The Australian Disputes Centre is deeply saddened at the passing of friend and colleague Ken Hinds, who passed away peacefully on 3rd September 2018, aged 74. Ken was a highly respected engineer, project manager, forensic expert, mediator, adjudicator, arbitrator and an art collector extraordinaire. Speaking at Ken’s funeral service in Caloundra on 10 September 2018, ADC’s Director, Professor Doug Jones, described Ken as ‘’a true renaissance man’’. Ken was a lead innovator in the engineering field and Doug Jones spoke [...]

The Hon. Christopher Finlayson QC’s insights as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations “Many of the disputes arise because of personality differences and poor interpersonal relationships. I often quote former Northern Ireland Secretary Willy Whitelaw who would lament about meeting Catholics and Protestants in Belfast. He concluded some of them couldn’t even agree on what day it was.” With humorous and insightful commentary from his experience as the former Attorney General of New Zealand and Minister for Treaty of [...]

Advances in technology are constantly improving the ways we approach dispute resolution. Increasing savings in both time and cost will lead to further efficiencies for all parties, thus reducing the strain on our already overburdened judicial system. Epiq is at the forefront of innovation in the industry, creating proprietary technologies that will change case preparation and management for the better. Epiq has developed a new platform, TMX, which launches in Australia this year, to meet our clients’ needs for streamlined [...]

Innovation in Cross-cultural Dispute Resolution The ADC’s First Nations Panel was launched in Sydney on 10 August 2018. In celebration of the new Panel, we were honoured by the Welcome to Country extended by Nathan Moran, CEO, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. To mark the Panel’s launch and its significance, Aboriginal Elder and a Board Member of Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land Council, Graham Davis-King, also generously extended his congratulations and engaged attendees in song and ceremony. Mr Moran later presented [...]

Professor Peta Spender, Deputy Dean of ANU Law School Statistically, more people will go to their health or welfare advisers than a private lawyer for legal advice.1 As Professor Peta Spender, Deputy Dean of ANU Law School, pointed out in her presentation at ADC’s Innovate, Mediate and Thrive! Symposium, this certainly raises doubts about the accessibility of the civil justice system currently. Highlighting a number of key innovations in the civil ADR space, Professor Spender’s presentation left no doubts as [...]