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Finding a Role for Mediation in Workplace Disputes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Ray Fells
Ray Fells*
Affiliation:
Department of Organisational and Labour Studies, University of Western Australia
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Abstract

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In June, 1999, the Federal Coalition government proposed further reforms of the Australian industrial relations system. Included in this reform package were proposals for a Mediation Adviser to oversee the use of mediation in industrial relations. The paper critically examines these proposals. Data from a survey of WA practitioners indicates that the core elements of mediation are seen as self-responsibility and voluntariness which clearly distinguish it from the traditional processes of conciliation by the tribunal. However, there is also uncertainty over the nature of mediation and how it might operate in the context of, or as an alternative to, the present framework of dispute resolution. The government’s package of reforms, including those relating to mediation, were withdrawn but the interest in mediation remains. This paper suggests that rather than creating a new industrial relations agency (the Mediation Adviser), making provision for mediation by Industrial Commissioners with the parties still able to choose private mediation if they wish would achieve the desired policy objectives.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , December 2000 , pp. 270 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2000

Footnotes

*

The assistance of Bob Horstman in the preparation of this paper is acknowledged.

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