NEWS

NMAS Review consultation complete

By NMAS Review Team | 21 May 2022  

The NMAS Review team at Resolution Resources has now completed our consultation phase of the independent review of the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS Review) and is currently preparing recommendations for the Mediator Standards Board (MSB). 

We wish to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who participated in the NMAS Review Survey in March. As we said previously, ‘participating in a survey of this type is a demanding task that requires deep reflection. It is rigorous and complex’ and ‘might be one of the most challenging surveys the DR community has ever seen.’ ‘However, we think the community is up to the challenge.’  

And you were! 

The data are rich with consistent themes, and we are busily analysing them with our psychometricians to ensure we make robust, evidence-based recommendations to the MSB.  

The NMAS Review Survey was the last step of a five-stage consultation process. We want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank everyone who contributed to the various stages of consultation. As we know, the DR community is diverse, and the practices within it are varied. While it was challenging to capture the perspectives of such a broad church, we hope that you see yourselves in the recommendations.  

NMAS Review consultation process 

Over the life of the review, we were able to gather input from different sources, including the existing NMAS, working groups, surveys, and current research. We also collected input over multiple points in time so that every consultation stage served to inform the next. 

This combination resulted in each stage building cumulatively to provide a solid foundation upon which to base the recommendations. For example, in the NMAS Review Effectiveness Survey (Stage 3 of consultation), people told us about their style of practice. The findings from the Effectiveness Survey (see Part 4 - Effective Survey Report coming soon) prompted us to undertake a deeper investigation into practice via the NMAS Review Survey (Stage 5 of consultation).  

What comes next? 

The NMAS Review team at Resolution Resources will complete its role by: 

• delivering its recommendations to the MSB at the end of June 2022; and
• facilitating the international peer review it has recommended to the MSB. 

Emma-May Litchfield and Danielle Hutchinson 

NMAS Review Team — Resolution Resources 

Save the date: NMAS Review Survey release announced

By Emma-May Litchfield | 03 February 2022  

NMAS Review Survey release dates have been announced — 14–28 Feb 2022. Read the blogpost to find out what to expect and how you can help spread the word!

NMAS Review – release of Part 2 of the Effectiveness Survey Report

By Emma-May Litchfield | 16 November 2021  

Read Emma-May's most recent ADR Research Network blogpost where she talks about Part 2 of the Effectiveness Survey Report.

NMAS Review September Update

By Emma-May Litchfield | 27 September 2021  

Read Emma-May's most recent ADR Research Network blogpost where she talks about Part 1 of the Effectiveness Survey Report.

Progress Update and Part 1 of Report released

We want to take this opportunity to catch you up since we last connected.

2021 has been challenging for everyone. We have not escaped, but we are proud to say, there has been steady progress with the NMAS Review. 

1. It has remained true to its initial purpose; however, the scope of the work has expanded significantly for all the right reasons – the extensive consultation through the reference groups, workshops and the Effectiveness Survey results showed that you, the stakeholders, wanted more. So we have stepped up and accepted the challenge. We are contributing our time to ensure that this more extensive process has all the resources it needs.

We have committed to a longer process to ensure there are no compromises with quality and depth. We think this is a small price to pay and we thank you for your patience – we are sure that you are as excited as we are to see a rich outcome.

One significant finding impacting the scope has been the discovey, as we evaluated your feedback, that there is a lack of clarity between 'Standards' and 'the System'. This lack of clarity must be addressed and it is valuable that your feedback has helped us to identify it. Watch this interview with Chair of the MSB, Bianca Keys and the NMAS Review Team and read the Effectiveness Survey Report Part 1 to find out more!

2. Part 1 of the Effectiveness Survey Report is now available to download on the NMAS Hub. We have also written a short blog which includes some of the findings to whet your appetite! We know that the MSB is also releasing findings on the LinkedIn page, too. Follow them for more updates.

3. The main NMAS Survey, which is the final part of the consultation process will be released once the pilot survey process is complete. There is still some work to be done on the survey to ensure it captures what we have found so far, and the pilot will help us test the reliability of the questions. We will keep you posted on the progress. There is a link to an expression of interest if you would like to be part of the pilot survey. It is important that those who participate in the pilot also complete the main NMAS Survey open to everyone in the DR community, otherwise their data will not be captured.

Latest news and link to recent blogpost

Here are some highlights and achievements from March 2021:

1. The Effectiveness Survey has now closed  for MSB  Member Organisations. Preliminary analysis is uncovering some interesting findings and we will provide these to you in dedicated page on the Hub. Visit the page regularly for the latest updates.

2. Work is now underway developing the questions for NMAS Survey which pulls together the work done by reference groups and workshop participants. The NMAS Survey is the main part of the NMAS Review data collection that will inform the recommendations made to the MSB about the current NMAS. We encourage you to have your say and complete the questionairre when it is released mid-2021.

3. We invite you to read Alan Limbury's recent Kluwer blogpost (republished with permission on the ADR Research Network Blog), Mediation Standards in Australia - uncovering what actually happens, where he talks about the evidence-based nature of the NMAS Review process including the reference groups, workshops and the surveys. He also makes mention of his own experience  contributing to co-design stage of the Review.

Hive of activity

 Here are some of the highlights and achievements from February 2021:

1. Four workshops/working groups were held across February to capture the expertise and thinking of the DR community in relation to Professional Knowledge, Professional Skills, Professional Engagement, and Professional Ethics and Responsibilities of mediators in different contexts. Participants were asked to consider and articulate concepts in a particular way that is aligned with the methodological approach adopted in the review. If you are interested in learning more about this, click the link below. Thank-you to all 50 Workshop participants for their work towards the design of the NMAS Survey.

2. So far, 79 DR professionals have been involved in the collaborative design of the primary NMAS Survey to come out in mid-2021.

3. Effectiveness Survey released to mediators and Member Orgs on Feb 1.  At the time of writing this newsletter, over 600 people had completed the survey. The Effectiveness Survey will close for mediators on March 1 and for RMABs on March 14, 2021. 

4. The main review, the NMAS Survey will be released mid-2021.

First stage of NMAS Survey design complete

 Here are some of the highlights and achievements from January 2021:

1. Reference Groups have completed the first design phase of the NMAS Review 2020-21 Survey. The work completed will inform the content of the workshops being held in February. Thank-you to all 29 Reference Group Members for their work considering potential modifications to the existing NMAS standards.

2. Expressions of interest fo Feb Workshops continued to come in and all those who registered their interest have been invited to attend a workshop/working group for the next phase of the design of the NMAS Survey.

3. Expression of interest to participate in NMAS Survey pilot are also coming in.

4. Effectiveness Survey released to mediators and Member Orgs on Feb 1. Watch out for an email from info@msb.org and make sure your email details are up-to-date with your member org so you don't miss out!

5. Regular meetings with the MSB NMAS Review Sub-committee continue.

And they're off!

Here are some of the highlights and achievements from December 2020:

1. Reference Groups have been established and engaged in the process of offering their expertise to the first design phase of the NMAS Review 2020-21 Survey. This has included our team conducting an information session and creating a virtual hub to support collaboration in shared documents and running online meetings. 

2. Consultation with stakeholders is underway to ensure an inclusive and diverse process and broad representation across the Workshops to be held in February 2021. 

3. Many MSB Member Organisations have already nominated a representative for a workshop. The opportunity for non-MSB Members to contribute to workshops will be opening in January 2021. As places are limited, a 'waitlist' process will be established for those who would be interested in contributing in a workshop or NMAS Survey pilot.

4. Effectiveness Survey for mediators and MSB Member Orgs is in final stages - to be reviewed for release in January 2021. Watch this space for upcoming information about release dates.

5. To 'situate the NMAS', our team is reviewing other standards (including international mediation standards) with some very interesting results! We look forward to sharing this work with you in the future.

6. Regular meetings with the MSB NMAS Review Sub-committee continue.

Take a look at what we have been up to!

We have been busy working behind the scenes to get the review underway. Here are some of the highlights and achievements from November 2020:

1. We launched the NMAS Review 2020-21 Hub . The idea behind the Hub is to provide a one-stop-shop for everything NMAS Review. If you're reading this then you have found it!

2. We commenced consultation with stakeholders to ensure an inclusive and diverse process and broad representation across the reference groups and workshops. 

3. We invited MSB Member Organisations to nominate representatives for a reference group and workshops. N.B. If you are a Member Org, make sure your contact details are up-to-date with the MSB to ensure you receive emails from our Team. 

4. We have had regular meetings with the MSB NMAS Review Sub-committee 

5. We are nearly finished developing the Effectiveness Survey for mediators and MSB Member Orgs. Watch this space for upcoming information about release dates.

Mediation 2.0 is coming: Australia’s Mediator Standards Board to modernise national accreditation standards for 2021 rollout. 

 MSB |  31 August 2020