Page 195 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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hearing community during the state of alert. When the New South Wales Deaf Society could not provide an interpreter the ESA would re-record the press conference with a remote interpreter and publish this a short time later.
The ESA Commissioner and emergency controller during the ACT state of alert and state of emergency, Ms Georgeina Whelan, actively thanked the interpreters after each broadcast, formally and informally acknowledging the work that they had undertaken in support of the ESA and the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in the ACT. Commissioner Whelan also worked proactively with interpreters prior to broadcasts to ensure that messages were clearly expressed and the importance and the tones of each message were clearly conveyed. The lack of Auslan interpreters with appropriate accreditation and training is a national problem that requires a national response.
Once again, thank you to the Auslan interpreters who assisted the ESA—Mandy, Alana, Bek, Rhonda and Susan—over the past weeks. I believe the ACT government and the ESA have demonstrated to the community that we have learned a lot from 2003 and used those lessons to implement actions for improvements. Part of these improvements has been the communication with the public, and the ESA has done an outstanding job throughout the bushfire season, particularly with the recent Orroral Valley fire in Namadgi National Park, in communicating with our community.
As the ESA do with all major incidents, they will review what they did with this bushfire and storm season and what they can improve on. They will do this in the knowledge that the time will come for them to be put to the test again. Their aim is to perform even better next time for all members of our community, including the deaf and hard of hearing. I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Omit all text after paragraph (1)(d), substitute:
“(e) Auslan interpreters with level 3 accreditation are in short supply in the ACT and Australia, resulting in an interpreter not being available during a video produced by the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) in relation to smoke hazards prior to the announcement of the State of Alert on 2 January 2020;
(f) all efforts were made to ensure that appropriate interpretation or captioning was provided during press conferences, announcements and briefings following the announcement of the State of Alert on 2 January 2020; and
(g) the ACT ESA has a memorandum of understanding and a partnership agreement with the Deaf Society of NSW for the provision of Auslan interpreters to attend media conferences during major emergencies and disasters in the ACT. The Deaf Society of NSW is the peak body for the Deaf and people with a hearing impairment in NSW and the ACT;
(2) further notes that:
(a) in some cases an Auslan interpreter may be present, but is not visible to the viewer because of decisions made by media personnel;
(b) obviously, members of the Deaf community cannot use the radio for information updates; and
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