Agreement · Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution
Heads of agreement signed at the end of a mediation (binding terms of settlement)
Short binding terms of settlement for signing in the mediation room: payment, releases, confidentiality, consent orders, a consent to admit the document to enforce it, and what happens if the formal deed is never signed.
- Kind
- Agreement. A contract between two or more parties.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Australia, New South Wales and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use at the end of a mediation (court-referred or private) when the parties have reached agreement and need a signed, enforceable record before they leave. Use it to bridge to a formal deed of settlement or consent orders, not to replace advice on the final terms.
How AI may be used
AI may fill the template from the agreed term list and check figures, names and dates; the lawyer settles every term with the client in the room and confirms it reflects what was actually agreed before anyone signs.
AI may
- Populate party names, proceeding numbers, amounts and dates from the mediation term list the lawyer has confirmed
- Cross-check payment amounts, instalment dates and interest against the term list and flag any arithmetic that does not reconcile
- List terms in the term list that have no clause yet (for example costs, GST, a tax indemnity, a non-disparagement term)
AI must not
- Must not add, soften or widen a release, indemnity or confidentiality term that the parties did not agree at the mediation
- Must not decide whether the document is binding now or only an agreement to agree; the lawyer chooses the wording in clause 1
- Must not be given the mediator’s private-session notes or the other side’s confidential offers in a tool outside the firm’s approved environment
The lawyer checks
- Clause 1 says plainly that the parties intend to be bound now, even if a formal deed is to follow, and the client understands that
- The release matches the claims actually in dispute, names the right entities and carves out the obligations under this document
- The consent to admission (clause 9) is included so the document can be relied on to enforce it despite mediation privilege
- Signatories have authority (s 127 or an authorised officer), and an insurer’s or funder’s consent has been obtained where required
- Consent orders or a notice of discontinuance are ready, with the date for filing diarised
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution
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- Enforcing a foreign arbitral award in the Federal Court: application checklist (International Arbitration Act 1974 ss 8 and 9)
- Mediation agreement (with confidentiality and recording/AI-notetaker clause)
- Multi-tiered dispute resolution clause (notice, negotiation, mediation, then expert determination or arbitration)
- Redfern schedule for document production requests (with guidance)
- Procedural order (or party agreement) on the use of AI in the arbitration
- Notice and consent for AI transcription or notetaking in mediations and other ADR sessions
All precedents for Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution · Tasks and AI use in this area