The National MEDIATOR STANDARDS BOARD

The Mediator Standards Board (MSB) has been established with the support of the Australian Federal Government and the voluntary support of various professional bodies.  The Mediator Standards Board is responsible for the implementation of the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS) which comprises the National Mediator Approval Standards (for mediators seeking approval under NMAS) and the National Mediator Practice Standards (for mediators practising under NMAS).

It publishes the official Register of Nationally Accredited Mediators at http://www.msb.org.au/mediators

The National Mediator Accreditation System:

  • encourages mediators to deliver high quality mediation services
  • contributes to consumer confidence in mediation services in Australia
  • improves the credibility of mediation as an alternative to litigation and as a dispute resolution system in its own right.

Membership of the Mediator Standards Board is open to organisations, rather than to individuals. Organisations are able to consider and reflect on the views of their members and collectively contribute to the ongoing review and development of mediator standards in Australia.

The Mediator Standards Board membership classes are:

  1. Recognised Mediator Accreditation Bodies (RMABs) – organisations which meet the criteria for accrediting mediators under NMAS.
  2. Professional organisation member – a professional or service organisation that has at least 30 mediator members accredited under NMAS and is not an RMAB.
  3. Representative organisation member – being a national or state based representative organisation that has 3 or more RMAB members.
  4. Education and training providers that provide training as set out in the Approval Standards to no less than 2S participants per year.
  5. Government member – being:
    • A Commonwealth Government agency nominated by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and that is not an RMAB, or
    • A government agency from each State and Territory nominated by the Attorney­General or equivalent in each State or Territory and that is not an RMAB with ADR policy expertise
  6. Community organisation member – being a community or state based mediation organisation that is not an RMAB
  7. Consumer organisation member

The Mediator Standards Board welcomes enquiries about membership from any organisation that falls within one of the above categories. The MSB Board of Directors carefully considers all applications for membership and may at its discretion approve or refuse any such application. An organisation that applies for membership as an RMAB must complete the RMAB checklist and, only if approved for membership by the Mediator Standards Board, may operate as an RMAB once it has paid its membership fees.

RMABs play an important role in the NMAS. They are the conduit between the Mediator Standards Board and mediators, providing mediator accreditation and re-accreditation, sharing information and collecting mediator registration fees on behalf of the Mediator Standards Board. Some RMABs also offer training and assessment. RMABs will also be responsible for ensuring that those mediators which they have accredited or reaccredited are included on the Register of Nationally Accredited Mediators.

Mediator Standards Board