News - AIDC - Australian International Disputes Centre

Added about 1 year ago

Australia's First International Dispute Resolution Centre Opens

Australia is poised to become a major player in the lucrative cross border dispute resolution market, with the opening of the Australian International Disputes Centre in Sydney today.

Commonwealth Attorney General Robert McClelland and NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos will today officially open the centre in the presence of distinguished guests including the Chief Justice of the Federal Court the Hon. Patrick Keane and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW the Hon. James Spigelman AC.

Mr McClelland said recent reforms to arbitration laws, at both a State and Federal level, have created an international best practice legal framework for arbitration in Australia.

“These reforms lay the foundation for our highly skilled and internationally experienced Australian arbitrators to resolve disputes on Australian territory, under Australian arbitration law,” he said.

“Australia will be the place to come to when businesses want their problems fixed fast and fairly.”

NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos said Australia is well placed to capitalise on the booming global market for cross border dispute resolution.

“We enjoy very close ties to Asia and Europe, we have stable economic, political and legal systems and we boast some of the best legal practitioners in the world,” he said.

“Already, the world class facility is attracting strong interest from corporations in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

“In fact, a major international arbitration and a domestic mediation are both being held in the centre today.”

Recent studies by the International Legal Services Advisory Council have estimated that

Australia’s total legal services export and cross-border income was worth $675 million in 2006-2007.

President of Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and partner of Clayton Utz, Professor Doug Jones, said the growth in arbitration is largely due to the fact that international investors want to avoid the uncertainty of litigation in foreign courts.

“International arbitration has emerged as the process of choice for businesses in the global economy,” Professor Jones said.

“It delivers many benefits: expediency, efficiency, enforceability and commercial privacy.”

Professor Jones estimated the direct and indirect economic benefits to NSW and Australia will “run into the tens of millions of dollars” each year.

“On top of direct legal fees, there will be enormous flow-on for the professional services, hospitality, tourism and support sectors,” he said.

Michelle Sindler has this week been appointed the chief executive officer of the new Australian International Disputes Centre.

Ms Sindler is an expert in international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution with more than 20 years experience. She regularly appeared as counsel and mediator in disputes in Europe and Asia and was most recently in practice in Switzerland and London.

The $600,000 centre is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and NSW Governments, the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) and the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre.

The new hearing facility features ten custom built rooms, including a large 27-person hearing room, and is equipped with state-of-the-art video conferencing technology and access to translation and transcription services. It also features indigenous artwork on loan from retired arbitrator Ken Hinds.

The Australian International Disputes Centre is located in the heart of the legal and financial services district at 1 Castlereagh St.

Media contacts:
Adam Siddique (McClelland) 0407 473 630
Adam Bell (Hatzistergos) 0448 302 533
Gianna Totaro (ACICA) 0438 337 328