Dear ADR Practitioners,

Our eNewsletters are designed to ensure that you remain updated within the dispute resolution field by receiving ADR news, dispute resolution job opportunities, networking events, seminars and conflict resolution information as well as many more opportunities within the ADR field.The last two decades have been a time of experimentation, development, and in certain areas, progressive institutionalisation.

The current community of conflict resolvers, however, has begun to organise itself as a coherent profession, field, movement, and discipline. This ADR generation has evolved to move beyond the seemingly endless introspective definitional debates and accept as fact that we are a unified profession and to get on with the hard political tasks of organising it.

The National Mediator Accreditation Standards are on track for implementation in January 2008. These Approval Standards apply to any person who voluntarily seeks to be accredited under the National Mediator Accreditation System to act as a mediator and assist two or more participants to manage, settle or resolve disputes or to form a future plan of action through a process of mediation. The Practice Standards are intended to govern the relationship of mediators with the participants in the mediation, their professional colleagues, courts and the general public so that all will benefit from high standards of practice in mediation. These certainly are exciting times.

The Australian Mediation Association's aim is to advocate, facilitate, encourage, and provide coordination for the development of programs incorporating ADR and Mediation as the preferred means of dispute resolution. We encourage the development of standards in training and certification in all areas of ADR while providing Industry, Agencies and Individuals with expedited matters to qualified ADR practitioners from the ranks of our Professional Membership.

Regards,

Callum Campbell CEO