AIFLAM History
In 1988 the Family Law Council delivered its report Arbitration in Family Law to the Commonwealth Attorney-General recommending the establishment of an arbitral scheme to resolve certain Family Law Disputes by accredited arbitrators.
The Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia recognised that there was no organisation with members who had professional experience in family law which could offer training in arbitration and decided to establish the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators as an independent body to promote arbitration in Family Law and train suitably qualified persons as arbitrators.
The Institute was governed by a Board consisting of nominees of the Family Law Section, a person nominated by the Attorney-General, a person nominated by the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and four elected persons. The first Board, consisted of (as they then were) Malcolm Broun, Michael Watt, Phil Theobald, Michael Habermann, the late Peter Nygh, Ernst Willheim, Rodney Burr, Bruce Crawford, John Faulks, Stuart Fowler, Michael Holden and Graeme Page.
The first task of the Institute was to formulate a training course in Family Law Arbitration. A number of tertiary institutions were approached to develop a course. The Dispute Resolution Centre at Bond University Law School expressed interest and a joint venture was commenced to plan the course. Professors Wade and Boulle represented Bond and Philip Theobald and John Hertzberg represented the Institute and the course was developed and taught to family law practitioners.
Copyright in the course is owned by both Bond University and the Institute.
The Attorney-General, shortly after the release of the report Arbitration in Family Law requested the Family Law Council to provide a report on the use of mediation as a means of resolving family law disputes. The report Family Mediation was released in 1992.
Peter Sheehy
Modern History of AIFLAM
Phillip Theobald’s early history of AIFLAM, provides us with a good understanding of the original objects of the Institute – to facilitate and promote mediation and arbitration, to accredit and support mediators and arbitrators through our training courses, and to offer advice to governments on legislation which touches upon mediation and arbitration.
In the past 7 years AIFLAM has kept pace with changes in mediation practice and training of mediators and more so in recent times with the gradual uptake of arbitration after the April 2016 commencement of the new arbitration Ch. 26 rules. AIFLAM publishes an “Arbitration Kit” for use by practitioners who were in most cases starting from scratch in what was a new area of practice for them.
After 2016 the Institute’s primary focus which had been on matters pertaining to mediation and training, shifted to addressing the ever increasing demand for arbitration training, and to establish a formal liaison with the Courts and the Federal Attorney General’s Department on behalf of the profession to assist in the implementation of the new rules and their practice. Demand for provision of mediation training courses also increased.
The Institute is well justified in saying that it is looked to by the Judiciary and Government as the spokesperson for mediator and arbitrator interests in the family law jurisdiction, with its advocacy for its members as being ready, trained and able to fulfil ADR requirements in those areas.