The Victorian Small Business Commission launched its first video conference mediation last week, with one of the mediation parties located in Brisbane, while the mediator, legal representative and applicant sat in a VSBC conference room.
A recent survey by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman found 22 per cent of small businesses have had a dispute in the last five years, which for Victoria extrapolates to 132,000 small businesses.
In the past financial year, the VSBC received 1700 dispute applications; 520 of which went to mediation, with a success rate of 80 per cent.
The VSBC dispute resolution service is available for any small business that has a commercial dispute with another business or government agency, and have it mediated for $195 per party.
‘‘Rural and regional small businesses unable to travel to a mediation now have access to mediation and a viable option to keep their dispute out of the court system,’’ Victorian Small Business Commissioner Judy O’Connell said.
‘‘There are a lot of small business owners who are currently not using our services and we are hoping video conferencing facilities will allow more small business to attend a mediation session without having to leave their home or office.
‘‘We continue to offer regional dispute resolution services and video won’t replace face-to-face mediation. However it offers an alternative where the time and cost of travel is too high and will enhance our dispute resolution services.’’