Open Forum

Name, Position and Company

Callum Campbell, CEO, Australian Mediation Association

Career Journey and Highlights

I have been championing the use of mediation and dispute resolution in all Australian jurisdictions and further afield internationally through my role as CEO of the Australian Mediation Association (AMA). I have acted as a Director and Co-convenor of the National Mediation Conference 2016 and also previously had been appointed as a Registrar of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal within the Commonwealth Courts. I was a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders.

I have trained in and utilise a diverse range of ADR techniques, acting in the role as a mediator, conciliator, adjudicator and restorative practices facilitator who works as a dispute resolution practitioner in a number of diverse organisations including formerly the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, previously Legal Aid and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and continually with the Attorney General's Department – Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Small Business and numerous Government bodies and Court systems both Nationally and Internationally pertaining to dispute resolution.

I have worked with the judiciary in PNG, alongside the establishment of a Court-Annexed mediators' program, playing a critical role in teaching ADR to members of the PNG judiciary, the legal profession and the community and the implementation of the PNG civil mediation program. I have also undertaken similar work within the Solomon Islands Court system.

I was appointed in 2005 by the Australian Federal Government to mediate a resolution of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy issues and its future in front of Old Parliament House in Canberra.

I have a deep-seated belief in, and a passion for interest-based facilitation and have acted as an independent facilitator in numerous Government infrastructure projects as well as internal political party disputes. I established and implemented a Body Corporate conciliation program for the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management and was actively involved with the Qld Building and Construction Registrar in the policy planning and implementation of the Building & Construction Industry Payments Act (NSW, QLD, VIC), created to provide an alternative to the court system as a quicker, cost effective and easier solution to resolving payment disputes.

I have acted as a Mediation Coach for numerous Universities as well as our own courses and find the diversity and variety of my work keeps me interested and enthusiastic about ADR.

Career Advice

"Ensure that you maintain your skillset to and toolkit be able to adapt to whatever events are unfolding before you in a mediation setting, whether it be disputes involving remote Indigenous communities working with the Resource sector, to entrenched workplace behaviour to Family Dispute Resolution matters."

Favourite way to unplug from work

"Mountain Biking – when not recovering from Mountain Biking related issues 😊"

If you could ask other mediators in the room one question, what would it be?

"Do you believe that the choice of mediator/FDR should be influenced by their expertise in the subject matter of the dispute?

Purist' Facilitative Mediation view vs Reality. (Excluding 'Evaluative mediation and Med-Arb'.)"

Kia ora

what interesting work in DR space and real making a difference stuff. That is for sharing your insights. Subject expertise is such an interesting question. Whenever I am doing education based disputes I have to work so much harder on ensuring my biases are kept in check.  

Good luck on that mountain bike! 

Name, Position and Company

Callum Campbell, CEO, Australian Mediation Association

Career Journey and Highlights

I have been championing the use of mediation and dispute resolution in all Australian jurisdictions and further afield internationally through my role as CEO of the Australian Mediation Association (AMA). I have acted as a Director and Co-convenor of the National Mediation Conference 2016 and also previously had been appointed as a Registrar of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal within the Commonwealth Courts. I was a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders.

I have trained in and utilise a diverse range of ADR techniques, acting in the role as a mediator, conciliator, adjudicator and restorative practices facilitator who works as a dispute resolution practitioner in a number of diverse organisations including formerly the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, previously Legal Aid and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and continually with the Attorney General's Department – Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Small Business and numerous Government bodies and Court systems both Nationally and Internationally pertaining to dispute resolution.

I have worked with the judiciary in PNG, alongside the establishment of a Court-Annexed mediators' program, playing a critical role in teaching ADR to members of the PNG judiciary, the legal profession and the community and the implementation of the PNG civil mediation program. I have also undertaken similar work within the Solomon Islands Court system.

I was appointed in 2005 by the Australian Federal Government to mediate a resolution of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy issues and its future in front of Old Parliament House in Canberra.

I have a deep-seated belief in, and a passion for interest-based facilitation and have acted as an independent facilitator in numerous Government infrastructure projects as well as internal political party disputes. I established and implemented a Body Corporate conciliation program for the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management and was actively involved with the Qld Building and Construction Registrar in the policy planning and implementation of the Building & Construction Industry Payments Act (NSW, QLD, VIC), created to provide an alternative to the court system as a quicker, cost effective and easier solution to resolving payment disputes.

I have acted as a Mediation Coach for numerous Universities as well as our own courses and find the diversity and variety of my work keeps me interested and enthusiastic about ADR.

Career Advice

"Ensure that you maintain your skillset to and toolkit be able to adapt to whatever events are unfolding before you in a mediation setting, whether it be disputes involving remote Indigenous communities working with the Resource sector, to entrenched workplace behaviour to Family Dispute Resolution matters."

Favourite way to unplug from work

"Mountain Biking – when not recovering from Mountain Biking related issues 😊"

If you could ask other mediators in the room one question, what would it be?

"Do you believe that the choice of mediator/FDR should be influenced by their expertise in the subject matter of the dispute?

Purist' Facilitative Mediation view vs Reality. (Excluding 'Evaluative mediation and Med-Arb'.)"

Kia ora

what interesting work in DR space and real making a difference stuff. That is for sharing your insights. Subject expertise is such an interesting question. Whenever I am doing education based disputes I have to work so much harder on ensuring my biases are kept in check.  

Good luck on that mountain bike! 

Name, Position and Company

Callum Campbell, CEO, Australian Mediation Association

Career Journey and Highlights

I have been championing the use of mediation and dispute resolution in all Australian jurisdictions and further afield internationally through my role as CEO of the Australian Mediation Association (AMA). I have acted as a Director and Co-convenor of the National Mediation Conference 2016 and also previously had been appointed as a Registrar of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal within the Commonwealth Courts. I was a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders.

I have trained in and utilise a diverse range of ADR techniques, acting in the role as a mediator, conciliator, adjudicator and restorative practices facilitator who works as a dispute resolution practitioner in a number of diverse organisations including formerly the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, previously Legal Aid and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and continually with the Attorney General's Department – Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Small Business and numerous Government bodies and Court systems both Nationally and Internationally pertaining to dispute resolution.

I have worked with the judiciary in PNG, alongside the establishment of a Court-Annexed mediators' program, playing a critical role in teaching ADR to members of the PNG judiciary, the legal profession and the community and the implementation of the PNG civil mediation program. I have also undertaken similar work within the Solomon Islands Court system.

I was appointed in 2005 by the Australian Federal Government to mediate a resolution of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy issues and its future in front of Old Parliament House in Canberra.

I have a deep-seated belief in, and a passion for interest-based facilitation and have acted as an independent facilitator in numerous Government infrastructure projects as well as internal political party disputes. I established and implemented a Body Corporate conciliation program for the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management and was actively involved with the Qld Building and Construction Registrar in the policy planning and implementation of the Building & Construction Industry Payments Act (NSW, QLD, VIC), created to provide an alternative to the court system as a quicker, cost effective and easier solution to resolving payment disputes.

I have acted as a Mediation Coach for numerous Universities as well as our own courses and find the diversity and variety of my work keeps me interested and enthusiastic about ADR.

Career Advice

"Ensure that you maintain your skillset to and toolkit be able to adapt to whatever events are unfolding before you in a mediation setting, whether it be disputes involving remote Indigenous communities working with the Resource sector, to entrenched workplace behaviour to Family Dispute Resolution matters."

Favourite way to unplug from work

"Mountain Biking – when not recovering from Mountain Biking related issues 😊"

If you could ask other mediators in the room one question, what would it be?

"Do you believe that the choice of mediator/FDR should be influenced by their expertise in the subject matter of the dispute?

Purist' Facilitative Mediation view vs Reality. (Excluding 'Evaluative mediation and Med-Arb'.)"