Official Launch - the Australian Mediation Association

After much hard work, we are proud to announce the official launch of the Australian Mediation Association:

The Australian Mediation Association (“AMA”) was founded in response to the growing demand from the public, private and Government sectors to engage in Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) to resolve conflicting issues between disputants. Of particular relevance to the AMA’s establishment are the mandatory mediation provisions of the Family Law Act, commencing on July 1, 2007.

Family law disputes are about to undergo a revolution that will have a profound and ongoing impact on aggrieved parties and their families. Under new mandatory mediation provisions of the Family Law Act, parties will have to undergo compulsory mediation in an attempt to resolve disputes before they can take matters to court. The Shared Parenting Act will usher in changes to dispute resolution provisions that will affect individual Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners (“FDRP’s”) and organisations approved to provide resolutions.

The AMA’s vision is to lead the ADR industry as the Resolution Experts, setting the standard of excellence by which all dispute resolution services will be measured. The most respected lawyers and other professionals in Australia will choose the AMA for the resolution of disputes, particularly when the stakes are high, the matter is complex, and the parties appear unyielding.

Australian Mediation Association CEO, Callum Campbell says that the past two decades of alternative dispute resolution have been a time of experimentation, development and, in certain areas, progressive institutionalisation. The present community of conflict resolvers, however, has not organised itself as a coherent profession, field, movement or discipline. July 1 this year signals a move beyond the introspective definitional debates and inspires the profession to accept as fact that it is a unified profession.

Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock said in many respects Australia leads the world in ADR. “The Australian Government is committed to ensuring Australia remains at the cutting edge of ADR,” Mr Ruddock said.

The AMA will be regarded as the premier ADR service provider in Australia with distinctive dispute resolution services recognisable in all of its qualified mediators. The AMA is focused on facilitating highly professional, diplomatic and responsive interventions that achieve successful outcomes for all parties involved.

“The mediation industry has evolved from its infancy, and the reforms have thrust it into the mainstream. Entities such as the AMA – a group of lawyers, mediators and conflict resolution practitioners – will increasingly come to the fore,” Mr Campbell said.


For referral mediation work, the AMA invites all family dispute resolution practitioners and mediators to join their National Referral Panel by emailing: info@ama.asn.au or visit www.ama.asn.au or phone 1300 MEDIATE (633 428).

Our efforts are just beginning, there is much to do, and your support is deeply appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Callum Campbell CEO AMA