The Australian Disputes Centre is exposed to a wide range of conflicts. Although largely associated with the legal process, Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) deals closely with the commercial sphere both as an external avenue for conflict resolution, and as an internal approach to negotiations. As a third year commerce student, I seek to approach ADR from a commercial perspective/background and can thus apply my learning here to my university work. Through my internship at the Centre I have gained valuable [...]

At a first glance, the mediation process appeared to a third year law student as an informal and unstructured “quick-fix” to reach a compromise in legal disputes where the rigidity of the court procedure is unable to provide a tangible (or affordable resolution). However, a day of role-playing and brainstorming around the alternative avenues of resolving conflict offered by the mediation process swiftly dissolved this simplistic interpretation. Instead, as a student half-way through her law degree at UNSW, I was [...]