Graham Castledine (Chair)
Elspeth Hensler
Sarah Russell
Caroline Heffer
John Christo
Jill Howieson
Chris Stevenson
Karene Primrose (Vice-Chair)
Mariyon Slany
Margaret Halsmith (ex officio)
To contact the Chapter, email Graham Castledine, click here >>
Events in 2010
Multiparty mediation and facilitation:
what lessons apply to commercial and workplace mediation
with Shirli Kirschner
Monday 19 July 2010 For more info >>
Have your say!
Consultation on NADRAC's key national principles for resolution of disputes
with LEADR Chair & NADRAC member, Margaret Halsmith
Thursday 15 April
Judicial dispute resolution in Canada
with Associate Professor Archie Zariski
On Wednesday 24 March 2010 For more info >>
Events in 2009
Hot issues in mediation
Presentation by Fiona Hollier, LEADR CEO Tuesday 10 November
Fiona presented an overview of the development of ADR then facilitated a conversation around what are the hot topics in mediation and ADR currently.
As part of Law Week: The seven habits of the highly successful mediation advocate
with LEADR Fellow, Geoff Sharp
Monday 14 September
Well respected NZ barrister, Geoff Sharp discussed:
global and Australasian trends in mediation
current "at the table behaviours” of advocates
new negotiation techniques
how to bargain better when it comes to the money phase of mediation.
Mediating personality: MBTI and mediation How do normal personality differences lead to conflict between parties?
with Heidi Smith
Thursday 20 August 2009
Mediation participation fishbowl Wednesday 1 April 2009
In a participation fishbowl exercise, members of the audience spontaneously volunteer to practise their skills before an empathic audience. Audience members rotate through the mediator’s chair every 5 to 7 minutes.
The edges of orthodoxy in mediation; you said what?
with Professor John Wade, Faculty of Law at Bond University Thursday 12 March 2009
Professor John Wade shared some of the techniques he uses to persuade and settle which were not taught at mediation school.
A study of the dispute resolution orientations of Australian family lawyers and their clients by Jill Howeison 11 February 2009
Jill Howieson presented the results of her PhD research project, which was sponsored by the National Mediation Conference Scholarship, and investigated the dispute resolution orientations of Australian family lawyers and their clients.
The study produced some eye-opening results that showed:
the fine balance of skills that family lawyers require to provide a fair and satisfying dispute resolution service;
the way that the client’s emotional response to the divorce and level of co-party conflict can influence the dispute resolution process; and
the surprisingly uniform approach (although with some slight State differences) that Australian family lawyers take to legal dispute resolution, to ADR and mediation, and to negotiation.
Events in 2008
AGM & Focus group on ADR and civil matters
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Contributions to NADRAC's consultation into ADR and Civil Proceedings.
Mediation participation fishbowl
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Mediation demonstration fishbowl
On Wednesday 16 July 2008
Experienced mediator, Margaret Halsmith mediated a dispute with WA Chapter Executive members playing the parties' roles.
Here are some comments from participants about what worked well for them in the demonstration:
I enjoyed the opportunity to hear other people’s points of view throughout the demonstration.
Exhibited the first part of the model well.
Open forum for questions and answers. The actual demonstration; able to make/take notes and improve what I’m currently doing.
The structure and especially the ability to ask questions during the process – ie “what would you ask next if you were the mediator?”
Very experienced role players helped to keep the process “real”.
Mediator sticking with the process no matter what and gently guiding the parties through the process – and keeping them focused on it.
It is always interesting to see how other mediators cope with different challenges.
Feedback sessions with role players – hearing what worked for the participants rather than what appeared to work from audience perspective.
Observing Margaret’s “style”.
Getting to see a “real life” demonstration with analysis after, rather than more technical demo.
Hearing the reasons Margaret did what she did in the process.
The summary of each client’s agenda, the neutrality of the mediator when emotions were expressed and having the opportunity to interact during the process rather than just at the end.
Reframing and reflection aspects of the mediation were really impressive;
Seeing a mediation on a different subject matter to my own practice. Hearing another version of “in between” statements connecting different stages of the process.
Non-confrontational environment – time to think and not be put on the spot.
How the structure of the process slows the process down and enables the issues to come out.
Clinical & administrative aspects of running an ADR practice
with Margaret Halsmith, LEADR Chair and Roger Davis, IAMA Fellow
On Tuesday 12 August 2008
Presented by LEADR WA and the WA CHapter of IAMA and with the support of Jackson McDonald.
Opportunity cost: preparing for mediation
Presented as part of Law Week
Monday 5 May 2008
LEADR WA Chapter Executives with guest panellist Professor James Brown
and LEADR panel advise lawyers on preparing clients and themselves for mediation.
Mediating with sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder
by James J Brown, ADR educator from Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg, Florida Tuesday 15 April 2008
What do you need to know when mediating with war veterans and others suffering post traumatic stress disorder?
Events in 2007
WA Chapter; 2007 Annual Chairperson’s Report by Rae Kean Given at the AGM on 13 November 2007
Mediations from hell 13 November 2007
Mediators Mary Power and Kerrie Harms and Registrar John Christo each shared a particularly difficult mediation experience.
Getting up to date: a discussion on current ADR issues
On Thursday 18 October 2007, well-known mediator, author and academic, Professor Tania Sourdin led an exploration into current issues in ADR. There was a lot of opportunity for questions and discussion on legislative changes, accreditation and other matters raised.
What do your WA LEADR representatives do?
To give an idea of where LEADR has people ‘on the ground’ in WA, we have taken a sample from our current WA LEADR Executive of the areas they are involved in.
By no means an exhaustive list, it does provide an interesting insight into the various facets of ADR that members of the Executive are involved in:
Conducting mediations;
Conducting arbitrations;
Lecturing in ADR units at three of the Western Australian Universities (University of WA, Notre Dame and Edith Cowan University)
Coaching ADR trainees involved in LEADR and Trillium training
Sitting on various Industry Boards and Tribunals;
Representing parties involved in mediation or arbitration;
Volunteer mediation work at Citizens Advice Bureau;
In-house negotiation and mediation training for private institutions;
Consultancy to various government agencies and departments;
Membership of WADRA Working Group coordinating the National Mediation Approval & Practice Standards Project – i.e. accreditation;
Authorship of ADR articles and sections in various publications including the 2005 WA Law Handbook;
Membership of the Board and involvement in Organising Committee of National Mediation Conference to be held in Perth in September 2008;
Research PhD in conflict resolution;
Volunteer involvement on organising committee of SCRAM (Schools Conflict Resolution and Mediation) Program and the provision of expertise as coaches and adjudicators for this Program.
Hot issues in mediation 
As part of Law Week: 
Mediation participation fishbowl
The edges of orthodoxy in mediation; you said what? 
A study of the dispute resolution orientations of Australian family lawyers and their clients by Jill Howeison