Mediation and Conciliation are pretty much the same. They both involve getting a neutral party to help resolve the dispute.
The only difference is that Conciliation involves a dude from the Industral Relations Commission. Where as Mediation can be anybody from the outside of the business.
Yep thats right ... mediation is an objective 3rd party, whereas conciliation is a representative of the AIRC that provides non-binding advice. By that I mean, arbitration is legally binding, while conciliation is aiding in making a decicion.
With conciliation the third party doesn't have to be present in the dispute resolution process. It can be arranged in a way that the two disputing parties (ie.employer and employee) meet by themselves and then report back to the third party on the outcome.