In 1999, the Howard Liberal-National Government sought to amend the Workplace
Relations Act 1996 to allow parties in dispute to seek private mediation as an alternative to
the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). Despite its failure to secure the
changes to the Act, there is evidence that some organisations are already utilising private
mediation. This study examines the level of support and demand for private mediation
amongst surveyed employers. It found that while the level of support of employers for
private mediation is lower than the support for the AIRC, there is a groundswell of interest
in a private dispute resolution system.