Taz Stephens
Macquarie Mediation is a specialist mediation and conflict resolution practice founded on more than 20 years in school leadership, including as a principal. The conflicts that reach formal mediation are not unfamiliar territory — I spent two decades managing versions of them from inside the institution.
The conflicts that affect schools most — the ones with the greatest impact on students, families, and staff — are often the ones that get the least skilled help. Handled too late, too formally, or by people who have never sat inside a school and felt the weight of those decisions. I now work as the neutral party, which is a different role, and in many situations a more useful one.
I have been in your shoes
When you arrive at mediation or conflict coaching, you will not be explaining the dynamics of a school to someone who has only ever read about them. I have been in the office when a staff complaint comes in. I have sat across from the parent who has already decided nothing will change. I have managed the team that stopped speaking to each other, and the complaint that was heading toward the department whether I acted or not.
That does not mean I am on your side. A mediator has to be neutral, and I am. But it does mean I understand what you are navigating, the real constraints, the relationships that have to keep going after the meeting, and what a realistic resolution actually looks like inside a school.
What we specialise in
Macquarie Mediation works across the full conflict continuum for education and workplace settings: from early coaching and professional development through to formal mediation and written agreements.
Education mediation
Family and school disputes, staff complaints, IEP disagreements, principal and parent relationships. Online or in person.
Conflict coaching
1:1 support for leaders dealing with something difficult right now. Prevention in real time.
Workplace mediation
Team breakdowns, interpersonal conflict, and management disputes across all industries.
Workshops & PD
Professional development for schools, systems, principals, and staff. Practical skills, plain English.
Our approach
Mediation works when people feel heard. Before any joint session, we meet with each party separately to understand their perspective, what they need, and what would count as a good outcome for them. That preparation makes the joint session more productive and the agreement more durable.
We do not push people toward an agreement. The agreement, if one is reached, belongs to the people who made it. Our role is to create the conditions for that to happen.
All sessions are confidential. We work online across Australia, and in person across Central West NSW.
Where we work
Based in Central West NSW. Online mediation is available anywhere in Australia via secure video. In-person sessions are available across Warren, Dubbo, Orange, and the broader Central West region.
Taz Stephens
Nationally Accredited Mediator (AMDRAS)
- Nationally Accredited Mediator, AMDRAS
- Master of Educational Leadership
- 20+ years in school leadership, including as principal
- NMAS practitioner standards