By Michael Lockhart, Founder and CEO, Econation and author of One Life Wherever there are differing goals, interests, values, attitudes, and perspectives there will be disputes. After all, people naturally want to claim or protect their rights. Since many disputes (like any sort of conflict) are avoidable, they are inherently wasteful because they consume time, money, and other resources to resolve. By definition, any sort of waste is environmentally unsustainable because it causes an unnecessary increase in ecological [...]

The Peace Equation: Crafting and Connecting The Australian Disputes Centre was proud to participate in this year’s National Mediation Conference, themed The Peace Equation: Crafting and Connecting, it was co-designed by our CEO Deborah Lockhart and Ippei Okazaki. NMC2025 invited delegates to see mediation not only as a way to resolve conflict, but as a system shaped by demographics and legislation, operating across multiple dimensions of disputation including family, community, commercial and workplace. Mediation in the Commercial Setting Consistent [...]

29 October 2025 The Hon. James Allsop AC Some modest reflections upon dispute resolution: the value of a dispute resolution culture I acknowledge the Gadigal People the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I am grateful to the Chief Justice for his invitation to speak this evening. It is now more than two and a half years since I ended my full-time judicial functions, [...]

Embedding Legitimacy: The Evolving Nature of Mediation and Why Regulation is Essential By Elizabeth Jessica Manullang, Universitas Gadjah Mada Download a PDF of the essay here »