Services

Mediation

Resolving Disputes with Mediation

What is Mediation?

Mediation is a confidential process that assists people to resolve disputes and conflict. It is facilitated by an impartial mediator who assists the people in conflict (parties) to discuss and negotiate a resolution through self-determination and best interests outcomes.

Mediation is a voluntary process which means that when you are involved in a mediation process you have both agreed to respectfully discuss and clarify the issues you are experiencing with the aim of reaching agreement.

Compared to legal action or court proceedings, mediation is cost and time effective and puts the power into your hands to decide what will resolve the conflict and allow you to move forward.

Mediation at ICDRS - How we work

Interact Community Dispute Resolution Service, ICDRS is a co-mediation service where two Nationally Accredited Mediators (NMAS) work together with the people who have a dispute.

Mediation can be provided either remotely, using an online video meeting, or in person where we have team members available and a suitably private location.

The first step is a confidential pre-mediation session with each participant in the dispute. Then based on the information shared in that session, one or more mediation sessions are scheduled.

What types of disputes does ICDRS Mediate?

Neighbour Disputes

We can assist with neighbour and neighbourhood disputes. Usually when a dispute is unresolved communication is impacted, you may have stopped speaking or had angry exchanges. Mediation brings you together to discuss the issues, clear up misunderstandings and find a way forward to agree on how you will treat each other and resolve the underlying causes of the conflict.

Workplace Disputes

Workplace conflict is corrosive and damaging to the working environment. It doesn’t matter whether you are a not-for-profit working with volunteers or a business with employees and contractors, if there is unresolved conflict you will most likely experience turnover, absenteeism and low morale. Sometimes these issues can be resolved with the intervention of an independent professional mediator. Our mediation and other dispute resolution services may be able to help clear the air and improve workplace relations.

Family and Relationship Disputes

Ongoing conflict within families and friendships can cause stress and eventually become harmful to those involved. We can assist you to have the difficult conversations in a safe and confidential space as you talk through the issues and find new ways to move forward.

Family Dispute Resolution (Family Law Mediation)

Our sister program, Interact Online provides online Family Dispute Resolution services through a similar co-mediation model.

Visit www.interact.support if you are looking for mediation support following separation and divorce for parenting agreements, financial agreements or property settlement negotiations.

Free Estimation

What does Mediation Cost?

The $250 per hour fee for mediation are usually split between the people involved unless an organisation is paying for the services.

Interact Support is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preventing violence and abuse.
All fees paid by clients are means tested.

If you are on a low income or you are experiencing financial hardship the pre-mediation stage will be free subsidised by our hardship fund.

If you proceed to mediation you will be asked to pay a fee based on your ability to pay.

Those who can afford to pay for the service pay their share of our standard mediation fee which is based on $250 per hour.

$ 250 per person

Risk Screening to determine suitability
Referrals if other support is needed
Exploration of the issues you are experiencing and want to resolve
Preparation for the Mediation Session
Mediation does not include legal advice. It is a process that supports informed self-determination.

1st Step

$ 125 per person per hour (unless hardship discounts apply)

Ongoing risk management to ensure safety
Structured Mediation Process guiding you through identifying the issues and developing an agenda
Facilitated exploration of your perspectives on the issues, what led up to them, current situation and what you would like to see in the future
Option generation and confidential discussion of ways to resolve the issues (the whole process is confidential)
Private sessions to check in and consider your options if you are not able to reach agreement
Help to negotiate and document agreements reached if required
Co-mediation model - two mediators for less than the price of one!

Pre-Mediation – Org. Paying

$250 per person = $500 for a 2 person mediation for the pre-mediation stage.

Pre-mediation includes:

discussion with the referring person in your organisation
organisation of the pre-mediation sessions
conduct of the pre-mediation sessions
any other communication related to referrals, follow up or preparation for the mediation

Does not include travel costs if they are required. Travel including a suitable venue for face to face mediation is invoiced at cost, after agreement is reached. Online mediation is always available and no additional costs apply.

Mediation – Ord. Paying

$125 per person, per hour = $250 per hour.

A 3 hour mediation would be $750 in total.

Shuttle mediation is generally scheduled for 4 hours increasing the cost to $1,000

Mediation includes:

the facilitation of the mediation session
documenting and distributing any agreements reached
any follow up for referrals or check ins (phone or email)

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A discounted rate may be negotiated with small not-for-profits or charities (<$50,000 annual revenue) get in touch if this applies to your organisation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is mediation?

Mediation is a process facilitated by an independent third party designed to help people to meet and discuss issues in dispute with the goal of making decisions or reaching agreement.

Key principles of the mediation process facilitated by ICDRS:

Our mediators are all trained and NMAS Accredited
In most cases we use a co-mediation model
Safety and suitability is the primary consideration, we won’t proceed with mediation unless all participants agree that it is safe to do so. We can use online mediation and shuttle mediation (where the people in conflict are not speaking directly) to make the process safe even if meeting face to face may not be.
Everyone has the right to self-determine. We will not allow coercive or pressuring behaviour. Sometimes the options available are limited but you will

What qualifications do the mediators have?

All mediators you work with through ICDRS are Nationally Accredited Mediators under the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS) www.msb.org

We use a co-mediation approach so that you will usually be working with a less and more experienced mediator. Years of experience as a mediator does not mean that your mediators are inexperienced professionals with many having qualifications in law, counselling, psychology, business experience and more.

The background experience of our team is helpful but when they are providing mediation services they act as a facilitator rather than advisor. That means that if they see that you don’t have the legal, financial, workplace obligations or other information you need to make good decisions they will speak with you about why and how getting some advice will be helpful.

Our team want you to reach well informed decisions to resolve your disputes so that you are not bullied, coerced or taken advantage of in any way. Sometimes there isn’t a way to resolve the dispute without a compromise but if you do decide to reach a compromise agreement that should be based on a fully informed decision.

Not sure about all of this? Contact us and one of our team can go talk you through the mediation process and answer any questions you have. Contact us

Does it matter if a "mediator" has NMAS Accreditation?

Yes it definitely does! People who say they are a mediator but are not on the register of NMAS Accredited mediators give you no guarantee that they have been trained, assessed, evaluated for good character and participate in ongoing professional development. Here is the list of ALL NMAS Accredited Mediators in Australia – Register of Nationally Accredited Mediators (msb.org.au)

If a HR person at work or a manager says that they are going to mediate ask them if they are a NMAS accredited mediator and ask about conflicts of interest.

Sometimes people are asked to participate in a process called mediation that isn’t facilitated by someone who is impartial and they use information disclosed in a way that a mediator never would.
Sometimes the person offering mediation isn’t trained and they don’t know how to make the process fair and equitable. The role of the mediator is to facilitate communication but to also keep the process safe and respectful.

Not sure about all of this? Contact us and one of our team can go talk you through the mediation process and answer any questions you have. Contact us