Australian Arbitration Week 2024: Powering the Future and Going for Gold

This year's Australian Arbitration Week was held in Brisbane from 13 – 18 October 2024 and Ashurst's global international arbitration group was strongly represented throughout the week, by Georgia Quick (Partner, ACICA Immediate Past President and Head of the Ashurst Australian International Arbitration practice); Jeremy Chenoweth (Partner, Vice Chair of the Professional Advisory Council to ACICA and member of its Practice and Procedure Board); Melissa Yeo (Partner); Luke Carbon (Partner); Wen-Ts'ai Lim (Partner); Matthew Blycha (Partner); Erin Eckhoff (Senior Associate); Thomas Gaffney (Senior Associate, and Chair of the ACICA ACT Committee); and Amy Cable (Senior Expertise Lawyer).

In this update, we summarise our involvement across a number of events and highlight some of the key themes that emerged over the course of the week.

Powering the Future and Going for Gold

ACICA & CIArb's International Arbitration Conference was the main event of the week. The theme of the Conference was "Powering the Future and Going for Gold: is Arbitration Ready?", exploring the future of arbitration and the opportunities and challenges faced by major sectors, including the energy and construction sectors. It also covered a number of hot topics in the world of sports arbitration, as Brisbane prepares to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Georgia Quick, as ACICA Immediate Past President, was a member of the Conference organising committee and expressed her delight in participating in such a vibrant and successful event. The Conference showcased a diverse array of both international and home-grown speakers and attendees.

Melissa Yeo was a panellist in a session titled "From planning to podium – disputes arising out of the Brisbane Olympics", which focussed on disputes potentially arising from the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games, at 8 years out, 2 years out and immediately prior to/during the Games from both the construction and procurement perspective and the sports law perspective. Melissa emphasised the importance of having consistent dispute clauses across all contracts and ensuring they are fit for purpose. She also discussed Brisbane's commitment to deliver a low-carbon Olympic and Paralympic Games, and how the great work the arbitration community has already done on sustainability can be leveraged to promote arbitration as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism in Olympic contracts.

Promoting international arbitration in the Pacific – Reform and Capacity Building

In an Ashurst event introduced by Jeremy Chenoweth and moderated by Erin Eckhoff, a distinguished panel of experts convened to discuss the current status and future prospects of international arbitration in the Pacific. The discussion underscored the critical need for ongoing reform and capacity building in the region, while also highlighting the importance of cultural sensitivity and local engagement, from foreign investors, legal practitioners, arbitral institutions and arbitrators alike. For further detail see our article summarising the panel event here.

Australia as a seat

Ashurst also hosted (with Jeremy Chenoweth introducing and Georgia Quick as a panellist) the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA) Symposium on "The Explosion of International Arbitration: is Australia well placed to take advantage of this big bang?". The session explored the unique opportunity for Australia - with a judiciary second to none (both in speed of judgment and quality), deep experience in key industry sectors, and an innovative arbitral institution and community (not to mention good infrastructure, political stability, adherence to rule of law, and lack of bribery and corruption) - to take advantage of the unprecedented growth of international arbitration. The discussion highlighted that while the general consensus is that the Australian courts are uniformly pro-arbitration and that Australian practitioners are among the best in the profession both domestically and globally, there is room for the Australian arbitral community to better promote its capabilities.

Wen-Ts'ai Lim participated in a panel on the use of arbitration to resolve disputes arising out of the growing Australia-India relationship. The panel discussion, hosted by the Australian Disputes Centre, was titled "Challenged by a Sticky Wicket?". The panel examined the challenges and opportunities arising from the evolving relationship between Australia and India, the barriers to Indian-seated arbitrations and the opportunity for Australia to bolster its offering as an arbitration hub for incoming Indian business. The panel also discussed Australian foreign investment in India and the regulatory hurdles and tendering delays faced by entities investing in India infrastructure projects.

Better Practice, Better Outcomes: Tools for timely, cost effective and fair arbitral proceedings

Jeremy Chenoweth joined a number of his colleagues from ACICA's Practice and Procedures Board to run a workshop on "Better Practice, Better Outcomes: Tools for timely, cost effective and fair arbitral proceedings". The workshop involved a fictional case study, with the 'arbitrator', 'claimant', 'respondent' and 'ACICA' all sharing insights and 'tips and tricks' on each stage of the arbitral process, and with reference to the various resources in the ACICA Practice & Procedures toolkit. A key takeaway was for parties and their legal representatives to be proactive at every stage of the arbitral process, using the tools available to them to ensure the cost effective and timely resolution of their dispute.

Ashurst's international arbitration group

Ashurst’s global team of arbitration lawyers has extensive experience in developing dispute management strategies as well as conducting complex arbitration proceedings for our clients. We act in commercial and investment arbitrations, and our experience encompasses all of the major international arbitration institutions and rules.

Our global team comprises common law and civil law lawyers across multiple jurisdictions – we operate as a single integrated global team. In Australia, we have a strong presence in all major cities, including Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Canberra.