Page 198 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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local, national and international legislation, agreements and policies, and we must ensure that we meet these obligations.
I realise that this is easier said than done. Auslan interpreters are in scant supply. In order for them to interpret for major alerts and emergency announcements they must possess the highest level of language competencies and interpreting skills. And of course we need more than one of them. It is tiring work, and the national OH&S standards for interpreters mandate that in many settings two interpreters must work in tandem to reduce physical and mental fatigue, and their welfare is also an important consideration.
I take a moment at this point to acknowledge and thank the Auslan interpreters who worked alongside the Emergency Services Commissioner over the past weeks. I reckon that their contributions were vital and valuable. I thank Minister Gentleman for mentioning them by name, which is obviously more than I am able to do. This is why I have insisted on including an actionable item in the calls in my amendment to the amendment to this motion.
We need to proactively continue strategies, incentives and potentially scholarships to assist Canberrans to become NAATI accredited in Auslan, to build local capability so that next time we are in the midst of a state of alert or emergency we can all be assured that deaf people are getting the same information as everyone else and that Auslan interpreters are not overworked and at the risk of burning out.
I recognise that the ACT makes financial and other contributions towards NAATI and that accreditation lies with this federal entity, but that does not mean that the ACT government should not be doing anything in this regard. It is our community, our own deaf community, that is being served or not served, and we have a role to play. Can I respectfully suggest that we can do more than simply identify suitable people in the community who are willing to be trained and accredited. We could consider scholarships or other financial assistance to support them to do this.
I note with interest that one of the aims of the language services policy is to provide continued funding for 24-hour emergency interpreter service Auslan speakers, and of course we cannot do this without a sufficient number of Auslan interpreters. If the government is serious about achieving this aim, we need to subsidise their training and accreditation. This is actually an issue that has come up in the maternity services inquiry that I am part of on the HACS committee. I am aware that it is a significant issue.
I also note with interest that the Community Services Directorate will work with all directorates to develop practical guidelines in the implementation of language services policy and that each directorate was to have a specific language services plan by November 2019. I trust that this in fact has been the case. At any rate, I look forward to reading each directorate’s plans in their annual reports.
As I have said, I thank Ms Lawder for highlighting the needs of the deaf community, particularly in major emergencies and disasters, and I appreciate that all efforts were made to ensure appropriate interpretation or captioning over the summer. But I
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