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Structural mediation ‘critical’ for big banks: Slater and Gordon
Introducing formal structural mediation processes, through which independent advice is offered to customers, is how Australia’s big banks can show they have “turned over a new leaf”, according to national firm Slater and Gordon.
Jerome Doraisamy
Slater and Gordon chief executive John Somerville said that as the dust settles on the banking royal commission, it will be “critical” that mediation remains part of the discussion.
“If there is one thing the royal commission has demonstrated, it is that the power imbalance between customer and bank is too wide. You can’t rely on that power dynamic to deliver justice in the form of fair remediation.”
Such structured mediation processes should involve a “qualified, independent third party being engaged by the banks to help aggrieved customers understand what happened to their money, what their rights are, and what a just way forward would entail,” the firm posited.
With said mediation, Mr Somerville warned, the flow of class actions against the big banks would be “relentless”.
“Class actions are obviously a model we are extremely comfortable with and they do deliver justice, but it can be a lengthy process. It would be preferable for all concerned if the banks took a more proactive approach, as without just remediation, the flow of class actions would likely be relentless,” he said.
“We will be engaging with the banks and encouraging them to embrace this model, which has worked well both here and overseas.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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