’ by the Doyle’s Guide, 2019.
Gloria has also worked with a range of businesses including ASX listed companies, Sydney councils, and universities to help resolve workplace disputes. Prior to training as a mediator, Gloria was a senior consultant in a corporate communications firm and worked as a media manager in the not for profit sector.
Valerie Norton
B.A (Sociology), B.Psych (1st class Hons), Grad Dip. Family Dispute Resolution (FDRP), and Nationally Accredited Mediator (NMAS)
Valerie is passionate about resolving conflict in a calm, professional and caring manner and has been working with families and businesses through difficult times for over a decade to reach timely, balanced and thoughtful agreements.
Her combined business experience and study of psychology along with a desire to help people in crisis allows her to understand the complex issues associated with separation, and gives her a unique insight into the personalities and dynamics of the mediation room. Valerie is experienced in navigating separations, where one or both parents are living overseas and sits on the board of Collaborative Professionals NSW.
Bianca Roche-Bolger
BSW, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Nationally Accredited Mediator (NMAS), LEADR Accredited Mediator, Child Consultant
Bianca has been helping families through crisis and change for almost 20 years. She specialises in family dispute resolution, collaborative coaching, child consultation, and mediating complex cases including those involving mental health issues and family violence.
Over her career Bianca has worked with hundreds of families going through separation and divorce, and has a wealth of experience mediating with parents and children experiencing relationship change. She works from an empathetic, relational framework to help clients understand their conflict and grief in the context of systemic theory, relational trauma and neurobiology.
