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Video Review by Professor John Wade, Director, Dispute Resolution Centre, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland

War and litigation are easy to embark upon. Diplomacy is much more difficult. Yet the modern reality in Australia is that over 90 per cent of claims filed in courts and tribunals are settled by negotiation or mediation. Few people statistically get their "day in court" – rather they are referred to mediation or sent outside to settle in the corridors. Yet most people are ignorant and fearful about how to prepare for, or behave, during either negotiations or mediation. Quick and effective forms of education about mediation are emerging steadily in Australia for "one-shotters" – that is, people who have not been to a form of mediation before. ("Repeat players", such as insurers and lawyers on the other hand, learn on the job - some well, some not so well, as they attend a variety of different forms of mediations weekly.)

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Victoria Law Foundation have produced an excellent 15 minute video on mediation entitled, Working it out - through mediation. Lawyers and others who assist clients at mediations (such as lay advocates and employer and employee representatives) would do well to have a number of these in their shelves to lend to clients who are involved in disputes. And importantly, the video will be of great assistance to disputants preparing for mediations in circumstances when they will not be assisted by lawyers or others.

The video is no boring lecture. It involves a narrator (Julie McCrossin) walking through coffee-shops, suburban streets, a court-room, several mediation sessions and multiple snappy interviews with colourful characters in conflict who have experienced varying degrees of success at different mediations. This style of education packs in quick answers to the many key anxieties about mediation processes: How might the meeting proceed? What are the key questions I should answer while preparing? Is mediation always successful? What disputes are "best" for mediation? Will the mediator give advice, or tell us who is to blame?

One great strength of the video is the emphasis upon preparation for mediation. This has not been present in several other mediation videos seen by the writer. Lawyers and disputants can benefit from replaying the video, writing out the key questions posed in it, and preparing answers before attending any mediation.

Education about mediation in books, pamphlets or videos can sometimes verge on propaganda, or involve disputes which make conflict resolution look too easy (we all know that it is not easy!). This video has veered away from both those traps with realistic examples of when mediation did not succeed, and with images of disputants and mediators working hard. The video will be an excellent teaching resource.

In the writer's opinion, this video should be a standard addition to a lawyer’s office, so that copies can be routinely sent or given to clients involved in conflict. This video teaches more and faster than books do. It will also prompt a series of insightful supplementary questions from nervous clients (or lawyers!). And courts and tribunals that offer mediation as part of their processes may want to have copies of the video readily available for viewing by those attending for mediations.

Whether people in conflict like mediation or not, it is now routine and an inevitable part of dispute resolution processes in Australia. This video provides an engaging, quick and user-friendly education for anyone who will shortly be participating in a mediation, whether on a mandatory or voluntary basis. The video is highly recommended.