ABORIGINAL INTERPRETERS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:13): Will the Attorney-General inform the house about what is being taken up by the government to improve access to Aboriginal language interpreting services in the South Australian courts?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:13): On 2 June I was pleased to announce, as part of the state budget, that more than $500,000 will be invested in improving Aboriginal interpreting services in South Australian courts. I am confident that this measure will ensure that Aboriginal people in the court system—whether they be victims, witnesses or offenders—will have better access to an important tool for the delivery of justice. About $520,000 will be spent over four years to attract as interpreters suitably skilled people who are already employed within the South Australian public sector.

From July 2007 to February 2008, only 70 per cent of court requests to the Interpreting and Translating Centre (ITC) for interpreters of Aboriginal languages were met, compared with 97 per cent of requests for other languages such as Vietnamese and Italian. I am hopeful that through this program we can improve the proportion of court requests that are met. In one example of how the shortfall in meeting requests affects the courts, late last year Supreme Court Justice Nyland highlighted the lack of suitable and available interpreters in Aboriginal languages for a matter before her when sentencing an Aboriginal elder to eight years gaol for trading petrol to sniff for sex with three underage girls. Extra Aboriginal language interpreters in our courtrooms mean that cases can be dealt with more swiftly and with less stress for everyone. It could also lead to modest savings, because in cases requiring interpreting skills delays will be reduced and resources will not be wasted because trials will be abandoned less often.

There will be a focus on providing additional interpreters in the APY lands, Port Augusta and Adelaide. There are existing employees in fields such as nursing, social work and teaching who have the language skills. They will be encouraged to do interpreting work as it arises with a generous attraction allowance. With three additional interpreters, the ITC has told me it could close the gap of unfulfilled requests for interpreting services. Under the plan, the interpreter's primary agency will be reimbursed by the ITC for the salary equivalent of the time each employee spends on interpreting tasks.