Mediation fees cut by half in NSW, with Small Business Commission absorbing the costs

Small businesses in New South Wales can now access more affordable mediation services to resolve disputes, with the state’s Small Business Commission slashing the cost of its mediation services by almost half. 

Parties to a dispute will now pay $330 (including GST) to access up to four hours of mediation, instead of $608 for the same time period. Additional hours of mediation are charged at $152 per hour, per party. 

However, mediation fees in NSW still remain higher than those charged by the small business commissions in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. 

In Victoria, most parties to a dispute are required to pay $195 per session, with owner-driver and forestry contractors, and taxi, hire cars and rideshare driver and operator disputes attracting a lower level of $95 per party. 

In South Australia, mediation costs $195, while in Queensland, both parties must each pay $175. 

The change to fees in NSW came into effect on August 1, 2022, and according to NSW small business commissioner Chris Lamont, was driven by a desire to see more of the state’s small businesses access the service. 

“We have seen how valuable mediation has been to small business owners during the pandemic,” he told SmartCompany. 

“By reducing mediation fees, we hope to further improve accessibility for all parties seeking solutions through mediation.” 

Lamont says the Commission is absorbing the cost of the fee reduction, but noted the NSW government did provide the Commission with additional funding of $9.5 million over the next four years for its other operations and activity. 

More than 2300 businesses applied for the Commission’s mediation services in the 2021 calendar year. While this is lower than the approximately 2500 applications received in 2020, Lamont says demand for mediation services by small businesses “remains well above what we saw prior to COVID-19”. 

Retail lease disputes between tenants and landlords continue to be the most common reason for mediation, Lamont says, although the Commission has witnessed a recent increase in the number of business to business disputes. 

“Mediation has proven to be a highly efficient and effective way of resolving business disputes, saving parties in a dispute time and money,” Lamont said. 

More information about the mediation services offered by the NSW Small Business Commission is available in this free guide.