Conflict Resolution Service (“CRS”) is thrilled to announce that one of our longest serving panel mediators; Nigel Biginell has been awarded the prestigious Community Mediator of the year award at the Australian ADR Awards earlier this year.

The national award recognises superior performance as a community mediator and it was quite fitting for Nigel to win as he has been a mediator with us for 20 years now and over the years. Nigel has committed his time to provide his expertise and skill as a mediator in a number of complex workplace and commercial disputes, both as a solo and co-mediator for our organisation.

Nigel expressed that he was honoured and surprised to have received the award. He further added, “I am especially grateful to those I have worked with, especially other mediators, who I have learned from and who have helped me reach this achievement”.

When asked about his motivation for becoming a mediator, Nigel said, “during the 20 years I served in the Air Force, I had the opportunity to help a number of men and women with financial and other problems and resolved disputes that caused them stress in their lives which I found was beneficial and rewarding and the impetus for learning another skill set when I retired.”

Nigel also shared his first experience as a mediator saying that he will never forget the first mediation he did. “It was a workplace dispute with a history of two women who just could not work together and had not been talking for a couple of months. I remember being quite nervous and stressed out about wanting it to be successful. At that time, I thought good mediators always had good outcomes. I learned later that this is not always the case. Fortunately, the mediation went very well concluding with the women jumping up from the table and hugging each other, completely forgetting I was in the room!”

Being a valued member of the CRS Panel Mediator, Nigel continues to provide support, innovation, and knowledge to the team. He “finds mediation to be a wonderful profession and a powerful tool for helping others with conflict situations, at home or in the workplace. He also added that he has never regretted his decision of becoming a mediator”.

The CRS Panel Mediators are highly skilled and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team. CRS is very proud of Nigel’s work and achievements.