Media

State subsidies for mediation has merit, says judge

The Cairns Post - Edition 1 MON 29 MAY 2006, Page 007
By Roger Dickson

DISPUTE resolution talks by some of the nations highest level judges, silks, arbitrators and negotiators were heard at Palm Cove over the weekend.

Keynote speaker High Court Justice Ian Callinan addressed the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia annual conference where the theme was "drawing a line in the sand, new approaches in alternative dispute resolution".

Justice Callinan said mediation had been effective at dispute resolution and one result of that effectiveness was that the states saved money by not going to court.

He said there was a case for subsidisation by state governments as court cases were expensive and a lot of money was saved by out-of-court settlements where parties involved wore the financial burden.

While Justice Callinan acknowledged mediation's effectiveness he was concerned at a trend across Australia to courts forcing parties out of the legal process and into mediation.

He said that would not work unless it was agreed to; affected parties should not be forced into mediation when they actually wanted to go to court to obtain a judgment.

Other keynote speakers included National Native Title Tribunal President Graeme Neate who told The Cairns Post that since the Mabo judgment the norm in North Queensland for indigenous entitlement had been through negotiated settlement.

" The trend in this part is to settle by agreement," he said.

" All the parties appear committed to negotiating outcomes rather than going to court."

Library Heading: Conference - Arbitrators and Mediators

We gratefully acknowledge the permission from Roger Dickson and The Cairns Post to reprint this article.