LEADR merges with Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators

LEADR integrates with the Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia, to create the largest dispute resolution membership organisation in the Southern Hemisphere

Last week members made the historic decision to integrate LEADR with the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia (IAMA) bringing together two of Australasia’s largest membership organisations for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioners.

LEADR has been influential in New Zealand as a membership organisation, training and accreditation provider for mediators since the early 1990s. In November 2013 LEADR NZ integrated with LEADR based in Australia to become a trans-Tasman organisation. Reflecting on the integration of LEADR and LEADR NZ, LEADR Director and NZ Committee Chair Mark Beech commented “The integration of LEADR NZ and LEADR has been a great success, allowing us to do things we simply would not have been able to do without being part of a larger organisation.”

The Integration with IAMA presents the opportunity to further grow the membership voice of ADR practitioners in the Australasian region and to broaden the scope of ADR. “LEADR and IAMA have been pivotal in shaping the dispute resolution landscape in this part of the world. Our vision is of increased use of effective dispute resolution, setting new benchmarks in training and education, as well as promoting high standards of practice” said LEADR Chair, Margaret Halsmith.

“With reputations for high standards of practice, we are both founded on a strong professional membership base” said Rowena McNally, Chair of IAMA. “As a single entity, we will achieve economies of scale that will enable us to be more responsive to our members’ needs, more responsive to the market’s needs and more able to promote use of ADR.”

The integration with IAMA creates a significant international dispute resolution organisation.

Members of the new organisation will practice in a wide variety of dispute resolution areas including mediation, arbitration, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, community engagement, neutral evaluation, conflict coaching and restorative justice. The breadth of DR and the expected membership of more than 3,500 provides the new organisation with the expertise and capacity to promote DR in all its forms, both within Australasia and beyond. “We operate in a globalised world - a unified organisation will build on and grow LEADR and IAMA’s existing links with ADR organisations across the globe, so that our members have access to best practice models of ADR, and to work and educational opportunities” said Mark Beech.

Margaret Halsmith looks forward to the challenge of the new organisation “We will be bold in creating expanded ADR avenues for individuals, business, government and communities to resolve their own disputes in cost effective, time efficient and self-determining ways.”

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