The New South Wales Reconciliation Council invited a member of ADRA to provide an ADR workshop for their 2008 conference.  This invitation came as a result of ADRA’s 'The Power Of Sorry' seminar held earlier in the year, and was accepted by Michelle Brenner.  Michelle conducted a workshop for about 20 participants, including Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, elders as well as youth.

Paula Castile has stepped down as President after a very full and exciting year.  Sally Trevena has served a number of years as a very capable Secretary, and has decided to take a break from Board membership this year.  Robert Lopich has also stepped aside to make room for a fresh face.  Fresh faces come by way of Andrea Cotter-Moroz, a barrister and strong supporter of ADRA over recent years, and Linda Fisher, who was a member of the original ADRA Board 20 years ago.   We welcome Janice McLeay as President, Emma Matthews as Secretary, and Peter Irving as Treasurer.  Katherine Johnson r

  President’s Report 2008

Congratulations to Ruth Charlton, who was made a Life Member at the AGM on 28 October.  Life Membership acknowledges Ruth's outstanding contribution to alternative dispute resolution processes over many years, as a mediator, educator, author, editor, mentor. and all-round guru.  Ruth joins Micheline Dewdney and Sir Laurence Street as Life Members of ADRA.    

Our annual general meeting will be held on Tuesday 28 October, with the AGM commencing at 5.30pm and dinner following from about 6.30pm.  All are welcome.  The members of the first Board have been invited to attend the dinner as guests, and we expect they will share some stories from ADRA's early days.  The cost of dinner is $65 per person.  RSVPs are essential to contact@adra.net.au  Guest speakers are Minister Paul Lynch MP and Deborah Lockhart, both enthralling speakers.        

The National Mediation Conference held in Perth from 9 to 12 September was a huge success.  Following a warm welcome, the program provided an excellent range of keynote speakers, both local and international, and a good choice of sessions throughout each day.  The organisational side was brilliant  - every detail attended to.  Sir Laurence said that, with 450 participants, this was the largest mediation conference in Australia, and possibly the largest internationally.  Among the participants were at least 24 ADRA members, so it proved a marvellous opportunity to catch up, especially wi

• There is no doubting the power of sorry, according to Renee Williamson, Chairperson, NSW Reconciliation Council, Chris Wheeler, NSW Deputy Ombudsman and Bronwyn Penrith, Aboriginal Mediator, Family Dispute Resolution.
• This seminar provided practical guidance to practitioners in dealing with circumstances where an apology may be requested by one or both parties as part of a settlement.
  

Julia Lines, the Manager of the Health Conciliation Registry in the Health Care Complaints Commisison, provided her audience at ADRA's seminar on 14 August with some insights into the complaints handling procedures she oversees.  Of special interst was the outcome of the client satisfaction surveys.  90% of complainants, health providers and support people expressed a high level of satisfaction with the processes provided by the Registry.     Sally Trevena shared some results of research by the Society of Consumer Affiars Professionals, including ground-breaking research into

The Narrative Approach to Supervision seminar was co-presented by David Newman and Michelle Brenner. The seminar encouraged participants to consider the application of narrative techniques in the supervision of mediators.Ideas such as the storying of professional lives and questioning the way values, culture, relationships and history inform our work were canvassed. We were given an opportunity to undertake a ‘re-authoring exercise’ so that we could practise the skills involved in these ideas.

A feature of the July Practitioners Information and Networking Evening was the mixing and mingling of 'older' members with 'newer' members.  Micheline Dewdney, a member of the first ADRA Board elected in 1987 attended, along with Yula Blecher, Ursula Schappi and Michelle Brenner, all of whom have been active members for many years.  Paul Sweeney, a long-standing member attending his first function, Michelle De Vries, Ron Dunsire, Sue Waterhouse and Inez Jessurum were among those counted as 'newer' members.  Steve Lancken was congratulated by the President, Paula Cas