At the Welcome Reception of the 11th Australian Arbitration Week (AAW), ACICA announced the launch of the ACICA Pacific Island Practitioner Scholarship (Scholarship).
The Scholarship is supported by the ACICA Education Fund (Fund). The Fund established by ACICA comprises profits from the ICCA Congress hosted by ACICA in Sydney in 2018.
ACICA will offer two biennial scholarships to legal practitioners who are admitted in South Pacific Island jurisdictions. Scholarship recipients will be:
- awarded the opportunity to attend AAW including the ACICA & Ciarb Australia International Arbitration Conference, the lead event of AAW;
- supported by the ACICA Secretariat to obtain an understanding of ACICA’s work;
- offered the opportunity to be a part of an ADR practitioner network that ACICA seeks to encourage in the South Pacific; and
- offered the opportunity to learn more about and participate in ICCA activities directed at aspiring arbitration practitioners, such as the Young ICCA mentoring program, the ICCA Inclusion Fund and the Johnny Veeder Fellowship Program.provided with information or inclusion in relevant ICCA programs.
Applications will open in 2024.
Donald Donovan, who served as ICCA President from 2016–2018 and presided over the 2018 Sydney Congress, lauded the effort: “I congratulate ACICA on its decision to build on the spectacular success of the Sydney Congress by establishing the Fund, which will ensure that the Congress’s success has a permanent impact on international arbitration practice in the South Pacific. ICCA and ACICA are completely aligned in their goal to build capacity in the region by helping arbitration practitioners from the South Pacific participate in Australian Arbitration Week and thereby gain both the learning and networking opportunities the event offers”.
Professor Doug Jones AO, Chair of the ICCA 2018 Congress Host Committee, had this to say: “I am delighted to see the vision we had for the Fund come to life through the establishment of this scholarship. The ICCA Congress in Sydney showcased to the world the strength of Australia’s contribution to international arbitration. The Scholarship is one of the lasting and meaningful ways Australia’s reach can be used to support the development of arbitration in the region”.
