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New choices give private dispute resolution appeal

The Financial Review - 26/05/2006, Page 60
By Susannah Moran

Changes brought about by the Work Choices legislation allowing for private alternative dispute resolution are expected to be a boost for private providers, the President of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia, Tim Sullivan, says.

In a paper being presented this weekend at the IAMA conference Mr Sullivan says all new workplace contracts must include a compulsory dispute resolution clause and more than 54 arbitrators, mediators and conciliators have already been trained for its panel of advisers, in anticipation of the demand.

Earlier this month Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews launched a $10.4 million scheme allowing for a $1500 payment to have an industrial relations dispute privately resolved. If someone chooses to take their IR dispute to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission they receive no financial assistance.

Mr Sullivan said it was important for the practitioners to know the new legislation. Fourteen bodies had been approved by the government to give accreditation.

" The Workplace Relations Act provides a completely new IR environment, we have to be sure they are up to speed, also they are aware and current with practices they can model very quickly," he said.

" We also wanted to be sure the most experienced IR people weren't coming in with any baggage."

Mr Sullivan said he believed alternative dispute resolution was popular with parties because of its confidential nature, and the fact that ground rules were laid out in advance.

It was a prerequisite that people must have tried to resolve their issues at the workplace level, he said.

We gratefully acknowledge the permission from Susannah Moran and The Financial Review to reprint this article.