Elly Nitschke has been using mediation to assist older people, including those with impaired decision making capacity, and their family members to resolve disputes since 2000. Looking for ways to ensure that older people’s voices are not lost in the midst of conflicts, Elly has used her experience to inform mediation research projects which focused on older people, partnering with the University of South Australia.
Currently, as Senior Project Officer for the South Australian Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), Elly is developing the Office’s Dispute Resolution Service which is a new service conferred on the Office by the Advance Care Directives Act (ACD)2013 , due to come into effect on July 1, 2014.