Page 197 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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must ensure accessible communication for all significant announcements, not just those occurring in a state of alert or a state of emergency.
You may have noticed that the use of Auslan interpreters is expanding both across the nation, for significant announcements and emergency updates, and also in different contexts such as cricket matches, theatre interpreting and even, I understand, the upcoming Rod Stewart tour at the end of this year. What this does say is that there is increasing awareness of the needs of people who are deaf and the need to take additional steps to ensure that they can understand the messages being delivered. As a society, we must get better at including everybody, regardless of their ability, and we must understand that people with a disability do not need to adjust; we do!
I do not think there is any lack of will in this regard, but there is definitely a lack of suitably qualified interpreters, and that is where the problem and solution lie. The lack of suitably qualified interpreters has been raised by the Greens previously in this Assembly, and I remind members that there is a specific item in the parliamentary agreement for the Eighth Assembly in that regard. It calls on the ACT government to introduce 10 new interpreter scholarships to assist people to become NAATI-qualified interpreters in languages with identified shortages—NAATI being the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters. At that time, languages with identified shortages included Dinka and Urdu. If that agreement item were still in play today I am sure we would all agree that there is a distinct lack of Auslan interpreters.
Additionally, the government response to the HACS report on annual and financial reports 2014-15 agreed with the recommendation that CSD should develop a strategy to attract more interpreters, particularly where there is a demand but a lack of available interpreters. That year the community interpreter preparation program in CSD provided scholarships for members of emergency community groups to train as interpreters and translators in NAATI, and 19 students were enrolled. I have not been able to find any further evidence of the ongoing nature of this work, except that in 2018-19 CSD reported on the development of the ACT language services policy that was tabled in October 2018 as part of responding to the HACS recommendations made in 2014-15.
It does take a while. But it does show what can be done when there is a deliberate strategy or program in place. Without it, the community relies on chance to find a suitable interpreter, and that is why I have included it in my amendment. We need to get back to having a deliberate and targeted local strategic action to ensure that there are enough Auslan interpreters in the ACT and that more work needs to be done to continue over and above the development of the language services policy.
Do not get me wrong, the language services policy is good. It is designed to be inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, migrant and deaf communities and individuals with multiple and complex communication needs. The policy recognises that ACT government directorates have responsibilities and obligations under local, national and international legislation, agreements and policies, to ensure that all Canberrans are treated equally and have the same opportunities regardless of their English proficiency. That is my point. We have obligations under
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