Aboriginal Language Interpreters and Translators

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Will the minister update the council on efforts to improve the provision and availability of Aboriginal language interpreters and translators within the state?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. If we are going to be serious about our efforts to close the gap of disadvantage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, we have to address the issue of language barriers. According to the 2011 Census, of the 37,430 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander South Australians, 11.5 per cent spoke an Aboriginal language at home and had varying levels of English.

It is a fundamental question of basic rights and respect that we offer all Australians assistance, if they need it, to communicate with government agencies and communicate effectively when interacting with government agencies and services. As a consequence, the then Labor federal and state governments made a commitment to better address this matter. The result was the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership Agreement.

The policy discussions at both a state and national level confirmed the importance of governments having a clear policy on when and how to use interpreters and translators. After an extensive period of consultation, I am pleased to report that I was able to introduce a South Australian Aboriginal Languages Interpreters and Translators Policy this year.

The focus of this policy is on ensuring that state government agencies are using Aboriginal language interpreters and translators consistently and appropriately. It provides clear objectives and guidelines and principles for using Aboriginal language services as well as easy-to-access contact details for interpreting and translating services to assist agencies to source practitioners when required. The policy and an accompanying guide book is available on the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation website and have been disseminated across the government.

The Aboriginal Interpreting Policy Reference Group is comprised of state government representatives (from the Interpreting and Translating Centre as well key agency officers) and Aboriginal interpreters and translators. The primary purpose of the group is to support the across-government implementation of South Australian policy framework and, at a recent meeting, I am told, the group discussed ways of promoting the inclusion of Aboriginal language interpreting and translating into the planning and delivery of government programs, services and operations.

Parallel with this policy work we are working with the commonwealth and Northern Territory governments to trial a new interpretive model for the APY lands. In order to carry out the trial, the project coordinator and a pool of 31 Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara interpreters have been employed. The scheme has been fully operational since September and bookings are managed through the NTAIS's Darwin office. I am pleased that the South Australian government has been able to contribute to this trial with the provision of office space and short-term accommodation.

In addition, we have assisted by sourcing interpreters from the TAFE SA Diploma of Interpreting course. The focus is on the APY lands and providing support for the project coordinator. It is worth noting that approximately one-third of the interpreters engaged on the trial have been drawn from a pool of 19 TAFE SA graduates, and information received to date suggests that the trial is having a positive impact. The official data indicates that 140 interpreting assignments were completed to the end of May this year. These assignments represented a total of 1,150 interpreting hours. The trial has been so successful that it has been decided to extend it for a further 12 months.

I am also pleased to report that, in direct response to user demand, the trial was expanded to Anangu in Port Augusta and Adelaide in early 2014. We are making real progress in raising awareness and improving the availability of Aboriginal language interpreters and translators across the state and there is every reason to believe that the program will go from strength to strength into the future.