21 The Promise and Reality of Online Dispute Resolution in Australia Tania Sourdin and Chinthaka Liyanage 1 Introduction It is clear that Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) has grown significantly in response to local and international factors within Australia over the past decade. This growth is partly attributable to a healthy Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) environment within Aus- tralia. The use of ADR in Australia is widespread and all Courts and Tribunals now have the power to mandatorily refer disputes to ADR processes. In addition, many disputants are required to use ADR processes before commencing Court or Tribunal proceedings so there is also a healthy pre court ADR environment. A robust e-environment has also assisted to expand the reach of ODR and this will expand further as the national broadband plan becomes fully operational. 1 As with other jurisdictions, at times the growth in ODR has been in response to non domestic factors such as a growth in cross border transactions and general borderless online consumer activity. One of the most significant domestic changes in Australia is linked to the Web 2.0 approach where government and others are adapting policy and processes on an unprecedented scale to take advantage of new technologies and better connectivity. Although these processes may not support full stand alone ODR environments (at least initially), they do enable supportive environments to be constructed. In addition, many Australian ADR environments now use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to engage with business, consumers and stakeholders about dispute resolution and to support dispute avoidance and self managed negotiation strategies. 2 However, the rate of growth of ODR has not been as fast as some may have predicted in the early 2000s in Australia. At that time, it was predicted that ODR would be taken up and used by a significant proportion of the Australian population by the end of the decade. After conducting a survey in 2003, Conley Tyler and Bretherton concluded that: “There is demand for online ADR among more than 70% of potential users” 3 and it did not seem 1 <www.dbcde.gov.au/broadband/national_broadband_network>, last accessed 30 May 2011. 2 <http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/12/31/guest-post-the-victorian-department-of-justice-and-web-2-0/#more- 1750>, last accessed 30 May 2011. 3 <http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&context=adr>, last accessed 30 May 2011. 483