VADR Events

THURSDAY 29 MAY 2025
JOANNE LAW
AMDRAS CHANGES: WHAT THEY MEAN FOR MEDIATORS

At a VADR CPD webinar on Thursday 29 May, speaker Joanne Law explored the updates to the Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS) and their implications for mediators across our sector. Joanne unpacked the key structural, terminology and process changes. With the 12-month period of transition from NMAS to AMDRAS ending on 30 June, Joanne also looked at what this would mean for training, accreditation and ongoing practice.

Whether you are just starting out as an accredited mediator or are considering where you fit in the Accredited, Advanced and Leading Mediator structure, understanding these reforms is essential. The session also covered how AMDRAS supports practitioner development, aligns with contemporary standards, and has laid the groundwork for expanded recognition for diverse mediation roles.

Those who joined Joanne for this informal but informative session had their questions answered so that, by the end of the hour, they better understood the evolution in Australia's mediator accreditation standards.

About the Speaker

Joanne Law is the Director of Mediation Institute and a nationally accredited mediator (AMDRAS), Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) and conflict resolution educator. With a background in business, process improvement and dispute resolution, Joanne has actively contributed to sector reform on the AMDRAS Board since 2022. Her other Board roles are with Mediators Beyond Borders Oceania, and as co-founder of Interact Support, where she supports FDR interns and the ICDRS Community Mediation Service. She passionately advocates for accessible, high-quality training and champions innovation in online learning and professional support for mediators at all stages of their careers.

 

WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2025
ALEXANDRA SIDOTI
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY

The AFCA addresses complaints relating to insurance, banking and finance, superannuation, and other financial services. AFCA employs a range of dispute resolution methods, including one-on-one discussions, shuttle negotiations, formal conciliation and ombudsman determination, tailored to each individual case.

Regardless of the method used, AFCA places significant emphasis on ensuring that all parties feel heard and understood throughout the process. The organisation strives to provide an accessible and supportive service, allowing parties to engage directly with the ombudsman regarding any questions or concerns they may have.

Senior Ombudsman Alexandra Sidoti handles complaints across both the standard complaint resolution scheme and the Eligible for Compensation Scheme of Last Resort. In collaboration with AFCA colleague Julian Hughes, she presented an overview of the various dispute resolution methods employed by AFCA, highlighting how these approaches effectively achieve fair and equitable outcomes for all parties involved.

About the Speakers

Alexandra Sidoti is a Senior Ombudsman (Investments and Advice) at AFCA. After many years in the conciliation team, Alexandra moved into the decision-making space as an ombudsman in 2020. In her spare time, she runs (together with Michael Mitchell) Object Resolve, an organisation providing dispute resolution (DR) skills training.

Alexandra has a particular interest in dispute resolution practice and processes. She completed her Masters Honours thesis on role and boundaries of advice in conciliation practice at the Financial Ombudsman Service. She has a long history of providing DR training across a range of industries. She also provides one-on-one coaching in core DR skills, particularly negotiation and maintaining boundaries in practice.

Alexandra has personally developed training specifically for decision makers who may wish to have better conversations with parties while respecting legal and ethical boundaries, including procedural fairness, maintaining neutrality, addressing power imbalance, and transparency in negotiating and decision-making outcomes for all parties involved.

Julian Hughes has held multiple roles at AFCA, including Conciliation Team Manager. As Senior Manager (Jurisdiction), he led the unit responsible for making decisions about whether AFCA could consider a complaint. Julian is an AMDRAS-accredited mediator, as well as a non-practising barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. He has been involved, as conciliator or coach, in over 1000 conciliations at AFCA and its predecessor scheme.

 

SATURDAY 12 APRIL 2025
MEDIATION REFRESHER COURSE

Changes to the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS) Approval Standards came into effect from 1 July 2025.
To assist those wishing to apply for national accreditation before that date but who no longer met the Standards, VADR conducted a Mediation Refresher course on Saturday 12 April, including assessment of a mediation according to national accreditation standards for each participant. 

 

THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2025
DR OZ SUSLER
NEURODIVERSITY IN MEDIATION

Mediators are not typically trained in how to deal with neurodiverse or autistic persons in their Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice and may be unaware of how autistic people communicate. How do autistic individuals experience the ADR process and what are the common challenges they encounter? How can ADR practitioners better accommodate autistic individuals in their ADR practice?

Dr Susler's presentation examined the first known qualitative study on the experience of autistic persons in ADR processes, from researchers at La Trobe University Law School.

About the Speaker

Dr Oz Susler has a particular interest in dispute resolution practice and processes. Passionate about teaching ADR skills to law students to equip the next generation of lawyers, she has been teaching various ADR subjects at La Trobe Law School, and has a long history of coaching law students for various national and international ADR competitions. Her recent research focuses on the experience of autistic individuals in ADR.

Dr Susler is an accredited AMDRAS mediator and has a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Prior to joining academia, she practised in commercial law as a solicitor. 

 

WEDNESDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2024
SUSAN HAMILTON-GREEN
THE GIFT OF LOVING KINDNESS

It is inevitable that even as we look forward to the end-of-year holiday season and what it means - a break, the end of another year, and a time for giving, sharing and reflection - we know that to get there, we first have to navigate one of the busiest and most stressful times of the year. Everyone wants their issues dealt with prior to Christmas, to be able to finish the year with some closure and the opportunity for a fresh start. There is an escalation of expectations, pressure to accommodate, and a need to push all boundaries to fit in more and more. 

What can we do to manage this difficult time in a way that keeps us centred and appropriately paced? How can we also assist those we are working with to approach their own challenges with the best mindset to achieve their goals and to make the most of the holiday season?

Susan believes that loving kindness is the gift we can give ourselves, and others - the best type of gift: one that keeps on giving! She discussed what this might look like and how we can all benefit from the giving!

 

TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2024
JODIE GRANT
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN FDR

In a  Zoom presentation on Tuesday 29 October, Jodie Grant spoke on Restorative Practices in Family Dispute Resolution (FDR). Drawing on her wealth of experience in FDR and restorative processes and her background in teaching DR and innovative justice, Jodie discussed her model for bringing restorative principles and processes into FDR practice, highlighting key skills and knowledge domains. She introduced her model of practice to address harm and its impact on family members, highlighted prerequisites for working in this area, and drew on case studies to emphasise and illuminate pivotal points. 

About the Speaker

Jodie Grant has experience in the field of social work and accreditations as an FDRP, a mediator, and a Restorative Engagement Practitioner with the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART). For 20 years, she has worked concurrently in DR practice and training/education/professional development. She continues to provide FDR (parenting and property matters), family mediations, parent-adolescent mediations, elder mediations and workplace mediations. She spent ten years as a Restorative Engagement Facilitator with DART (now the Commonwealth Ombudsman - Defence), providing Facilitated Direct Personal Responses for those who have experienced harm and abuse in institutions. 

Jodie provides bespoke training, as well as supervision and reflective practice, for individuals and organisations, while focusing on her private practice, Shifting Sands, and contracts with many organisations and institutions. 

 

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2024
MIEKE BRANDON AND LINDA KOCHANSKI
RELATIONSHIP MEDIATION IN AUSTRALIA AND IN AOTEAROA, NEW ZEALAND

VADR conducted a CPD Zoom event on Tuesday 24 September featuring speakers Mieke Brandon and Linda Kochanski. Section 12G of the Family Law Act (1975) states that Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners (FDRPs) have an obligation during pre-mediation to explore and assess how each client feels about the forthcoming separation process. Ideally, it is at this point that practitioners reality test to determine whether the relationship can be saved or whether one or both partners believe it  to be beyond repair. 

Relationship mediation is for people experiencing difficulties in their relationship such that one or both are considering separation/divorce. When such a couple comes to mediation, it is often vital for the practitioner conducting an intake interview to explore whether both partners have considered separation and/or taken steps to speak with a lawyer, or whether one or both are unsure. An FDRP can ask the couple if they would be willing to work through their issues in a collaborative way. This may be appropriate for people who potentially wish to remain in intimate ongoing relationships, whether married or not and with or without children. 

In their presentation, Mieke and Linda talked about relationship mediation, which uses a facilitative mediation approach to focus on each partner's hopes and goals for togetherness and autonomy. The process centres on the wellbeing of the relationship, to find ways of relating that are meaningful and respectful, even if the couple ultimately goes their separate ways. It is solution-focused, task-oriented and time-limited, as partners focus on their short- and longer-term goals to improve their relationship. It differs from counselling or therapy in that there is no psychological assessment or revisiting of what did not work between the couple. The focus is on what might work in their collaboration as partners and/or as parents. 

About the Speakers

Linda Kochanski and Mieke Brandon met in 1993 at Relationships Australia Queensland. Linda was there to convince lawyers that dispute resolution (DR) would not cost them their income, while Mieke was a trainer/supervisor who, in 1989, had become a community mediator. Once Linda, too, qualified as a mediator, she and Mieke were unstoppable in developing training courses, role plays, case studies, webinars and master classes. They are very experienced mentors, coaches, supervisors and assessors. Each has presented at conferences within Australia and overseas and both have written many published peer-reviewed articles. 

Linda has been a Director of the Mediator Standards Board (now the AMDRAS Board) since 2016, and Mieke a Director of the Resolution Institute Board since 2018. In 2021, Mieke received an AM for contributions to DR, while in 2024, Linda was awarded an AM for services to law, particularly DR, and to tertiary education. 

 

WEDNESDAY 7 AUGUST 2024
PANEL DISCUSSION
MEDIATION WITH 'TOP SPIN' EQUALS CONCILIATION?

A VADR CPD Zoom event held on Wednesday 7 August featured a panel discussion on the topic Mediation with 'Top Spin' Equals Conciliation? We train to be mediators, yet many of us practise conciliation in statutory regulatory schemes. As a conciliator, you use 'top spin' to set you apart from a mediator. 

The event featured discussion by an expert panel of conciliators with experience in a wide range of statutory schemes, led by Object Resolve co-founders Michael Mitchell and Alexandra Sidoti, presenters of the successful Conciliation in the Shadow of the Law workshop and in-house tailored dispute resolution (DR) trainers. The panel answered participants' questions on such topics as: 

• understanding the differences between mediation and conciliation;
• what skills set you apart as a mediator;
• bringing neutrality into the room while utilising your specialist knowledge; and
• learning new approaches and styles to manage challenging situations. 

About the Speakers

Alexandra Sidoti has a particular interest in DR practice and processes. She completed her Masters' honours thesis on the role and boundaries of advice in conciliation practice at the financial ombudsman service and has a long history of providing DR training across a range of industries. Alexandra also provides one-on-one coaching in core DR skills, particularly negotiation and maintaining boundaries in practice. 

Michael Mitchell has expertise in personal injuries, both physical and psychological, and over 30 years' experience in law and DR. His approach is to focus with sensitivity on the people involved in disputes, promoting facilitative and restorative conversations that lead parties to fair, just and durable outcomes. He completed his Masters thesis on online DR, and remains an active practitioner and trainer across tribunals and conciliation jurisdictions. 

Joe Bucci commenced employment in 2020 with the Workplace Injury Commission (previously ACCS) as a conciliator and, from July 2024, as an arbitration officer. Previously, he was a conciliator and DR officer with the Health Complaints Commission and, prior to that, worked for the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, CCI and QBE/HIH in claims management. He is legally qualified and also has psychology and nursing qualifications. 

Bonnie Miller is recognised as a leader in transformative learning experiences, conflict management and mediation, and professional development training. As Principal Consultant of The Collaborative Group, she is deeply committed to crafting innovative learning solutions that propel organisations forward while nurturing the growth and empowerment of individuals. Bonnie has designed and delivered specialised programs for the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, the NAB and Victoria Police, and has been lead trainer for the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria's National Accredited Mediation Training Program, delivering to various clients including the Magistrates' Court of Victoria. She has also served as a conciliator for the Health Complaints Commissioner, an investigator and conciliator at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and a specialist advisor at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Complaints Commission.

Laine Chew is a Victorian lawyer and nationally accredited mediator with extensive experience in ADR. In more than six years at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and its predecessor, the Financial Ombudsman Service, Laine focused on combining conciliation with effective case management to resolve disputes between consumers and their financial service providers, particularly in banking and investment scams and small business lending issues. In 2022, she stepped into the role of Conciliation Manager at AFCA, where she leads a team of twelve specialist conciliators and oversees the training and internal accreditation process for AFCA's DR specialists. 

As a leader, Laine is particularly interested in integrating trauma-informed practices into ADR, recognising the importance of supporting individuals in vulnerable situations. Laine also volunteers at Fitzroy Legal Service, advocating for access to justice. Prior to her career at AFCA, she practised in Tokyo as a common-law specialist in intellectual property law, before returning to Melbourne in 2016 to focus on equitable legal services.

 

WEDNESDAY 12 JUNE 2024
CINNIE NOBLE
THE CINERGY® MODEL OF CONFLICT COACHING

On 12 June 2024, VADR held an event featuring Cinnie Noble, a pioneer of the specialty known as Conflict Management Coaching, who in 1999 founded the CINERGY® model, based on conflict management coaching and neuroscience principles. Also known as conflict coaching, CINERGY® is a one-on-one process in which a trained coach supports individual clients in strengthening their conflict competence, maximising their ability to manage conflict independently or to participate in mediation and other processes. 

In this presentation, Cinnie shared her research process and findings, and the wide range of applications used by her and other coaches trained in this model. She also discussed examples of the goals clients bring to this coaching specialty, and what specifically distinguishes her model of coaching from mediation. 

About the Speaker

Cinnie Noble is a former lawyer with a Master of Laws in ADR. She is a Chartered Mediator and Professional Certified Coach in Toronto, Canada. She and her team train mediators and others worldwide (including Australia) to use her CINERGY® model. She is co-author (with Leslie Dizgun and Paul Emond) of Mediation Advocacy: Effective Client Representation in Mediation Proceedings, and the author of Family Mediation: A Guide for Lawyers as well as two coaching books. More information on Cinnie can be found at www.cinergycoaching.com. 

 

TUESDAY 21 MAY 2024
DR PETER CONDLIFFE
CHANGES TO NATIONAL ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

Members attended an event featuring Dr Peter Condliffe, who spoke about the upcoming changes to mediator accreditation standards in Australia (AMDRAS).

About the Speaker

Dr Peter Condliffe practises as a barrister, mediator and FDRP. He is Chair of the MSB, having previously served as CEO of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia and Director of Dispute Resolution Centres in the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General. 

Prior to this, Peter was the Chief of Education, Training and Information with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights in Cambodia. He is the founding President of the Victorian Association for Restorative Justice, a member of the ADR Committee of the Victorian Bar, and a VCAT mediator. 

Peter presently teaches at several universities and other organisations, was the initial drafter of mediation courses for the Dispute Resolution Centres of Victoria, the Queensland Department of Justice, the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators and the Victorian Bar, and is the principal instructor in the Victorian Bar's Lawyers Mediation Certificate course. He authored the leading text Conflict Management: A Practical Guide (LexisNexis, 2018), as well as more than 50 articles and monographs. 

 

SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2024
ASTRID GERRITS
RESTORATIVE PRACTICE IN ADR: ONE MEDIATOR'S PERSPECTIVE

Members attended an all-day workshop featuring speaker Astrid Gerrits. Elaborating on a talk presented to the National Mediation Conference and subsequently held in October 2023 for VADR, Astrid conducted a workshop on how she has incorporated restorative practice into her FDR practice for seemingly intractable cases. Restorative Practice in Family Dispute Resolution (RP-FDR) is highly suitable for parents who have been separated for some time, who return to FDR or who seem stuck on issues that may seem minor to the FDRP. 

This innovative approach involving mediation, reflection and a focus on relational healing and repair enables parties to progress more constructively in their mediation journey. The model is much needed in a time where society at large is becoming more polarised and less conversational when caught in disputes. By having clients experience a different way of repairing relationship harm, solutions which seemed impossible can sometimes be reached. 

About the Speaker

Astrid Gerrits grew up in a culturally rich suburb of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, and since 2008 has lived in Broome, on Yawuru country in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. On arrival in WA, she was employed by the First Nations people of Broome and the wider Kimberley. In her roles with the Kimberley Land Council, she has gained an extensive understanding of the importance of culture, family, community and country to indigenous people. 

Astrid's work experience spans many areas, including academic hospital (paediatrics and intensive care), justice (Dutch correctional service, learning and intellectual disabilities, mental health, and separation services/family relationships. For a decade, she has worked with the families of the Kimberley, mostly around conflict and separation, in her varied role as counsellor, FDRP, CIP practitioner and coordinator/supervisor of the Kimberley Family  Relationship Centre. Since being in private practice, she has trained in Emotionally Focussed Therapy and Brainspotting, enhancing her integrative approach to relationship counselling, trauma healing and mediation.

 

WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL 2024
CATHERINE AIRD & SUZANNE KIRTON
RESOLVING BUILDING DISPUTES WITH ADR

A VADR CPD Zoom event on Wednesday 17 April 2024 featured speakers Suzanne Kirton and Cathy Aird, who asked: Why is resolving a building dispute with ADR better than litigation? What strategies are useful in doing so? Attendees heard the answers to these and other questions on this subject from two of the most experienced practitioners in the field, Catherine Aird (Senior Member, VCAT) and Suzanne Kirton (Judge of the County Court in charge of the Building Cases List and VCAT Vice-President). 

About the Speakers

Cathy Aird is now a VCAT Senior Sessional Member, after 17 years as a VCAT Deputy President. As a nationally accredited mediator with extensive experience in ADR, and a strong commitment to assisting parties reach a resolution they can live with, Cathy conducts private mediations specialising in building and construction disputes and retail tenancy disputes (including VCAT proceedings). Her mantra has always been to 'never lose sight of the people behind the litigation'. 

Suzanne Kirton is a Judge of the County Court of Victoria (currently the Judge in charge of the Building Cases List) and a Vice-President of VCAT. She was previously a barrister and accredited mediator, and company solicitor of the Housing Guarantee Fund. She is a Senior Fellow of The University of Melbourne, teaching the Master of Laws subject Residential Construction Law. 

 

MONDAY 25 MARCH 2024
JEFF KATZ
WHEN CLIENTS COMPLAIN ABOUT PRACTITIONER MISCONDUCT (AND HOW TO AVOID IT)

VADR provides an independent complaints process to which many mediators, particularly FDRPs, choose to submit if a client wants to pursue a formal complaint. In this one-hour Zoom presentation, Jeff sought to unpack and demystify the process that unfolds when a formal complaint regarding practitioner conduct is received (thankfully, infrequently), and the range of potential outcomes impacting practitioners. Particular attention was given to reflecting on common themes emerging from complaints received, and how to avoid them. The  presentation was also intended to assist mediators/facilitators working in private organisations or in government who wish to avoid complaints. 

About the Speaker

Jeff Katz is a highly experienced DR professional, who has been practising as a mediator/conciliator in a variety of evidence-based DR interventions for nearly 30 years. Although he works mainly in FDR, Jeff also practises in various commercial arenas, and as a restorative engagement facilitator. His work has encompassed a range of settings, including the community and government sectors, family courts and, for many years, his own private practice. 

Jeff is Chair of VADR's Complaints Sub-Committee. In addition to his foundational legal qualifications and litigation work, Jeff's formal training has included family therapy, counselling, conflict resolution and, unrelated but surprisingly relevant, political science and cultural theory. 

 

MONDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2024
ANNE-MARIE CADE
THE SUPPORTIVE ROLE OF A DIVORCE COACH IN FAMILY MEDIATION

Resolving disputes constructively has been shown to significantly reduce the impact of conflict on children. In this webinar, Anne-Marie discussed the power of divorce coaching in equipping clients for productive family dispute resolution and mediation. She explained how a divorce coach can provide tailored support, guidance and skills development, enabling clients to participate effectively in the mediation process. 

About the Speaker

Anne-Marie Cade is the CEO and founder of online mediation and divorce coaching practice Divorce Right. An FDRP and nationally accredited mediator with a Masters in Family Dispute Resolution and Negotiation, she also has training in conflict coaching, high-conflict divorce, divorce coaching, parenting coordination, brain-based conversation skills, brain-based coaching skills and neurolinguistic programming.

Anne-Marie has been widely recognised for her innovative work. She was the Lexis Nexis Janders Dean Legal Innovation Award winner in 2016, recognised as Thought Leader of the Year in 2017, a finalist for the Women in Law Excellence Award in 2017, and awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to research Parenting Coordination in seven countries. 

 

MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2023
GREG ROONEY
THE HERO MEDIATOR

VADR celebrated its final CPD event of 2023 with an overwhelmingly popular presentation from well-known speaker Greg Rooney, whose presentation on this occasion argued that the ability of a mediator to retain their humanity in the face of parties who have lost theirs in conflict is 99% of the art, science and practice of being a mediator. It is as simple and as profound as that. Our shared humanity is the asset the mediator has to offer parties in dispute. 

This is opposite to the concept that mediators are heroic dispute resolvers who, using their grey hair, life experiences, knowledge of the law, psychology and the social sciences, toolbox of skills, insightful questioning, ability to project empathy, understanding and compassion, and ability to give advice and suggest solutions, will heroically lead the parties to a resolution.

These are mechanical skills and techniques. The ultimate deal is limited by the imagination of the ‘dispute resolver’ mediator. However, where mediators can prioritise their humanity and allow space for something to emerge from the interaction, the end result will often be way beyond the parties’ original positions and expectations. It is a far more expansive approach to the art/science of mediation.

This human-centred model is built on a number of mediator heuristics, including deferring persuasion; deferring solutions; staying in the moment; looking for the adjacent possible; mediating with soft eyes; remaining human to the end; loving the parties; remembering that time is the mediator’s friend; and so on. 

About the Speaker

Greg Rooney is an independent mediator, arbitrator and DR practitioner, having been a practising mediator since 1991. He has mediated more than 1500 disputes in a diverse range of conflicts, and has developed programs in mediation, dispute system design and project alliancing at a number of Australian universities, including the University of Queensland and Southern Cross University. He has sat on several boards of the National Mediation Conference and served a six-year term as a Director of the Mediator Standards Board.

Together with Margaret Ross and Barbara Wilson from the UK, Greg conducted annual mediation retreats in Tuscany (2012-2019), returning in 2023 after a break caused by COVID-19. Greg's next Tuscany retreat, with Margaret Ross, is in September 2025.

 

SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023
CHRISTOPHER BOYLE, ILANA KATZ, JEFF KATZ, ENA SHAW
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY

After a hiatus of three and a half years, VADR conducted a full-day, fully catered professional development day at Daylesford, again at the local Football & Netball Club Rooms. The four featured speakers addressed topical areas of ADR that are helpful for maintaining an understanding of the requirements of the profession. 

He outlined the process undertaken when a complaint is received against a practitioner and the range of potential outcomes. Jeff gave particular attention to identifying common themes emerging from complaints received. 

Jeff Katz
Jeff Katz opened the program with a discussion of complaints - specifically, how to avoid them and what to do if you can't. VADR provides an independent complaints process to which many mediators, particularly FDRPs, choose to submit when clients want to pursue formal complaints. This presentation unpacked and demystified the process undertaken when formal complaints regarding practitioner conduct are received (thankfully infrequently) and the range of potential outcomes impacting practitioners. Particular attention was paid to identifying common themes emerging from complaints and learning from these.

A highly experienced dispute resolution professional, Jeff has practised as a mediator/conciliator in a variety of evidence-based dispute resolution interventions for nearly 30 years. Although he works mainly in Family Dispute Resolution, Jeff also practises in various commercial arenas and as a restorative engagement facilitator. His work has encompassed a range of settings, including the community and government sectors, family courts and, for many years, his own private practice. Jeff is Chair of VADR’s Complaints Sub-Committee.

In addition to his foundational legal qualifications and litigation work, Jeff’s formal training has included family therapy, counselling, conflict resolution and, unrelated but surprisingly relevant, political science and cultural theory.
 
Christopher Boyle
MSB Chair Christopher Boyle gave a particularly pertinent presentation on the proposed changes to practice standards set out in Version 1 of the draft AMDRAS standards  that are intended to replace the NMAS.   

Christopher Boyle was born and educated in Western Australia, and was in private practice as a lawyer for nearly 20 years. His experience of litigation led him to question the nature and value of judicial determination as a method of resolving disputes.

After leaving practice, he directed the organisation providing practical legal training in that State for four years, before spending 20 years as a Registrar of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. In that position, he was both case manager and mediator, conducting some 1500 mediations across the whole breadth of the Court’s jurisdiction, from bitter family squabbles over small estates to disputes over multi-billion-dollar enterprises. Along the way, he also taught law or business courses in three universities.

He has been a director of Mediator Standards Board Limited since 2018 and its Chair since 2021.
 
Ilana Katz
Ilana discussed supervision: what it is, how it can help prevent burnout in the context of the vicarious and cumulative workplace trauma that accompanies mediation work, and the importance of self-care. She also outlined various types of supervision, how each can benefit your work, when to get it and how to pick a supervisor who best suits you. There was a small-group activity to share experiences and a case study was explored.

Ilana Katz is a now-retired psychologist and family therapist who has worked in family law for more than 30 years. She spent 21 years at the Family Court, where she rose to the position of Regional Coordinator of Child Dispute Services for the Southern Region (Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania). As part of her work, Ilana has had experience dealing with high-conflict matters, including family issues such as complex grief, family violence, mental-health issues, substance abuse and child abuse. Ilana has also participated in recruiting, training and supervising family consultants. Since retiring from the Court in 2011, Ilana has worked in collaborative law, which offers an alternative dispute resolution model. 
 
Ena Shaw
As mediators, we are often stuck in trying to move ourselves and our clients away from fixed positions. Louise Evans presents a methodology of how to change our perspectives, master our own behaviour and manage the behaviour of others. In this workshop, using Evans’ Five Chair framework, Ena examined strategies to help ourselves and the parties we work with climb from the pit that has been created. In particular, she discussed the following questions:  

How can we effectively enhance our strategies using the Five Chair framework?
What specific challenges arise when we cannot assist parties to move chairs?
What happens to a mediator who is stuck in a chair of thinking?
What strategies can we implement for ourselves as mediators?
What strategies can we use to assist the disputing parties?

A registered psychologist, registered FDR practitioner and nationally accredited mediator, Ena has extensive experience settling disputes involving interpersonal relationships in areas such as family law, elder mediation and the workplace. As the Family Dispute Resolution Training Manager at Relationships Australia Victoria, Ena conducted an extensive range of mediation programs. She has also carried out training for federal, state and local government bodies in family law, parent-adolescent conflict, workplace disputes, gender-based harassment, elder mediation and neighbourhood disputes. Ena was Chair of the 4th National Mediation Conference (April 1998) and Chair of the Board for the 12th National Mediation Conference (2014). Ena has presented her work at national and international conferences, has taught at VUT, is currently lecturing in mediation at the College of Law and in ADR and Mediation at RMIT, and is on the Domestic Building Disputes Resolution Victoria panel.
 

A panel discussion concluded the day, with Jodie Grant standing in for Christopher Boyle. All participants had the opportunity to ask wide-ranging questions of all panel members in a fascinating final session. 

The speakers were extremely well received by the 50+ attendees, and the excellent catering was much appreciated. The event also offered plenty of opportunities to mix, mingle and network. 

 

THURSDAY 12 OCTOBER 2023
ASTRID GERRITS
THE PLACE OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICE ALONGSIDE FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION

A VADR CPD event conducted via Zoom at 6pm on Thursday 12 October 2023 featured speaker Astrid Gerrits, a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) from Broome, Western Australia. Astrid discussed The Place of Restorative Practice Alongside Family Dispute Resolution. 

Restorative practice has enormous potential to repair harm. In Astrid's opinion, the tool is gold. It is simple, empowering and effective. Family Dispute Resolution is about moving forward. We tend to assess parents' capacity to leave past relationship issues behind. We 'move parents forward' and 'focus on the child', steering clear of the past partner relationship. Astrid has developed an innovative integration of restorative practice and Family Dispute Resolution, with which she has had excellent outcomes. She trained dozens of Western Australian FDRPs and lawyers in this model during the first and only WA Family Relationship Centre training day in Perth in 2018 while in her role as coordinator of Kimberley Family Relationship Centre and regional representative for WA Family Law Pathway Network.

About the Speaker

Astrid grew up in a culturally rich suburb of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and has lived in Broome, on Yawuru Country in the Kimberley region of WA, since 2008. Upon arrival, she was employed by the First Nation people of Broome and the wider Kimberley. In her roles with the Kimberley Land Council, she has gained an extensive understanding of the importance of culture, family, community and country to Indigenous people. Astrid's work experience spans many areas, including:

     • academic hospital (paediatrics and intensive care);
     • justice (Dutch correctional service);
     • learning/intellectual disabilities;
     • mental health; and
     • separation services/family relationships.

For a decade, Astrid worked with families of the Kimberley, mostly around conflict and separation, in her varied role as counsellor, FDRP, CIP practitioner, and coordinator/supervisor of the Kimberley Family Relationship Centre. Since being in private practice, Astrid has trained in Emotionally Focussed Therapy and Brainspotting, enhancing her integrative approach to relationship counselling, trauma healing and meditation. Astrid is considered a compassionate, authentic, culturally agile and holistic professional. Her approach to service delivery has always been focussed on accommodating client needs in their specific context, showing innovation and integrity. 

 

WEDNESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2023
RACHEL DIXON
PROACTIVE AND INFORMAL RELEASE OF INFORMATION IN THE VICTORIAN PUBLIC SECTOR

This VADR CPD event was conducted via Zoom at 6pm on Wednesday 27 September 2023. The speaker was the newly appointed Acting Victorian Information Commissioner at the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC), Rachel Dixon. 

The OVIC recently released a thought-provoking discussion paper entitled Proactive and Informal Release of Information in the Victorian Public Sector. Using this discussion paper, Rachel discussed how OVIC views the active and informal release of information as a basis for reducing the volume of disputes and recourse to VCAT, as well as examining the role mediation plays in OVIC's Freedom of Information and privacy work overall. 

Rachel has delivered many keynote addresses on technology, privacy, and artificial intelligence and is particularly interested in the impacts of culture upon technology and vice versa.

The event carried one hour of CPD. 

About the Speaker

Prior to her appointment with the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) in August 2023, Rachel served from November 2017 as the Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner, responsible for the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), including the Victorian Protective Data Security Standards.

In former lives, Rachel headed the Australian Government’s digital identity initiative (as Head of Identity at the Digital Transformation Office) and oversaw consolidation of 17 legacy data stores into a new big data platform (as Executive Program Manager for Business Transformation at Suncorp). For more than five years, she developed advanced media and advertising platforms as COO at Viocorp. Prior to that she was a senior executive at the Seattle-based the Platform for Media, delivering and supporting major online and mobile platforms for Telstra and News Corporation; General Manager at Massive Interactive leading a development and design team on state-of-the art systems for the Airbus A380, among other projects; a Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications; Deputy Chair at Choice (the Australian Consumers Association); and Director of several small software companies. 

In 1998 she co-founded telecommunications company FIBRE, servicing the Motion Picture Post Production and VFX industry. She is a past Director and Chair of several other media, software and telecommunications companies, a former senior executive with Film Australia and Film Victoria, and producer or executive producer on several hundred film and television projects, many winners of major awards.

 

MONDAY 31 JULY 2023
PROFESSOR ALYSOUN BOYLE & PROFESSOR LOLA AKIN OJELABI
PLAYING DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF REALITY TESTING

A VADR CPD Zoom event was held at 6pm on Monday 31 July 2023. The evening featured Professor Alysoun Boyle and Professor Lola Akin Ojelabi speaking on Playing Devil's Advocate: The double-edged sword of reality testing. 

Professors Boyle and Akin Ojelabi have recently completed an extensive MSB-funded study of the use of reality testing in the context of mediation in Australia. Although their research found that most Australian mediators do use reality testing in their mediations, there are differences in their understanding of what 'reality testing' itself means, when it is used, how it is used, and the effects it has on the parties, on the process and on the role of the mediator. 

The focus of Professors Boyle and Akin Ojelabi's presentation was on the positive and negative effects that mediators and conciliators noted in their responses to the researchers. They discussed the significant ethical implications of these effects, as well as what some reported negative effects might mean for mediator self-care. 

This event was exceptionally well-received and attracted a very large audience. 

 

WEDNESDAY 5 JULY 2023
ROB JAGGER
HOW TO GROW YOUR MEDIATION BUSINESS

A VADR CPD Zoom event was held at 6pm on Wednesday 5 July. The featured speaker was Rob Jagger, who discussed 'How to Grow your Mediation Business'. 

Many people go into the mediation business highly motivated and prepared to work very hard.  However, running a business and building a business are two separate sets of skills, and sometimes it seems impossible to bring in new clients. In this presentation, Rob discussed how to refocus that initial energy, develop a logical order for your business objectives and build a platform for growth.

Rob Jagger is a Business Coach and Business Exit Strategist at Outcomes Business Group, with more than 25 years' broad experience across the commercial, manufacturing, financial administration and supply-chain sectors. He has an MBA(E) from the Australian Graduate School of Management and is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor from the Exit Planning Institute (Chicago). Rob is passionate about helping business owners seek out new opportunities, grow their business and improve their work-life balance. 

 

THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2023
NADIA STOJANOVA
REGULATING TO PREVENT WORKPLACE BULLYING: OPTIONS FOR REFORM

A VADR CPD Zoom event was held at 6pm on Thursday 1 June. The speaker, barrister Nadia Stojanova, presented on Regulating to Prevent Workplace Bullying: Options for Reform, the topic of the PhD thesis she is currently completing.

Nadia discussed how legal regulation can more effectively be used to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of workplace bullying in Australia. Her talk included consideration of potential recommendations for law reform.

About the Speaker

Nadia Stojanova is a barrister at the Victorian Bar and recommended junior counsel in workplace law by Doyles Guide. She runs a busy practice, where she is regularly briefed in employment law, industrial relations and regulatory law. Nadia is also an Honorary Senior Fellow in Law and a lecturer at The University of Melbourne as well as an Accredited Advocacy Instructor with the Australian Advocacy Institute. She is currently completing her PhD on the topic she will be discussing at this event.

 

TUESDAY 2 MAY 2023
SUSAN HAMILTON-GREEN
CHANGES TO THE FAMILY LAW ACT

At a VADR CPD Zoom event at 6pm on Thursday 27 April 2023, Susan Hamilton-Green spoke on the topic of Changes to the Family Law Act.  

Susan discussed the new provisions that are to be introduced into the Family Law Act, the changes these provisions will make to the current legislation, the likely impact of the changes and what this will mean for FDR practitioners, and what is anticipated in the second round of changes being foreshadowed by the Attorney-General. 

This event was exceptionally well attended. 

About the Speaker

Susan Hamilton-Green is a Melbourne-based family lawyer, mediator, researcher and teacher. She has been a specialist in Family Law (LIV) since 1990, and is very experienced in parenting and financial matters. As an ICL, Susan has also been a specialist in Mediation (LIV) since 1993 and a registered FDR practitioner. She is a trainer, arbitrator and conflict coach, and provides mediation training, coaching and supervision.

Susan undertakes private mediation, as well as FDR conferences through the VLA. She is also a lecturer for the College of Law, one of the principals of InTandem Legal Services and the principal of Creative Family Law Solutions.

 

TUESDAY 21 MARCH 2023
DAVID MOORE
CORE SKILLS AND NEW HORIZONS FOR RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

On Tuesday 21 March 2023, an exceptionally well attended VADR CPD Zoom event featured speaker Dr David Moore, co-author (with Dr Alikki Vernon) of a book scheduled for publication by Routledge in the second half of 2023, Setting Relations Rights: Core Skills and New Horizons for Restorative Practices.  

David discussed how restorative processes can help to establish, maintain and repair relationships and to neutralise conflict associated with negative relationships. He also examined how restorative justice and restorative practices have evolved, offered a practical theory of why restorative processes are effective, and considered their broader applications and potential as well as factors constraining reform. 

David also examined the foundational skills of diagnosing, defining, preparing, questioning, negotiating and reflecting that facilitators use to help transform conflict into cooperation, as well as discussing the politics of reform: how the systematic use of restorative processes can help drive a virtuous circle of reform in which decision-making processes increase trust in decision-making systems, enabling "democratic mending" of institutions and a "slow cascade of nonviolence" in communities. 

About the Speaker

David Moore is a Melbourne-based independent consultant who supports individuals to communicate constructively and organisations to change adaptively. He is the current President of the Australian Association for Restorative Justice.

David’s early restorative work inspired David Williamson’s Jack Manning Trilogy of plays: Face to Face, A Conversation and Charitable Intent (1999-2001) and Michael Rymer’s award-winning 2011 film adaptation of Face to Face. David also worked with Sydney-based Primed Change Consulting to manage adaptive change across government, community, and corporate-sector organisations. In recent years, he has been a Principal Consultant to Australia’s Defence Abuse Response Taskforce and its successor program with the Commonwealth Ombudsman, as well as the National Redress Scheme, the Victoria Police Restorative Engagement and Redress Scheme, and comparable Commonwealth programs dealing with elite sports and the Stolen Generations.

 

MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2022
SEAN COLEY
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES AS ADR

The evening featured a fascinating and very well-received presentation by Sean Coley, who spoke on the concept of Parliamentary Committees as ADR.

At our previous VADR CPD event, in October 2022, Murray Bickerdike and Zandy Fell considered the application of the mediator skill set to workplace situations that had perhaps not previously been thought of as scenarios where mediation techniques and concepts may be useful in achieving a positive outcome.

Sean Coley's talk gave us an in-depth look into an even more unorthodox environment for mediation - the parliamentary committee room. In this situation, committee members from various political parties must find some way to reach a consensus that will at the very least create a cooperative working relationship and, hopefully, will allow useful progress to be made in regard to the matters under consideration.

Sean drew on his extensive experience working for parliamentary committees in the Victorian Parliament to explore how ADR methods can be used under such circumstances to seek and achieve bipartisan agreement from MPs representing opposing political parties. Topics covered included the role of parliamentary committees and inquiries as a means of contributing to public policy and legislative change; when politicians from different political persuasions agree (and when they don’t); and what role ADR can play in bringing about consensus.

About the Speaker

From 2010 to 2012, Sean was parliamentary adviser to the Speaker of the Victorian Parliament. He has also been a ministerial adviser in New Zealand and has worked in policy roles in the transport, health and tourism fields in both Australia and New Zealand. Sean has a Master’s degree in international political economics, and assisted the United Nations Development Program in Fiji (2015) and Tonga (2018) as part of the Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships Program, working with the Fijian and Tongan parliaments in undertaking research-based reports and public hearings. He has also held a number of positions managing other parliamentary committees and their research programs.

For the past four years, Sean has been Executive Officer for the Integrity and Oversight Committee with the Victorian Parliament. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the performance of four Victorian integrity agencies: the Victorian Ombudsman, the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC), the Victorian Inspectorate and the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC). Sean has been an accredited mediator and a member of VADR since 2018. 

 

THURSDAY 20 OCTOBER 2022
MURRAY BICKERDIKE & ZANDY FELL
USING THE MEDIATOR SKILL SET TO RESOLVE WORKPLACE CONFLICT

At 6pm on Thursday 20 October 2022, a VADR CPD Zoom event was held. The presentation was made by Murray Bickerdike and Zandy Fell, whose topic for discussion was Using the Mediator Skill Set to Give Clients a Broader Set of Options to Resolve Workplace Conflict. 

Murray and Zandy explored: 

• using the transferable skills of a mediator to assist with broader-based options in the workplace (including group-facilitated discussions, team-culture reviews and conflict coaching); 
• the similarities and differences between traditional mediation and other workplace conflict-resolution options (in relation to the role of the facilitator, preparation with the parties in conflict, frameworks used, and so on); and 
• case studies illustrating examples of supporting teams in conflict by offering broader options for conflict resolution. 

About the Speakers

Murray Bickerdike
Murray has more than 30 years' experience in workplace conflict resolution as a mediator, coach and investigator and through facilitating culture-improvement processes. He has assisted organisations to resolve conflict between staff at all levels, reset working relationships, and improve the culture and interaction within and between groups. 

Zandy Fell
Zandy is a workplace conflict resolution practitioner. Her passion is supporting others to prepare for and participate in difficult conversations. She is an experienced conflict coach, restorative facilitator and workplace investigator. Zandy supports workplaces through the 'tough stuff' by problem solving through strategy and cultural reviews.

 

THURSDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2022
ELIZABETH ROSA & KATELYN BETTI
WHAT CAN WORKPLACE MEDIATORS LEARN FROM THE PRACTICE OF FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION?

At 6pm on Thursday 29 September, a sizeable group joined our Zoom CPD presentation featuring Elizabeth Rosa interviewing Katelyn Betti on the question What can Workplace Mediators Learn from the Practice of Family Dispute Resolution?

For a long time, workplace mediator Elizabeth Rosa had been fascinated by the similarities between workplace mediation and family mediation and whether the skills used by FDRPs are additional to those in the toolkit of workplace mediators. In this presentation, Elizabeth interviewed FDRP/psychologist Katelyn Betti about how some of the key skills used by FDRPs can cross over into workplace mediation to manage the issues of motivation, vulnerability and capacity.

About the Speakers

Katelyn Betti
Katelyn is the Director of Family Compass, an accredited FDRP and a registered psychologist. She has more than 30 years' experience working as an FDRP and in a crisis-intervention counselling service, as well as training in working with people impacted by trauma, high conflict and workplace stress (including workplace-based peer-support models TRiM and STRaW). Katelyn provides supervision for FDRPs in the private sector and offers development training for professionals, including mediators, who want to develop their ability to respond to high-conflict and defensive behaviours.

Elizabeth Rosa
Elizabeth is the Principal of Resolve-at-Work and a nationally accredited mediator. Her background is as a lawyer, practising in insurance litigation, workers compensation and employment law. She currently lectures at the College of Law in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution and has previously lectured at the University of NSW in Resolving Civil Disputes. Elizabeth has conducted numerous mediations and facilitations for major Australian corporates, hospitals, universities, schools, government departments and councils. She runs professional development workshops for mediators throughout Australia and New Zealand.

 

WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST 2022
MEGAN PHILPOT, MICHAEL HEFFERNAN & SARAH JOSEPH
THE NEW CONCILIATION FUNCTION OF THE VICTORIAN OMBUDSMAN

At a VADR CPD Zoom event at 6pm on Wednesday 31 August, Victoria's Deputy Ombudsman, Megan Philpot, together with colleagues Michael Heffernan and Sarah Joseph, spoke on The New Conciliation Function of the Victorian Ombudsman.

The panel discussed the Victorian Ombudsman’s statutory conciliation function, focussing on Ombudsman conciliation as a way to ‘cut to the chase’ by informally and flexibly resolving statutory complaints. The speakers also reflected on the experience of complainants and respondent agencies with Ombudsman conciliation to date.

About the Speakers

Victorian Deputy Ombudsman Megan Philpot has spent more than 20 years assisting commissions of inquiry, doing voluntary legal work and leading major investigations. Michael Heffernan, Principal Officer, ADR, has 10 years’ experience resolving disputes for various independent statutory bodies, while Senior ADR Officer Sarah Joseph is an accredited mediator and experienced conciliator.

 

TUESDAY 9 AUGUST 2022
RICHARD CLANCY
ONLINE PROCEEDINGS FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION AT THE FAIR WORK COMMISSION

At a VADR CPD presentation at 6pm on Tuesday 9 August 2022, Deputy President Richard Clancy from the Fair Work Commission spoke about Online Proceedings for Dispute Resolution at the Fair Work Commission: Reflections on current experience and future opportunities.

COVID-19 led to unprecedented changes in the way the Fair Work Commission conducts its proceedings. It has impacted all stages of the Commission's processes, changing how it hears matters, conciliates and administers cases. This presentation reflected on how the Commission has been delivering online hearings and conciliation conferences (online proceedings); shared feedback from users about their experiences with online proceedings; and provided an overview of the development of a framework for how the Commission might utilise online proceedings into the future.

About the Speaker

Deputy President Richard Clancy commenced his appointment at the Fair Work Commission on 3 February 2016 and has been the Commission's Regional Coordinator for Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania since July 2021, having previously served as National Practice Leader for both Unfair Dismissals and Anti-Bullying.

Richard Clancy was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor on 1 April 1996, practised in industrial and employment law at the Victorian Bar (2001-2006) and has worked in various employee relations and human resources roles in the private sector. Immediately prior to his appointment to the Commission, he was Director of Workplace Relations at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 

WEDNESDAY 20 JULY 2022
PROFESSOR MANJULA DATTA O'CONNOR
DAUGHTERS OF DURGA: DOWRIES, GENDER VIOLENCE AND FAMILY IN AUSTRALIA

At a VADR Zoom event at 5pm on Wednesday 20 July, Professor Manjula O'Connor spoke about domestic violence in South Asian communities in Australia. In both her research and her extensive clinical work as a psychiatrist in private practice, Professor O’Connor has long been interested in the problems faced by South Asian women dealing with domestic violence in Australia and has recently published a fascinating book on the subject, Daughters of Durga: Dowries, gender violence and family in Australia.

In both her research and her extensive clinical work as a psychiatrist in private practice, Professor O’Connor has long been interested in the problems faced by South Asian women dealing with domestic violence in Australia and has recently published a fascinating book on the subject, Daughters of Durga: Dowries, gender violence and family in Australia.

 In this presentation, Manjula explained how she came to be involved in this field and discussed key differences between mainstream and South Asian Australian women, including how a mediator can identify the red flags of abuse; barriers preventing South Asian women from leaving abusive relationships; how to best develop a protection plan for South Asian women leaving domestic violence; and what services are most helpful to them. She also talked about how Victorian legislation actually contributed to dowry abuse and how, thanks to a campaign she led, the law was eventually changed. 

In response to the keen interest in her talk, Professor O'Connor was extremely generous with her time, continuing to answer questions for more than half an hour beyond the scheduled 6pm finish. 

About the Speaker

 Professor Manjula Datta O’Connor is a psychiatrist in private practice who has both a clinical and a research interest in migrant women’s mental health, family violence and complex trauma, and trauma therapy. She co-founded the Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health and successfully led the dowry abuse campaign in Australia that culminated in law change in Victoria. She is also active in translating research for communities via public education campaigns and in ensuring that communities understand the nature and role of sexual and domestic abuse in common mental health disorders and in suicide prevention.

Dr Manjula O'Connor is Hon. Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales. She chairs the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Family Violence Psychiatry Network and is also a member of the RANZCP's CPD Committee and its Journals Committee. Manjula is a reviewer of academic journals and a published author. She is an invited expert on a number of committees, and informs public debate around the safety of migrant women.

Note:  Members can purchase Professor O'Connor's new book, Daughters of Durga: Dowries, gender violence and family in Australia, at a 25% discount through VADR. Email admin@vadr.asn.au. 

 

THURSDAY 23 JUNE 2022
GREG ROONEY
I AM A SIMPLE MEDIATOR

On Thursday, 23 June, Greg Rooney spoke at a VADR CPD Zoom event to a large audience. The presentation followed on from a short article Greg wrote recently for Mediate.com, entitled The Art of the Simple in Mediation. The article can be found at https://www.mediate.com/the-art-of-the-simple-in-mediation/. Greg explained what he means as follows: 

I have no idea what I will do when I go to mediate a matter. After 30 years of practice, the only thing I know is that the parties are stuck. I don’t have a toolbox of skills, insightful questions, or any mediation theory that I bring to the room. I have no desire to change people, to teach cooperation or to understand their emotions. I don’t look for patterns, create hypotheses and try to predict what will happen. I’m no hero. I don’t seek to help, find a solution or solve the parties’ problem. I am a blank canvas. I have no answers. The only thing I bring to the mediation is the following question: “What is going on here?”

About the Speaker

Greg has been a practising mediator in Australia since 1991. He has mediated more than 1500 disputes in a diverse range of conflicts, including multi-party disputes involving government institutions, commercial and industrial disputes, agricultural disputes, franchise disputes, matrimonial disputes and disputes involving conflict in the workplace.

Greg has developed programs in mediation, dispute system design and project alliancing at a number of Australian universities, including the University of Queensland and Southern Cross University. He has sat on several boards of the National Mediation Conference and served a six-year term as a Director of the Mediator Standards Board. Together with Margaret Ross and Barbara Wilson from the UK, Greg has conducted eight annual mediation retreats in Tuscany, Italy (2012-2019). The trio hopes to return to Tuscany in 2023.

 

TUESDAY 31 MAY 2022
DR DAVID MOORE
SETTING RELATIONSHIPS RIGHT

At 6pm on Tuesday 31 May, Dr David Moore was the speaker at a VADR CPD Zoom event on the topic Setting Relationships Right.

Group conferences are the best known of the restorative justice processes. The facilitation techniques employed can be used in a wide range of situations, providing a mechanism for transforming conflict into cooperation in the wake of single incidents of harm, incidents 'with a history', general issues of concern, or the experience of abuse in an institutional setting. This session provided a basic overview of the practical theory, explaining different process forms and core skills that enable a group conferencing facilitator to work with people to reset their relationships onto a more productive track.

A Melbourne-based consultant and current president of the Australian Association for Restorative Justice, Dr Moore has taught in politics, history, law, and peace & conflict studies at various Australian universities. He coordinated Charles Sturt University’s inaugural Justice Studies program and was involved in international reforms using the group conferencing process in justice, as well as restorative practices in education and other workplaces.

David worked in the Office of the Queensland Premier & Cabinet, before co-founding Transformative Justice Australia (TJA), and training restorative facilitators around Australia, North America and Europe. This work inspired David Williamson's Jack Manning Trilogy of plays (1999-2001) and Michael Rymer’s award-winning film adaptation of Face to Face (2011). David has also worked with Sydney-based Primed Change Consulting, and in recent years, has been a Principal Consultant to Australia’s Defence Abuse Response Taskforce and the various redress schemes it has inspired.

David's presentation gave participants a taste of his three-day workshop on this topic. The workshop, which David runs together with Dr Alikki Vernon, will be held from 8 June to 10 June and again from 26 October to 28 October.

 

TUESDAY 3 MAY 2022
PROFESSOR BARUCH BUSH
TRANSFORMATIVE MEDIATION

At the VADR CPD Zoom event at 12 noon (AET) on Tuesday 3 May 2022, Professor Baruch Bush spoke on the value of client empowerment - and human agency in general - in transformative mediation. Professor Bush's presentation attracted a record number of registrants and was particularly well received.

Professor Bush is one of the most distinguished mediation academics and practitioners in the world. Several VADR members had the privilege of studying transformative mediation as part of a Diploma or Masters in Mediation/Law in the early 2000s. We feel incredibly fortunate that Zoom has enabled us to hear this presentation from New York.

One of the originators of the 'transformative approach' to mediation, as explained in his best-selling book The Promise of Mediation (1994, 2nd ed. 2005), co-authored with Dr Joseph Folger, Professor Bush is the Raines Distinguished Professor of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Maurice A. Deane School of Law, at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. He is also a co-Founder and Board Member, Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation.  

 

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2022
ANNE-MARIE CADE
PARENTING COORDINATION

At this online CPD event, Anne-Marie Cade spoke on the topic of 'Parenting Coordination'. Parenting Coordination is a post-divorce dispute resolution mechanism focused on the children, whereby a Parenting Coordinator assists parents to implement the parenting orders and reduce interparental conflict. Studies have shown that when parents are able to work with a Parenting Coordinator and learn how to develop the skills to resolve their disputes constructively, the adverse impact of conflict on children is significantly reduced.

Anne-Marie Cade is CEO and founder of Divorce Right. An FDRP and a nationally accredited mediator with a Masters degree in Family Dispute Resolution and Negotiation, she has been recognised for her innovative work, being awarded the Lexis Nexis Janders Dean Legal Innovation award in 2016 and recognised as Thought Leader of the Year in 2017. She was also a finalist for the 2017 Women in Law Excellence award and was awarded a Churchill fellowship in 2020 to research Parenting Coordination in seven countries.

 

THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2021
SUSAN HAMILTON-GREEN
MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING

Every practitioner in dispute resolution, conflict management or mediation is aiming to assist those with whom they are working to achieve a thus-far unattainable goal. Research shows that it is not so much the techniques used that make the difference in achieving success but, rather, the mindset and attributes of the practitioner. Motivational Interviewing provides some wonderful insights into how to cultivate this mindset and take your work to a higher level. Susan's presentation explored motivational interviewing and how it can be used to achieve better results in mediation.

Susan Hamilton-Green is a very experienced mediator, researcher and teacher who is also an excellent speaker. She is a family lawyer and a specialist in Family Law (LIV) since 1990. Experienced in parenting and financial matters, and as an ICL, Susan has also been a specialist in Mediation (LIV) since 1993 and a registered FDR practitioner. She is a trained arbitrator and conflict coach, and provides mediation training, coaching and supervision. Susan undertakes private mediation, and FDR conferences through VLA. She is also a lecturer for the College of Law, one of the principals of InTandem Legal Services, and the principal of Creative Family Law Solutions.

 

THURSDAY 28 OCTOBER 2021
JUDI JONES & DHAMENDRA UNKA
TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY OMBUDSMAN

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) is the highest-volume alternative dispute resolution body in Australia, handling upwards of 135,000 complaints each year. This situation presents both challenges and opportunities to innovate.

Like most ombudsman operations, the TIO is changing the way it engages with complaints and the manner in which it delivers a relevant and modern service. This includes implementing a range of innovations and approaches to dispute resolution practice, modernising its technology, and harnessing the power of its people for the benefit of consumers and members.

The organisation's mission is to effectively provide fair, independent and accessible dispute resolution services and to improve outcomes for both consumers and members. At this CPD event, Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Judi Jones and Lead Investigator Dhamendra Unka discussed the operations of the TIO and the changes that have been undertaken over recent years to better meet its aims and targets.

Judi Jones became Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in March 2016, a time when, after five years of decline, phone and internet complaints began increasing significantly across Australia. Previously, Judi was Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner in New Zealand for 14 years. She has also held positions with NZ's Advertising Standards Complaints Board and Appeals Board, Massey University's Dispute Resolution Centre and the electricity industry's Security and Reliability Council, and was Chair of Consumer NZ.

Dhamendra Unka is a Lead Investigator with the TIO. He works directly with the TIO's front-line dispute resolution officers, leading a team, and has a wealth of dispute resolution experience, having worked in three different ombudsman/EDR schemes and private legal practice across Australia and New Zealand. Dhamendra has a passion for collaborating with people, unlocking potential, and managing improvement and change.

 

TUESDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2021
NATALIE ASHDOWN
MEDIATION AND COACHING: A COMPARISON

At a VADR Zoom event at 6pm on Tuesday 14 September, Natalie Ashdown spoke on "Mediation and Coaching: A Comparison".

Until recently, when Natalie was asked by her corporate clients to conduct mediation in the workplace, she declined the work. An executive coach and facilitator, she was not formally trained in professional mediation techniques, so she felt ethically uncomfortable about pursuing the work. However, these mediation requests encouraged her to pursue further learning about mediation practices.

Today, as a nationally accredited mediator. Natalie can see a clear delineation between workplace coaching and mediation practices. In this presentation, she explored the boundaries where coaching ends and mediation starts, as well as the similarities and differences between coaching and mediation techniques.

Natalie is CEO of The Open Door Coaching Group and has broad experience working across the Australian Public Service. Currently enrolled for a doctorate, she holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing from RMIT, an MBA from the University of Melbourne, a Diploma of Workplace and Business Coaching, a Graduate Diploma of Management, and Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training. Natalie is also a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming, a nationally accredited mediator and author of Bring Out Their Best: Inspiring a Coaching Culture in Your Workplace.

 

MONDAY 23 AUGUST 2021
JOHN CLEARY
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT FOR ONE

In 2008, working within Relationships Australia Queensland (RAQ), John Cleary developed a new form of conflict resolution which he called FDR-4-1. It was designed to assist solo parties whose mediations, for a variety of reasons, could not proceed to completion and who needed assistance in how best to handle their family breakdown. FDR-4-1 was piloted within RAQ, and evaluated by Deborah Macfarlane as a successful method of supporting clients in this predicament. 

Since then, John continued to use FDR-4-1 in his private practice, and over the years conducted a number of training sessions in Queensland and Victoria. Today, in semi-retirement and recognising that the method has wider application, he has renamed the technique Conflict Management for One. In this presentation, he discussed how Conflict Management for One can be applied to the many situations where mediation is unable to assist parties in conflict to resolve their dispute together. 

John has been sailing his frail craft in the sea of conflict for three decades now. Like any sailor, he has learned much from those experiences that improved his proficiency and probably much more from the experiences that from time to time upset his boat and threatened to drown him. John has mediated in family separations and small workplace disputes since 1996. Today, he trains mediators in Conflict Management for One, as well as clinically supervising and consulting on problem management.

John's talk was preceded by a brief outline by Deborah of the evaluation she conducted in 2012. 

 

MONDAY, 2 AUGUST 2021
JOHN HARDIE
NEGOTIATING AND MEDIATING INSURANCE CLAIMS AT A TIME OF DISASTER: NEW ZEALAND AFTER CHRISTCHURCH

The 2011 earthquake in Christchurch generated some half a million insurance claims. As is often the case after disasters, many of those claims remain unresolved ten years later. At a VADR CPD Zoom event at 6pm on Monday 2 August, John discussed a significant step being undertaken in New Zealand to address the injustices of this situation. 

The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service (GCCRS), a major Crown initiative that provides homeowners with free independent support to resolve outstanding insurance claims stemming from the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes, is part of a package developed in response to a 2018 report to the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission (EQC). 

John Hardie's role is to support the dispute resolution part of the service (the Internal Dispute Resolution Service), which his presentation explored in more detail. He also offered an overview of the situation reached by 2019, what has been achieved since, and what the future holds for conflicts stemming from natural disasters. 

John lives in Christchurch, where he has been a practising barrister for over 20 years, much of his work in the fields of environmental and civil law. A fellow of Resolution Institute and a Member of AMINZ, John has been undertaking mediation work for the NZ government since 2002 and is on the AMINZ EQC and Environmental panels. A member of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority Compensation Panel since 2013, he is also legal adviser to the GCCRS. 

 

THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2021
PROFESSOR JOHN McMILLAN
REFLECTIONS FROM A CAREER IN GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT

This CPD Zoom event held at 6pm (AET) on Thursday 22 July 2021 featured Professor John McMillan, who spoke on the topic "Reflections from a Career in Government Oversight''. In his presentation, John shared his thoughts on the qualities of the Australian government oversight framework, the challenges he has faced in complaint investigations, and the lessons he has learnt to achieve results and steer clear of controversy.  

Government oversight bodies tackle two key societal concerns – the accountability and integrity of government agencies, and the resolution of complaints from the community against those agencies. An extensive oversight framework now operates in Australia through the work of numerous ombudsmen, auditors-general, inspectors-general, anti-corruption agencies, information commissioners and human rights bodies. Together they handle tens of thousands of complaints annually. Their reports have instigated far-reaching legislative, procedural and cultural changes. They have also stirred controversy and occasional claims of bias and unbalanced investigation.

This form of ADR began in Australia mostly in the late 1970s, just before the first attempts at mediation. Professor McMillan has had a long career in a variety of oversight roles and has worked in this setting throughout its evolution. He was initially a public law academic at the Australian National University and co-authored a leading student text, Control of Government Action. He subsequently held the statutory positions of Commonwealth Ombudsman (2003-10), Integrity Commissioner (Acting) for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (2007), Australian Information Commissioner (2010-15), Acting NSW Ombudsman (2015-17), member of the Australian Copyright Tribunal (2015-18) and member of the Administrative Review Council (2003-14). 

 

THURSDAY, 24 JUNE 2021
PROFESSOR DALE BAGSHAW
ELDER MEDIATION: EMPOWERING ELDERS IN AN AGEIST SOCIETY

On Thursday 24 June 2021, Professor Dale Bagshaw presented on Elder Mediation: Empowering Elders in an Ageist Society. She provided an overview of ageism and its effects on older people; the impact of COVID-19 on older people; elder mediation and how it differs from other forms of mediation, including the special knowledge, values and skills required, and the issues that typically present; the development of screening tools for elder abuse; EMIN’s Code of Ethics and Safeguarding Older Adults Guidelines for Elder Mediators; EMIN and EMAN elder mediator certification requirements; and elder mediation training opportunities. Dale also discussed how she sees elder mediation developing as a field in the future.

Dale is the founder and Chair of the Elder Mediation Australasian Network (EMAN), a Board member of the Elder Mediation International Network (EMIN) and an EMIN-certified elder mediator (Advanced). She co-convened EMIN’s 6th World Summit on Elder Mediation in 2013, and has delivered many elder mediation training programs in Australia and NZ. Dale led the team that wrote the first State plan for the prevention of elder abuse in South Australia, is a member of the SA Safeguarding the Rights of Older Adults Steering Committee, and has received two international and two national awards for her contributions to the advancement of mediation.

 

THURSDAY, 29 APRIL 2021
SUSAN CIBAU & SALLY ZOVAK
OPERATIONALISING AN ADR SERVICE IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY:
THE RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICE

In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced a State of Emergency and a moratorium on rental increases and evictions. The Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Service was a response to the anticipated surge in disputes regarding residential rental arrears and requests for rental reductions.

At a one-hour Zoom event on Thursday 29 April, Susan Cibau and Sally Zovak discussed the Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Service, the practical and operational steps that were taken to design, implement and deliver the service, and the lessons learned during its operation. 

Susan Cibau is the Senior Manager of the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria. She is an experienced lawyer and an accredited mediator who has managed dispute resolution programs at Legal Aid Queensland, the Federal Circuit Court and the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service. During the COVID-19 State of Emergency, she also managed the Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Service. 

Sally Zovak is the Quality Assurance Manager at Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria. She was on the steering committee for the establishment of the Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Service during COVID-19, and contributed to the design, delivery and implementation of the program and the training and management of the conciliator panel. 

 

TUESDAY, 20 APRIL 2021
DR KUDZAI KANHUTU
NEGOTIATING AND DECISION-MAKING IN A TIME OF CRISIS

Infectious diseases specialist Dr Kudzai Kanhutu was one of the doctors at the Royal Melbourne Hospital involved in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria last year, assisting in the development of a virtual hospital to deliver home-based care to the state's rising tide of COVID-19 patients. In this crisis, decisions had to be negotiated and made quickly to ensure the best possible outcome for both patient and community, a situation Kudzai described at the time as controlled chaos.

Although this environment is unknown to most ADR professionals, the need to negotiate and make decisions, often in a time of crisis, is familiar territory. In this one-hour interactive Zoom presentation, Kudzai discussed how these negotiations and decisions unfolded. 

Kudzai's experience and wide range of interests made her a thought-provoking and entertaining speaker, whom some participants had seen already on ABC TV's The Drum. 

 

MONDAY, 29 MARCH 2021
LINDA KOCHANSKI
COMMUNICATING ONLINE AS A MEDIATOR: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE 'YOU'RE ON MUTE'

At a one-hour VADR Zoom event on Monday 29 March, Linda Kochanski spoke on the topic Communicating online as a mediator. In the interactive seminar, Linda, who has done a great deal of online teaching and mediation in the past year, reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of online work, and how she considers it will fit into the pantheon of mediation practice once the COVID-19 crisis is over. 

A family lawyer, and mediator since the early 1990s, Linda is an FDRP, nationally accredited, and a director of the Mediator Standards Board since 2016. She has been involved in mediation training since 1996, was co-Director of Bond Dispute Resolution from 2012 to 2015, and is presently Practice Leader for Dispute Resolution Programs, College of Law.

 

MONDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2020
BIANCA  KEYS
MEDIATOR STANDARDS BOARD

The Mediator Standards Board is currently undertaking a review of the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS) governing Australia’s professional mediators. As a Recognised Mediator Accreditation Body (RMAB), VADR is a member of the Mediator Standards Board, with over 100 nationally accredited members. 

Bianca Keys, the current Chair of the Mediator Standards Board, joined VADR as a guest speaker on Monday 23 November. In her presentation, Bianca provided an overview of the National Mediator Accreditation System; discussed the role and remit of the Mediator Standards Board; and outlined the current and future projects and goals of the Mediator Standards Board, including the role of the NMAS review. The presentation also provided an opportunity to ask questions of the speaker through the chat function.  

 

THURSDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2020
DEBORAH GLASS
VICTORIAN STATE GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN

The State Government Ombudsman’s Office looks at the decisions and actions of Victorian government departments, local councils, statutory bodies and their contractors. A key function of the Ombudsman's office is to facilitate, where possible, the resolution of complaints between the public and government organisations.

In her presentation, Deborah spoke about her office's adoption of an early resolution model, and detailed the different approaches her officers have taken to resolve matters informally. Deborah also explored the impact of COVID-19 on her office, discussing a few case examples and explaining how her staff have adapted their practices to continue resolving disputes despite the challenges of Victoria's restrictive lockdown provisions.

Deborah Glass is the Victorian Ombudsman, having been appointed to a 10-year term in March 2014. Deborah studied law at Monash University, practising law briefly before leaving Australia, working for an investment bank in Switzerland and subsequently pursuing a career in financial services regulation in Hong Kong and London. Deborah then moved into police oversight, and became a Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission of England and Wales, heading criminal and misconduct investigations into police.

In 2008, Deborah was appointed IPCC Deputy Chair, and in 2012 was awarded an OBE for her service. Deborah is on the board of the International Ombudsman Institute, which connects more than 190 Ombudsman offices worldwide, and is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association. She is committed to ensuring fair and reasonable decision making, and to improving public administration. She holds a firm belief in public sector integrity and advancing human rights.

 

WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2020
KATHERINE JOHNSON
NATION-BUILDING THROUGH MEDIATION: THE MONGOLIA EXPERIENCE

In recent years, because of global warming and other factors, many Mongolians have given up their nomadic lifestyle and moved to the cities. These changes have affected family structures, and as a result, family breakdown has greatly increased. This has created an interest in family mediation, particularly the Australian model. 

In this well-received presentation, Katherine Johnson discussed the ways in which dispute resolution (and mediation in particular) can become an agent for social change. She focused on how the training in conflict management and mediation in family law by an Australian delegation of mediators, partnered by Mongolian organisations, assisted in strengthening the work with Mongolian families, and by default Mongolian civil society. Participants were able to ask questions of the speaker through the chat function.

Admitted as a NSW barrister in 1993, Katherine is an internationally and nationally accredited mediator, psychologist and academic. She serves on various mediation panels as a family dispute resolution practitioner, including the Supreme Court of NSW, the Workers Compensation Commission of NSW, the Family Law Settlement Service Panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia International Mediation Institute, the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court and the World Mediation Organisation. From 1984 to 2017, she worked in private practice as a counselling, organisational and community psychologist, and she has been a trainer/assessor of mediators since 2000.  Katherine has been Vice-President/President of VADR’s NSW equivalent, the Australian Dispute Resolution Association, since 2006.

The event carried one CPD point. It was recorded, and made available to all registrants following the presentation.

 

THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST 2020
VENITA DIMOS
THE COACHING CONVERSATION: NAVIGATING CONFLICT IN A DIFFERENT WAY

What would your mediation practice look like if you had some simple coaching strategies to help your clients navigate conflict in a different way? This live webinar demonstrated how applying powerful coaching skills can enhance your mediation practice. Drawing on key concepts from brain-based conversation skills and conflict management coaching, Venita Dimos explained how applying simple, practical coaching tools and strategies can maximise the chances of successful resolution.

Participants in the webinar learned how taking a brain-based approach to mediation can maintain a positive mindset in clients, changing the way they see their problem. Venita also discussed the impact of powerful coaching questions designed to raise a client’s awareness, provoke insight and help them reach a different perspective on their problem. Event participants were able to ask Venita questions through the chat function.

Venita Dimos is an experienced lawyer, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, NMAS Accredited Mediator and Director of the Mediation Company Pty Ltd. She is trained in Brain-Based Conversation Skills and is also a Cinergy® Conflict Management Coach and Conflict Dynamics Profiling® Practitioner. Venita facilitates workplace training and individual coaching, with a strong vision to help people master critical communication skills and build conflict intelligence.  

 

THURSDAY, 13 AUGUST 2020
GHADA MAHER, ENA SHAW, MICHAEL MITCHELL, SUSAN HAMILTON-GREEN
DISPUTE RESOLUTION DURING COVID-19: ONLINE & TELEPHONE MEDIATION & CONCILIATION

A panel of experienced mediators/conciliators examined the advantages and disadvantages of online and telephone mediation. They discussed how each has modified their approach and adapted their communication skills to cope with the different media, and the ways in which they have helped participants get the most from their mediation or conciliation.

The event took place as a live webinar, with the chat function enabling participants to ask questions of the speakers. A recording of proceedings was made available to registrants following the event.

 

THURSDAY, 23 JULY 2020
LAURA KEILY
IMMEDIATION

Immediation is a highly tailored video conference and dispute management platform founded by practising barrister Laura Keily. Its online services have been successfully accessed by networks across the globe, with registered users in 80 countries. Used by the Commonwealth Courts of Australia for commercial and family mediations, Immediation has been custom-built for dispute resolution. Advanced security measures are in place, with AWS-based firewalling, elastic load balancing and bcrypt encryption. The security of Immediation’s platform has been tested using methods similar to military-level penetration tests. 
Unlike video conferencing tools built for general use, Immediation specialises in:

1. Providing virtual hearing or mediation rooms that emulate courtrooms, tribunals, mediation and arbitration centres.
2. Premium dispute management, enabling lawyers, dispute resolution professionals and judicial officers to focus on the task at hand rather than on technology.
3. Providing fast, effective, fixed-price end-to-end dispute resolution using Immediation's curated national panel of 90 leading experts, including former senior judges such as the former Chief Justices of Victoria and Western Australia.

Immediation’s Founder and Managing Director, Laura Keily, discussed how she built the Immediation platform to improve access to justice inside and outside courts, and how the platform operates. Laura focussed particularly on Dealmaker, a subscription-based version of the Immediation platform for use by mediators and law firms in their own matters. At the end of her presentation, Laura answered questions via the live chat function. The event was recorded, and made available afterwards to registrants.

 

WEDNESDAY, 15 JULY 2020
NATHAN POLITO
MODRON

At a free live webinar on Wednesday 15 July from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, Nathan Polito, founder and CEO of the online platform MODRON, spoke about the ways his platform can assist dispute resolution practitioners. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many mediators into the world of online dispute resolution, and it is not always easy to see which platform best suits the dispute resolution world. Unlike generalist platforms such as Zoom, which is meeting-centred, MODRON has been designed specifically for DR, with flexible spaces and confidentiality controls at each step of the process.

 

THURSDAY, 25 JUNE 2020
ELIZABETH ROSA
BACK TO THE FUTURE: WORKPLACE MEDIATIONS

On Thursday 25 June 2020, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm, Elizabeth Rosa presented a live webinar on the topic Back to the Future: Workplace Mediations. 

In her presentation, Elizabeth explored what is going on for the parties in workplace disputes who, at intake, remain focussed on the past, and explained how to identify the values they feel have been displaced and how to shift them towards the future for a constructive mediation. She considered a toolbox of questions for intake sessions, and how to assist the parties to speak about their concerns in the mediation.  Elizabeth also looked at how parties can generate options to rebuild and restore a workplace relationship for the future.

Elizabeth is the Principal of Resolve-at-Work and a nationally accredited mediator. She conducts workplace mediations and facilitations for a number of organisations, including major Australian corporates, hospitals, universities, schools, government departments and councils. Her background is in law, where she practised in insurance litigation, workers' compensation and employment law. Elizabeth currently lectures at the College of Law in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution and at the University of NSW in Resolving Civil DIsputes. She also conducts skills building workshops throughout Australia for workplace mediators.

 

FRIDAY, 22 MAY 2020
JUDITH O'CONNELL
VICTORIAN SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION

This VADR CPD event featuring Judith O'Connell, the Victorian Small Business Commissioner, was conducted in the form of a webinar. The presentation was uploaded on 22 May and then remained available for two weeks.

In her most informative talk, Commissioner O'Connell discussed how the Victorian Small Business Commission assists small businesses to resolve disputes through its alternate dispute resolution service, which includes both mediation and arbitration.  Commissioner O'Connell also shared how the Commission is adopting its mediation services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has begun implementation of the Commercial Leases Relief Scheme. 

 

WEDNESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2020
MICHELLE MEAD
RESTORATIVE APPROACH TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION UNDER EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LAW

Restorative justice principles and practices focus on repairing the harm caused as opposed to determining the punishment. Dispute resolution (DR) under equal opportunity law is a restorative approach that reflects both sides of the dispute. Conciliators engaging in and leading such practices require sensitivity, skill, and a veritable toolbox of techniques.

Michelle Mead explored the varying approaches to DR at the VEOHRC, and in particular outlined the restorative DR process designed and implemented to manage disputes notified following the release of  the Independent Review into Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment (including predatory behaviour) into Victoria Police. 

Michelle Mead commenced with the VEOHRC in 1994 as an investigator/conciliator and has been Manager of Dispute Resolution since 2009. She has extensive knowledge and experience providing ADR under State and Federal anti-discrimination law. Michelle was awarded the Public Service Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2014 for outstanding public service and reforms for better service delivery in equal opportunity.