MULTICULTURAL LANGUAGE SERVICES GUIDELINES FOR AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES The Multicultural language services guidelines for Australian Government agencies The Multicultural language services guidelines for Australian Government agencies (the Guidelines) aim to provide overarching guidance to officers in the Australian Public Service on policies and procedures relating to language service initiatives, such as the use of domestic interpreting and translating services. The target for the Guidelines are those for whom language and culture may present barriers to effective participation in the Australian community. Indigenous languages and AUSLAN are not target groups because they are managed separately. The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is responsible for the development of a whole of government Protocol on Indigenous Interpreting, as part of work underway to develop the National Framework on Indigenous Interpreting with state and territory governments. The Protocol provides overarching guidance to officers in the Australian Public Service on language services for Indigenous communities and complements the Multicultural language services guidelines. Deaf Australia, the national peak organisation for deaf people in Australia has a national policy on interpreting between AUSLAN and English and also a national AUSLAN interpreter register on their website. See For Australian Government agencies that operate in an international environment requiring
WHAT ARE ‘NEW AND EMERGING’ LANGUAGES? A new and emerging language is one which: has only recently (although not exclusively) become a spoken language in Australia has become a spoken language in Australia through the recent arrival of migrants (usually refugee/humanitarian entrants) is not an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language is not widely spoken or commonly known in Australia has not yet reached the stage where academic education or instruction, or NAATI accreditation in translating and interpreting, is readily or widely available in Australia. Due to the changing nature of Australia’s Humanitarian and Migration Programs, the Australian Government is continually encouraging and recruiting interpreters in new and emerging languages. Interpreters in new and emerging languages are critical to recent arrivals accessing Australian Government services in Australia. BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLE - WHAT ARE ‘NEW AND EMERGING’ LANGUAGES? DIAC provides funding for the New Interpreters Project, administered by NAATI, to address the shortage of credentialed interpreters in new and emerging languages. The project aims to increase the number of NAATI-accredited and recognised interpreters in new and emerging languages that are in demand in both metropolitan and selected regional areas of Australia. Project participants receive funding to undertake a preparatory workshop and to meet the other fees associated with applying to NAATI for recognition as an interpreter or for paraprofessional interpreter accreditation testing. WHAT TYPE OF LANGUAGE SERVICE IS REQUIRED? Interpreters can be requested to provide a service on site, via conferencing or over the telephone. In an on-site interpreting setting all parties who wish to speak to one another are located in the same place. Telephone interpreting involves a three-way- conversation between an individual (or group), an interpreter and an officer, all of whom may be in different locations. Video-conference interpreting involves the same process as telephone interpreting, except that all parties are able to view each other, and specific equipment is required. Telephone interpreting Officers should consider telephone interpreting in the instance, unless there is good reason why an on-site interpreter is required. There are several advantages associated with engaging a telephone interpreter (rather than an on-site interpreter), including: an increased pool of available interpreters irrespective of the client location (as their time is used more effectively and travel time is not required) cost effectiveness availability in emergencies and for immediate assistance