Accredited Mediator Perth
Not every dispute needs a courtroom. The right conversation, properly facilitated, often delivers better outcomes than litigation can.
Mediation works. When two parties who’ve stopped hearing each other are brought into a structured, confidential conversation with an experienced mediator, the results can be transformative — disputes resolve, relationships recover, and businesses return to focusing on what they actually do.
Alena Zorić is an AMDRAS-accredited mediator based in Perth, offering commercial and workplace mediation services to businesses, individuals, and organisations across Western Australia. Her approach is structured, impartial, and focused on the outcome that works for both parties — not a win for one side.
Why mediation is different from legal advocacy
This page describes Alena’s work as a mediator — a neutral third party who facilitates a conversation between disputing parties. This is a fundamentally different role from her work as a commercial litigation lawyer, where she represents one party’s interests against another.
As a mediator, Alena does not represent either party. She does not give legal advice during the mediation. Her role is to facilitate a structured conversation, help the parties clarify the real issues, and support them in reaching their own resolution. This professional neutrality is what allows mediation to succeed — both parties can trust that the process is fair.
If you’re looking for a lawyer to represent you in a dispute, see our Commercial Litigation or Insurance Disputes pages.
Western Australian courts increasingly expect mediation
In Western Australia, every court expects parties to meaningfully engage in alternative dispute resolution before a matter reaches trial. This isn’t a box-ticking exercise — courts increasingly view mediation as part of good commercial decision-making and will question parties who refuse to engage without a valid reason.
For businesses, early mediation can:
- Control legal spend — a one-off fixed fee for mediation replaces an uncertain and often escalating litigation cost.
- Reduce management time and disruption — matters that would consume weeks or months in litigation can often resolve in a day or two.
- Protect ongoing commercial relationships — court proceedings are public and adversarial; mediation is confidential and structured to preserve relationships where possible.
- Deliver outcomes courts cannot order — mediation allows creative commercial solutions, apologies, restructured arrangements, and non-monetary outcomes that no court can impose.
Even when a matter doesn’t settle at mediation, the process often narrows the real issues and clarifies positions, saving time and cost if the dispute does proceed.
Commercial mediation
Zorić Legal provides mediation services for a range of commercial disputes, including:
- Contract and partnership disputes — disagreements between business partners, shareholders, or contracting parties.
- Commercial payment disputes — where the underlying relationship still has value and a negotiated outcome is preferable to enforcement.
- Insurance-related disputes — coverage disagreements, claims negotiations, and multi-party insurance matters.
- Construction and project disputes — payment claims, variations, delays, and defect disputes.
- Supplier and customer disputes — particularly where an ongoing commercial relationship is at stake.
- Family business disputes — disagreements between family members involved in a shared business.
Commercial mediation is typically structured as a single session, often a full day, with preparatory work done in advance. Most matters resolve within that session; complex matters may require follow-up sessions.
Workplace mediation
Workplace disputes rarely resolve themselves. Left unaddressed, they erode culture, drive people out, and — under Western Australian work health and safety laws — expose organisations to regulatory and legal risk.
Under WHS laws, a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) has a legal obligation to manage psychosocial risks, including job demands and role ambiguity, poor organisational justice, and bullying, harassment, and unresolved conflict. Organisations that actively manage these risks don’t just avoid claims — they build resilient workplaces with higher engagement, better retention, and sustainable performance.
Workplace mediation supports:
- Interpersonal conflict — between colleagues, between managers and direct reports, or across teams.
- Post-complaint resolution — where a grievance or complaint has been raised and the relationships need rebuilding.
- Return-to-work matters — helping employees returning after injury, parental leave, or extended absence navigate the changed dynamics of their team.
- Restructure and change disputes — where organisational change has created friction that needs structured resolution.
- Team dysfunction — where patterns of avoidance, escalation, or breakdown have set in and need active intervention.
Early intervention is almost always more effective than late intervention. A structured conversation before positions harden gives everyone a better chance of a sustainable outcome.
What a mediation looks like
Mediation is a confidential, voluntary process. Here’s what typically happens:
- Preparation. Before the mediation, the mediator speaks with each party separately to understand the dispute, clarify the issues, and ensure everyone is genuinely ready to engage.
- The mediation session. All parties meet with the mediator, usually for a full day. The mediator structures the conversation — framing issues, facilitating exchange, managing difficult moments, and keeping the process on track.
- Private sessions. At points during the mediation, the mediator meets with each party privately to explore positions, test options, and help each side think through what they really want.
- Resolution. If the parties reach agreement, they may document the terms at the end of the session. If they don’t, the mediator may help identify what would need to happen for resolution to become possible.
Mediations are strictly confidential. Nothing said in the mediation can be used in any subsequent court proceedings, which allows parties to speak openly about what they actually want.
About Alena Zorić
Alena is an AMDRAS-accredited mediator (Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Scheme), the recognised national standard for mediator accreditation in Australia. AMDRAS accreditation requires formal training, assessment against professional standards, and ongoing continuing professional development.
Beyond her mediation practice, Alena has over a decade of experience in commercial dispute resolution as a lawyer, including senior roles at leading insurance and commercial firms. This depth of experience in how disputes actually unfold — what drives escalation, what drives settlement, what real commercial outcomes look like — informs her work as a mediator.
She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Law Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a mediator and a lawyer?
A mediator is a neutral third party who facilitates a conversation between disputing parties — they do not represent either side and do not give legal advice during the mediation. A lawyer represents one party’s interests. Parties in a mediation often have their own lawyers advising them; the mediator’s role is separate. Alena acts in both capacities in different matters, but never both roles in the same dispute.
How much does mediation cost?
Mediation is typically charged as a one-off fixed fee for the session (commonly a half-day or full-day rate), with preparation work either included or charged separately at a defined rate. This contrasts with litigation, where costs are ongoing and can escalate significantly. For most commercial disputes, mediation is materially cheaper than litigation even when both parties’ costs are combined. We’ll provide a clear fee structure before any engagement.
Is mediation confidential?
Yes. Mediation is strictly confidential. Discussions during the mediation cannot be used in subsequent court proceedings, and the mediator cannot be called as a witness. This confidentiality is what allows parties to speak openly and explore settlement options without prejudicing their legal position.
Do both parties need to agree to mediate?
Yes. Mediation is a voluntary process. Both parties need to agree to participate, though the court (or the commercial reality of the dispute) often creates strong incentives to engage. If one party refuses without a valid reason, that can itself become relevant in later litigation — Western Australian courts expect meaningful engagement with ADR.
Can mediation happen before a dispute reaches court?
Yes, and often should. Early mediation — before positions harden and legal costs escalate — is frequently the most effective and commercially efficient approach. You don’t need to have started court proceedings to engage in mediation.
What happens if we don’t reach agreement?
If mediation doesn’t resolve the dispute, parties remain free to pursue other options, including court proceedings. Even partial agreement is valuable — mediation often narrows the issues in dispute, clarifies positions, and reveals what would actually be needed to resolve the matter, which saves time and cost down the track. Sometimes a second mediation may also be useful.
Speak to an Accredited Mediator in Perth
If you’re facing a commercial or workplace dispute that would benefit from structured, confidential, outcome-focused conversation, mediation may be the right path. The first consultation is free — we’ll discuss the dispute, assess whether mediation is likely to be productive, and outline what the process would look like.