SPEAKERS
Keynote Speakers
The Hon. Robert French AC
Former Chief Justice, High Court of Australia
Patron, Australian Disputes Centre
The Hon. Robert French AC
Robert Shenton French AC served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia from 2008 to 2017. Mr French was born in Perth, Western Australia and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1972. He was appointed to the Federal Court in 1986, serving as a justice on that court until his elevation to the High Court on 1 September 2008. In July 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd named Mr French as Chief Justice, becoming the first Chief Justice from Western Australia.
Mr French has held a long standing interest in ADR processes. As a Judge of the Federal Court Justice French was passionate about the use of court-annexed mediation as a way of encouraging more, and earlier settlements or at least narrowing the issues in dispute. He was also interested in the use of serving judges as mediators in Court Proceedings on the basis that a mediating judge would not have anything to do with hearing the case if mediation did not effect a settlement. It was these key areas of interest that drew him to his patronage of the Australia Disputes Centre in late 2017.
The Hon. Robert McClelland AO
Deputy Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
The Hon. James Allsop AC
The Hon. James Allsop AC is an experienced arbitrator and mediator in a wide range of sectors including shipbuilding, carriage of goods by sea, maritime disputes, and more.
Mr Allsop was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2023 for eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to organisational and technological reform, to legal education, and to insolvency law. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013.
The former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in 2024, he was appointed as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, as well as International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court.
The Hon. Terry Sheahan AO
Title
The Hon. James Allsop AC
The Hon. James Allsop AC is an experienced arbitrator and mediator in a wide range of sectors including shipbuilding, carriage of goods by sea, maritime disputes, and more.
Mr Allsop was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2023 for eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to organisational and technological reform, to legal education, and to insolvency law. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013.
The former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in 2024, he was appointed as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, as well as International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court.
Professor Doug Jones
Title
The Hon. James Allsop AC
The Hon. James Allsop AC is an experienced arbitrator and mediator in a wide range of sectors including shipbuilding, carriage of goods by sea, maritime disputes, and more.
Mr Allsop was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2023 for eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to organisational and technological reform, to legal education, and to insolvency law. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013.
The former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in 2024, he was appointed as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, as well as International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court.
See the full lineup of speakers here
Programme Themes
See the full programme here
Venue
Sydney Opera House
Read more about the venue here
Mediation
on the
Moon
Mediation
on the
Moon
Mediation
on the
Moon
