LEADR Fellow Geoff Sharp facilitates the panel: Nadja Alexander, Peter Condliffe, The Honourable Justice Jennifer Davies and Margaret Halsmith

Nadja Alexander

Nadja Alexander is Professor of Law designate at City University Hong Kong and Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University. She is currently immersed in a sabbatical at the Mandela Institute in South Africa working on various projects around mediation, human rights and restorative justice. In recent years Nadja has been involved in mediation initiatives in the Pacific and in the transitional democracies of Europe.

Professor Alexander is editor of the book series, Global Trends in Dispute Resolution. She is author of numerous publications on ADR and has just finished writing her latest book, International and Comparative Mediation: Legal Perspectives.

On a policy level Professor Alexander is active in mediation law reform initiatives in Germany, England, Barbados and PNG. She is a member of NADRAC, the ADR Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and the Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute.

Nadja is also presenting in the panel on ADR in the Pacfic. >>

Peter Condliffe

Peter Condliffe is a consultant who also practices as a Barrister and mediator.  He has also practiced as a solicitor, community worker, academic, human rights officer, manager and teacher. He was formerly CEO of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia and Director of Dispute Resolution Centres in the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland.  Prior to this Peter was Chief of Education, Training and Information with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights in Cambodia. 

His practice centres on conflict management interventions including mediation, facilitation, conferencing, investigation and conflict coaching.  Peter is one of Australia’s most experienced conflict management teachers and practitioners. He presently teaches in several Universities and other organizations. He has written a leading text titled "Conflict Management: A Practical Guide" (Lexis Nexis, 2008, 3rd Ed.) as well as over 50 articles and monographs.  

He is the founding and current President of The Victorian Association for Restorative Justice; VCAT Mediator; Bond University Mediation Assessor; a member of the ADR Committee of the Victorian Bar; and Legal Member of the Mental Health Review Board.  He is also working as part of a research team at the Laboratory for Decision Support and Dispute Resolution at Victoria University into preferences in conflict using owners corporations disputes as a context.  He is the legal member of the Victoria University Ethics Committee.

The Honourable Justice Jennifer Davies

Justice Davies is a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria having been appointed on 6 April 2009.  She practised as a barrister from 1983 to 1987 and from 1990 until her appointment to the Bench.  She specialised in taxation law, appearing in the Victorian Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Australia, the High Court of Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia Administrative Appeals Tribunal.  She took silk in November 2004. 

She held various offices, including as a member of the Bar Council, the Chair of the Ethics Committee and President of the Tax Bar Association.

Her Honour has maintained an interest in legal education and currently lectures at the University of Melbourne in taxation law and written advocacy.

Justice Davies is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Margaret Halsmith

A LEADR Advanced mediator, Margaret is the Chair of the Australasian Board of LEADR as well as being an active member of the LEADR WA Chapter.

Last year, Margaret was appointed a member of the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC), an independent body charged with providing policy advice to the Australian Attorney-General on the development of ADR and with promoting the use and raising the profile of alternative dispute resolution.

Margaret is Director and Principal Mediator of her mediation, facilitation and training practice, Halsmith Consulting through which she has conducted solo and co- mediation of two party and multiparty disputes for government, business and individuals since 1995.

Margaret is a member of a number of mediation panels including the Franchising Code of Conduct and through LEADR, the Motor Vehicle Insurance and Repair Industry panels. Margaret mediates VRO matters including for the Children’s Court in a pilot project through the Youth Legal Service. She held the inaugural part time position of Senior Mediator at Legal Aid WA from 2005-2007 with responsibility for excellence in ADR for a panel of 40 mediators, then held a similar role with the Aboriginal Mediation Service.

Among her many voluntary roles, Margaret is an energetic member of WADRA [Western Australian Dispute Resolution Association] through which she initiated and was the inaugural Convenor of the SCRAM (Schools Conflict Resolution and Mediation competition) committee in WA from 2000-2007. She is accredited by the International Mediation Institute and is a member of the IMI Independent Standards Commission which is developing criteria by which to assess mediators' proficiency.

She was the Convenor of the WADRA Working Group which coordinated the National Mediation Accreditation Project during 2007 and has been implemented since 1 January 2008. Last year, Margaret was Co-convenor of the 9th National Mediation Conference 2008 in Perth.