Call for Proposal

The conference streams are:

1. First Nations approaches to conflict, dispute management and decision-making processes
2. Workplace and employment
3. Commercial dispute resolution
4. Community-focused mediation, and other community-focused processes
5. Conciliation, including public and private advisory processes, and statutory programs
6. Court-connected DR, mediation & restorative services including services associated with courts and tribunals
7. Dispute System Design, online mediation, restorative, DR, and technological innovations
8. Family mediation, restorative approaches and dispute resolution, including FDR and FGC
9. Peace-building, transitional justice, reconciliation, and civil society
10. Research, training, and education: building a rigorous evidence base for mediation, restorative & DR
11. Restorative justice, restorative practice and innovative approaches to conflict.
12. Mediation, restorative & DR theory, history, ethics

The Conference Committee is fully conscious of the contributions made by intercultural and multicultural considerations to the enrichment of all DR sectors.

Important Information

Please read all the information in this package before preparing your proposal.

• Read all the instructions carefully; the submission process is fully electronic and you must follow the prompts – all fields must be completed.
• Develop your proposal description before commencing the electronic submission process.
• Review your proposal carefully before submitting.
• Submit proposals that comply strictly with the stated guidelines to have them considered and reviewed.
• PLEAE NOTE: There is a limit of two (2) submissions per presenter.
• All proposals must be submitted electronically by Friday 3 March 2023.

Presentation Proposal - review criteria

The Conference Committee will give priority to the following criteria:

1. The introduction of new and innovative concepts not previously canvassed or fully explored in the sector;
2. Where applicable, the rigour of any research that will be included in the presentation, or on which the proposal relies;
3. The inclusion of credible demonstration of the importance of the subject matter to the mediation, restorative practice or DR field, and to the preferred Conference Stream;
4. The inclusion of intercultural, cross-cultural and/or multicultural considerations;
5. The potential appeal of the proposal to a broad spectrum of delegates; the proposal should include appropriate comments if it would appeal more to one cross-section of the sector (e.g. newly trained practitioners, or experienced practitioners);
6. The demonstrated capacity of the proposal to allocate appropriate time for coverage of the topic, and, if for a panel, to include all presenters; and
7. The title of the proposal conveying to delegates what they can expect from the session.

Review Process

A sub-committee of the Conference Committee will conduct initial reviews of submitted proposals.  According to that sub-committee’s recommendations, proposals will progress for consideration by the Conference Committee who will make final decisions about a proposal’s acceptance into the Conference Program.

Notification of decisions will be distributed by 24 March 2023.

Please note: Following assessment of submitted proposals, the Conference Committee may decide that it is more practicable to combine some streams.  This will not detract from the importance of each original stream. 

The Conference Committee may also decide to include your proposal in a stream that is different from your original preference.

Format of Submissions

All proposals must be submitted electronically, using a proforma that is accessible via the link at the end of these Guidelines.

Within the pro forma, you will be expected to provide:

• The title of your proposal (up to 12 words); the title may be edited for inclusion in the Conference program
• A description of your proposal (an abstract of up to 100 words); this will be used on the website.
• An outline of your presentation, including the number of presenters and an explanation of how time will be allocated between them; this outline will be used only for reviewing your proposal – it will not be published. The outline is crucial to the assessment of your proposal, and its allocation to an appropriate part of the Conference program.
• Contact details for notification of the Conference Committee’s decision on whether (or not) your proposal is accepted for inclusion in the Conference program.
• PLEAE NOTE: There is a limit of two (2) submissions per presenter.

Additional Information

The Conference Committee is accepting proposals for presentations in any of the following formats.

Traditional, oral, single presentations for 30 minutes
The program will include many opportunities for this style of presentation, which is very familiar to previous conference attendees.

Collaborative Conversations for 60 minutes 
The program will include opportunities for collaborative conversations involving researchers and practitioners.  These will be semi-structured discussions and the active involvement of conference delegates will be encouraged.  The intent is to foster exchanges of academic and practitioner ideas, research and insights.  If you wish to submit a proposal for a collaborative conversation, you must include the subject matter for discussion, as well as some of the key questions to be asked.

Interactive specialist roundtable discussions for 30 minutes
The program will include opportunities for specialist roundtable discussions that focus on specific areas of mediation practice (e.g., environmental disputes, workplace disputes, court-connected practice, etc).

Mini-workshops for 60 minutes
The program will have limited spaces for “mini-workshops”; these will be time-limited to 1 hour per workshop.  If you wish to submit a proposal for a mini-workshop, you must include: the title of the workshop, its general subject matter, its target audience (e.g., newly trained mediators, or experienced mediators), how you expect people to participate, and what outcomes people will gain from their attendance.

Interactive Panels for 30 minutes
Interactive panel discussions are encouraged, especially those that incorporate active delegate participation.  These panels may include brief individual presentations by panel members, although the key focus should be on interactive discussions.

Poster Sessions and Exhibitions
Poster presentations are an opportunity for shorter, simultaneous and more personal presentations during hour-long sessions that are open to all conference delegates.

Poster presenters will have prepared a large, visually appealing presentation that will serve as a springboard for informal discussions and Q&A with delegates.  The presenter will remain available for the full hour to discuss and engage with delegates and to permit reading, reviewing and questions about their presentation, on an individual or small group basis.

Poster sessions and Exhibitions will be scheduled at times that do not conflict with other conference events, to ensure that all delegates have the opportunity to participate in these valuable sessions.

Please note that, because of the anticipated submissions, and to encourage broad participation, an individual may be a presenter in no more than two sessions during the entire conference.

Number of Presenters in Each Session
Although there is no specific target or limit for the number of presenters to be included in any specific proposal, the number should be appropriate to the nature of the proposal, to its stated subject matter, and to its proposed duration.  As a guide, it is suggested that for 30-minute programs no more than one or two presenters be listed, for a 60 minute-joint presentation there would be no more than three presenters.  The Conference Committee may accept proposals that deviate from these suggestions; however, the number of presenters should be clearly justified, and the panel be demonstrably organised to enable the individual presentations to create an interwoven session.

Duration of Presentation Sessions
Proposals will be accepted for presentations that are: 30, 45 or 60 minutes in duration.  It is assumed that presentations of 45 and 60 minutes will include multiple presenters, as noted above.  Proposals for mini-workshops are to be for 60 minutes.

More detail about each stream is provided on the next page, as are key word clusters relevant to each stream.  When submitting your proposal, please check for (and specify) the most suitable stream.  You should also identify at least three key words from that stream that help categorise your submission.

Conference Streams

• First Nations approaches to conflict, dispute management and decision-making processes.

Key words: Governance; peace-building; evaluation; effective policy & services; Tikanga, ho hourongo

• Workplace and employment; Commercial DR

Keywords: DR clauses in contracts; business, construction and workplace arbitration; industrial and employment DR; innovation in business and workplace DR; international commercial dispute resolution; evidence in commercial and business disputes; restorative practices in workplaces.

• Community-focused mediation, and other community-focused processes.

Keywords: Conflict coaching; alternative approaches; environmental DR; multi-party, consultative, and whole-of-community processes; innovative approaches; evidence-based approaches.

• Conciliation, including public and private advisory processes, and statutory programs.

Keywords: Evidence-based approaches; conciliation, evaluative mediation, advisory dispute resolution, hybrid dispute resolution; statutory programs and processes; conciliation training, standards, and accreditation.

• Court-connected DR, mediation and restorative services, including services associated with courts and tribunals.

Keywords: Mandatory DR; judicial DR; artificial intelligence; theoretical frameworks; evidence-based approaches; current developments.

• Dispute System Design, online mediation, restorative, DR and technological innovations.

Keywords: Theoretical frameworks; current developments; sociocultural influences; innovative approaches & applications; artificial intelligence; evidence-based approaches; the challenges of moving to ODR during the Covid pandemic

• Family mediation, restorative approaches and dispute resolution, including Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) and FGC.

Keywords: Child inclusive and child focussed processes; family and domestic violence; parenting plans, including shared parenting; parental responsibility; property and financial matters; mandatory FDR; confidentiality; lawyer assisted FDR; family group conferencing.

• Peace-building, transitional justice, reconciliation, and civil society.

Keywords: Sociocultural influences, including: intra-cultural, cross-cultural and multi-cultural approaches; discourse analysis; evidence-based approaches; innovative approaches; climate change.

• Research, training, and education: building a rigorous evidence base for mediation, restorative & DR.

Keywords: Research design, empirical methodologies, program evaluations; standards & accreditation; innovative research; evidence-based approaches to training and education.

• Restorative justice, restorative practice and innovative approaches to conflict.

Keywords: Circles, conferencing, transformative mediation; humanistic mediation; theoretical frameworks; current developments; innovative approaches; evidence-based approaches.

• Mediation, restorative & DR theory, history, ethics.

Keywords: Confidentiality, Impartiality, Historical Trends