Mediation

• Family – Michelle has been pracitcing family mediation for 17 years. She has in depth experience in all aspects and models of family mediation services. She maintains a high level of excellence on a case by case basis.
• Workplace – Michelle has been practicing workplace mediation for 11 years. She manages employee disptues regardless of the status of the employees involved or the type of professional/industry they are employed in.
• Commercial – Michelle has expertise working with small business and partnership disputes.

Training

• Mediation – Michelle has devised and present meditation training courses for various organisations, such as Centacare and the Australian Disputes Centre, since 2002. Michelle also provides mediation coaching services to the Resolution Institute and the Australian Disputes Centre. Michelle is a Mediator Development Adviser to the Resolution Institute, advising on the development and assessing of trainee mediators.
• Communications – Michelle has taught business communications at post graduate level from time to time.

Facilitation

• Multi-party facilitation – Michelle conducts multi-party faciliation when reqeusted for government organisations such as Railcorp (previously) and the Department of Family and Community Services.
• Restorative Engagement – Michelle was a facilitator on the Defense Abuse Response Taskforce and is on the panel of restorative engagement facilitators for the Defense Ombudsman under the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Lecturing

• University of Technology Sydney – Post Graduate and Undergraduate level – Business Law and Ethics
• Charles Sturt University – Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution
• University of Sydney – Introduction to Mediation

Complaint Management

• Michelle has experience managing consumer complaints in the corporate sector.
• Michelle manages complaints in relation to the professional conduct of mediators

Negotiation

• Litigation – Michelle’s past experience in commercial litigation helped her hone and develop strong negotiation skill.
• Settlement focused mediation – Michelle’s negotiation skills and fine tuned facilitative skills enable her to foster settlment focused mindsets despite despite resistance and obstacles.
• Settlement focused negotiation – Michelle is able to bring out the best in parties empowering them to remain focused on resolving the issues between them.

Conflict Management Coaching

• Michelle is trained in Cinergy model of conflict management coaching and provides coaching services to individuals and groups.

The Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) and the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

In 2014 I had the privilege of serving on the Commonwealth Attorney General’s panel of facilitators of the DART Restorative Engagement Program.  It is the first program its kind in the world and facilitators were chosen on the depth of their experience and competency in the alternate dispute resolution field.  It is an exciting project that is being continued under the auspices of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. I am pleased to be on that panel. It is unique in that it has the power to simultaneously heal those who have been harmed and affect cultural change in the leaders of the Australian defence forces.  Facilitators conduct conferences between those who have suffered abuse and senior defence force personnel.

Family and Community Services – Family Group Conferencing

The NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) has in the last two years adopted a new model of family group conferencing.  I have been a mediator on the Legal Aid Commission of NSW’s panel of Care and Protection mediators for some years.  The new FACS model of conferencing is completely different to any model of alternate dispute resolution that I have done in the past.  It has the  benefit of genuinely empowering some of the most marginalised parents in our society, those whose children have been taken from them and put into care.

Instead of a decision about the placement or care of their children being imposed on them by a government official, department or court families can choose to have a Family Group Conference run by an independent facilitator such as myself, where the family members will make the decisions.

This role is not for the fainthearted.  It involves travelling to each of the family members homes and preparing them to participate in the conference.  Where relevant it may also involve  preparing representatives of other services and agencies that are working with the family, to participate in the conference.  The facilitator’s work is largely in the preparation of the participants.

On the conference day there are three distinct stages.  The first stage is lead by the facilitator and the FACS case worker and case manager are present.  The agenda is set and communication guidelines are established.

In the second stage the family members are left on their own to discuss the agenda topics and come up with a family plan that meets the needs of the young person or persons who are the subject of the conference (and may also be present).

The third stage is the family’s presentation of the plan they have come up with to the FACS representatives and the facilitator.  The plan needs to be approved by FACS and the agreement signed by all of those present.

The most significant departures from other models of dispute resolution are: a) the facilitator’s attendance at the parties’s homes b) the family time where neither the facilitator or FACS representatives are present and c) the large numbers of extended family members who may be involved due to their relationship with the children for whom the conference is being held.

My practice is fundamentally based on the facilitation, settlement focused model of mediation.  Having said that the diversity of my practice requires me to be flexible in my approach and willing to adapt my process to the needs of the participants.  For example it is fair to say that the Legal Aid model of mediation is closer to a conciliation model than a purely facilitative model.  This is often the case when the mediation is conducted within a specific legislative framework.

My private family mediation process is closer to a pure facilitative model as is most of the workplace mediation I do. I’m able to support and empower the parties to consider all of the possible options open to them, help them communicate and make smart well informed decisions.

I have training in Non-Violent Communication mediation, Motivational Interviewing, Conflict Coaching, Conciliation and various other communication methods and strategies. I use these methodologies with great positive effect in my day to day mediation practice.

Essential to my effectiveness as a mediator is how I spend my time when I’m not mediating. I spend a lot of time working with people who are experiencing high conflict, anger, grief and trauma.  I balance this out with spending a lot time doing long walks, practicing yoga and regular exercise. I combine my passion for walking with travel.  I’ve completed the entire 790 kms of the Camino de Santiago in Spain twice, climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro (a real once in a life time bucket list experience for me) walked 400 kms of the European Peace Walk through 5 countries across Europe and hiked the Great Ocean Walk in Victoria and150 kms of the Heysen Trail in South Australia.  I’m hoping to hike the Larapinta Trail in the next year or so!