Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Translators andinterpreters aspireto be fully recognised asprofessionals andto be rewardedaccordingly.
A significant step in this direc-tion was recently achieved whenAUSIT was accepted as amember of Professions Australia,the peak national body forprofessional associations. Itopenly confirms our status andgives us access to resources andopportunities to pursue majorissues, united with other profes-sions.
In order to ensure our presence isnoticed in all relevant forums andto help lift the profile of AUSIT,I have also been talking withmajor industry players in severalstates.
In a meeting held in February, Iconveyed to NAATI's CEO ourconcerns regarding NAATI'sinsistence that their re-accredita-tion proposal will go ahead. Thisplan would affect us all, withoutnecessarily benefiting the profes-sion. Whilst AUSIT supportsprofessional development andon-going practice as the hall-marks of professionals, we planto develop our own criteria,based on our knowledge andexperience as industry practi-tioners. A working group iscurrently formulating a compre-hensive proposal that willrecognise different kinds of prac-titioners, with professionaldevelopment and networkingopportunities for all.
Extensive representations weremade to Centrelink when newterms and conditions for inter-preters were issued in Januaryunder the pressure of a tightdeadline, with no prior industryconsultation, no room for indi-vidual or group negotiation, nopay adjustment in sight and manyonerous clauses on practitioners.The legal advice we obtained isnow accessible in the Log-insection of the AUSIT website.Much has been learned from thisexercise and the Pay andConditions Committee will soonoutline a strategy.
These meetings convinced methat AUSIT needs to continu-ously promote the profession inorder to achieve the status andthe recognition we want. End-users and clients must be madeaware of the benefits that ourprofession brings to them andlearn how to obtain the bestservice at the right price. Anational program of professionaldevelopment and regular eventswould anchor our standards andconfirm our commitment toquality.
To structure ourselves accord-ingly, we have to secure theservices and resources necessaryto our activities, moving awayfrom volunteer contributions.AUSIT's tiny budget is to begradually brought in line withour professional objectives.Membership fees have been staticfor four years and need toprogressively catch up.Advertising revenue has alreadybeen obtained and more will besought.
From the President
National NewsletterTHE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS INC.
Volume 12, Number 1, March 2004
continued on page 2
SPECIALPAY & CONDITIONS
ISSUE
In this Issue
From the President 1
Who's Who 2
Member Profile 2
Excellence Awards 3
A Victory in Acronym Hell 4
Pay & Conditions Supplement 5
Branch News 12
FIT Asian Forum 13
Professional Development 14
Back Office 15
2
How to contact AUSIT
National Telephone Number: 1800 284 181Website: www.ausit.orgNorthern Region (ACT, NSW, QLD) Southern Region (NT, SA, Tas., Vic., WA):PO Box 5108 PO Box 1070Turramurra South NSW 2074 Blackburn North VIC 3130E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
The regional administrators, Tineke Millard (Northern Region) and David Connor (Southern Region), will be happy to assist you with membership inquiries / renewals and all other administrative matters.
Who’s Who
PRESIDENT:
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:
VICE-PRESIDENT:
SECRETARY:
TREASURER:
PRINCIPAL DELEGATES
ACT
NSW :
VIC/TAS:
WA:
QLD:
SA/NT:
NORTHERN NATIONALADMINISTRATOR:
SOUTHERN NATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR:
Yveline [email protected]
Moreno [email protected]
Annamaria [email protected]
Tineke [email protected] [email protected]
Mike Ovington [email protected]
Barbara [email protected]
Chris [email protected]
Younghi [email protected]
John [email protected]
Tineke [email protected]@ausit.org
David [email protected]@ausit.org
NATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBERS 2003-2004
With these resources and the on-going support of ourcommittees and members, we will be well positioned tocomplete structural projects for the benefit of theprofession and to deliver the services and the profes-sional image AUSIT wants to be known for.
Yveline PillerPresident
Member Profile
Greetings to all from Ita Szymanska, the new Chair of AUSITQueensland branch.
Ita is a linguist, teacher and translator (Polish). Since 1987 Itahas practised as a translator in government, community andprivate sectors. She has translated documents for newlyarrived immigrants from Poland, works on social topics, tech-nical texts and participated in providing major multilingualinformation to ethnic communities.
Prior to migrating to Australia, Ita managed private Englishtraining services in Poland and taught Polish and cross-culturalawareness in the US. In Australia, Ita designed and conductedshort ESL courses for non-English speaking background adultlearners in the migrant services sector, developed and providedtraining for Queensland community interpreters in preparationfor NAATI testing and designed a Working with Interpretersshort course which she delivered to Queensland’s public andcommunity sectors.
She is a member of NAATI Regional Advisory Committee(Qld) and other networks aiming at developing and promotingthe translating and interpreting industry in Queensland.
From the President
continued from page 1
Gaining public recognition for whatwe do is a key element of enhancingthe image of our profession. Bypublicly celebrating our achieve-ments, we can create moreawareness for the significant roleour industry plays in Australiansociety.
The AUSIT Excellence Awards(Victoria/Tasmania) will be anannual award to promote and show-case professional excellence andexemplary business practices ofTranslators and Interpreters,language service providers and insti-tutions that are part of or related tothe translating and interpretingindustry. There will be a number ofawards to recognise different kindsof contributions to the industry,such as Excellence in Translating,Excellence in Interpreting andExcellence in Delivering Translatingand Interpreting Services.
Ms Sarina Phan, Chairperson of theAUSIT Vic/Tas branch, believesthat having our own Awards willhelp our profession become muchmore visible. She said that despitethe fact that in Australia inter-preters and translators have beenfacilitating communication insettings such as legal, health andbusiness for many years, theirefforts should be given much moreprominence.
Interpreters and translators fulfil anessential role in removing thecommunication barrier. They arehighly skilled professionals doingextraordinary things or ordinarythings extraordinarily well and welook forward to receiving nomina-tions from all walks of the industry.With the different categories a widespectrum of achievements will behonoured which in turn helps publi-cising T&I competencies and goodbusiness practices.
The Awards were announced at theAUSIT (Vic/Tas) End of YearCocktail Party on Friday, 12December 2003. While theExcellence Awards campaign isspearheaded by the AUSIT Vic/Tasbranch, we hope that otherbranches will embrace the conceptand join forces with us. The credi-bility and transparency of theExcellence Awards process is crucialto the success of the AUSITExcellence Awards to be presentedin Australia. We would thereforelike to call on all AUSIT membersand those with an interest in theindustry to get involved – be it by
nominating a potential project or bylending the subcommittee yourexpertise in formulating detailedassessment criteria. A jury made upof representatives from the variousfields of the T&I industry is yet tobe appointed.
The submission deadline for theinaugural AUSIT ExcellenceAwards (Vic/Tas) is on 1 September2004 and the Awards presentationwill be held in December 2004.Details on the submission processwill be available on the AUSITwebsite (www.ausit.org) in lateMarch 2004.
To share your views and/orexpertise, please contact SilkeGebauer (Public Relations, Vic/Tasbranch) on [email protected] is acting as coordinator of theworking group currently consistingof Moreno Giovannoni (ImmediatePast President), Eva Hussain (ViceChairperson Vic/Tas branch) andLouis Vorstermans (NationalTreasurer).
3
AUSIT Excellence Awards - Celebrating our Achievements
Newsletter Contacts and Editorial Policy
National Newsletter Editorial Team:Anne Richardson, Editor Niki Baras, Design and Production Louise Dyer, ProofreadingParticular thanks are also due to David Connor for his assistance in liaising with the printers.
Contributions deadline for next issue: 14 May 2004.
Please make every effort to ensure that all contributions reach the editor no later than the due date toavoid delaying publication.
Please send all contributions to the Editor E-mail: [email protected] Tel./fax: (03) 9886 5282The AUSIT national newsletter is published four times a year. Letters to the Editor, short articles and items for the calendar of events and othersections are invited. The Editor reserves the right not to publish or to edit any item submitted for publication. Opinions expressed are those ofthe authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Editor or of AUSIT or its executive.
Apart from our eBulletin in English,AUSIT also runs 15 specific languagediscussion groups called eForums (oreFora, if you prefer!). You can discussterminology and write in your ownlanguage. Simply contact yourAdministrator for more details on howto join them.
There will be a number ofawards to recognise different
kinds of contributions to the industry
4
In 2003, a battle was fought andwon on behalf of our industry, thesignificance of which has not beenfully understood. It is a complexissue, and is buried in acronyms.Before I get to the good news, bearwith the following backgroundbrief.
The Australian National TrainingAuthority (ANTA) overseestraining and education in Australia,which is delivered within thecontext of the National TrainingFramework (NTF). The NTF isbased on Training Packages - thenew term for curricula - whichcomprise Competency Standards.Training Packages are developed byIndustry Training Advisory Boards(ITABs) who submit them toANTA for national endorsementand delivery through RTOs(Registered TrainingOrganisations). The Public ServiceITAB is PSETA; Public Educationand Training Australia. A set ofCompetency Standards is a highlystructured document consisting ofa “key statement” followed by“units” and “elements” that definethe skills and knowledge requiredin a particular occupation.Increasingly, TAFE and other voca-tional courses are designed toachieve outcomes defined byCompetency Standards, whichshape modern education, training,and occupational assessment inAustralia.
Early in 2003 our sister organisa-tion, WAITI (the WesternAustralian Institute of Translatorsand Interpreters), started a projectto develop competency standardsfor translation and interpreting. Intheir preliminary i`nquiries theydiscovered to their considerablesurprise that a project was alreadyunderway – and no one had
consulted the industry!
PSETA was reviewing its TrainingPackage and had decided to whipup some Competency Standards toallow public servants doing ad hocinterpreting and translation toclaim some sort of recognition fortheir status. PSETA engaged severalconsultants (confirmed to be igno-rant of T&I), convened two focusgroups in Adelaide - only one ofwhich included practitioners - andhad produced four (risible) draftstandards, before anyone gotthrough to them that in fact mostT&I practitioners are NOT publicservants and that there are severalgeneral and special interest profes-sional bodies around the nationrepresenting the REAL industrywho perhaps should have beenconsulted first!
It took a vigorous four-monthcampaign, combining the forces ofWAITI, AUSIT, ASLIA andvarious friends and supporters -including the TAFE network andthe Kimberley Interpreting Service- before PSETA got the message.The campaign was led by the inde-fatigable Heather Glass of WAITI,who as well as bombarding thebastions of bureaucracy, had tosimultaneously educate knuckle-heads like me as to the truemeaning of all this. Key elements inthe campaign were the expert inputof a consultant engaged by WAITI,
and a meeting in Canberra attendedby Heather, myself, MichaelGrunwald from AUSIT NSW, andMandy Dolejsi of ASLIA National,with some timely assistance fromSherrill Bell of NAATI.
PSETA has formally announcedthey have removed the Standardsfrom their Training Package. Hadthey been successful, they wouldhave created a dual pathway to T&I“competency” based on completelyunusable standards that would havecompromised existing TAFEcourses, and ultimately, the value ofNAATI accreditation.
This is a very important victory. Itclears the way for our industry totake complete responsibility fordeveloping the one authoritativedefinition of what it means to be aninterpreter or translator inAustralia. The project – hosted byWAITI - is open to all, andeveryone is encouraged to visit thewebsite athttp://www.waiti.iinet.net.au toregister their involvement.
This article was first submitted forpublication in the December 2003issue of the Newsletter but was heldover until now due to lack of space.Apologies to Chris Poole and allothers concerned for the late publica-tion of this item (Editor).
A Victory in Acronym HellBy Chris Poole
This is a very important victory.It clears the way for ourindustry to take complete
responsibility for developing theone authoritative definition of
what it means to be an interpreter or translator in
Australia.
5
It is with particular pride and pleasure that I presentthis special issue on Pay and Conditions. Neverbefore has AUSIT dedicated so much space in itsnewsletter to promoting this hot issue.
To help achieve more, a structure has been set upto support the tireless efforts of our volunteers. Payand Conditions now have:
• a formal Committee, facilitated by Immediate PastPresident, Moreno Giovannoni in Melbourne andchaired by myself from Sydney,
• a dedicated website section, with lots of informa-tion for members, a small budget,
• a regular newsletter feature and
• this special issue as promised to the Committeewhen we met in December in Melbourne.
Right from the start, the Committee has been busywith substantial issues. We wanted to be presentand visible where Pay and Conditions are underthreat.
In this issue, read about the pioneering efforts ofour South Australian branch, the Centrelink inter-preters’ contract in NSW, the efforts of the Victorianbranch committee on CHIS’ closing down, andmuch more.
You can help by giving a copy of this newsletter toany non-members you know. All practitionersshould learn what is happening in the profession, sowe can join forces where it counts.
On behalf of AUSIT members, I’d like to expressheart-felt thanks to those who have already workedso hard for the benefit of all:
Niki Baras,George Ishkan, John Gare, MonikaMayson, Pavlinka Georgiev, Silvana Pavlovska,Moreno Giovannoni, Nella Schulz, Kass Halastanis,Vivian Stevenson, Mary Heath, Sarah Walls,Annamaria Arnall, Tineke Millard, David Connor.
Yveline PillerNational President
SPECIAL PAY AND CONDITIONS SUPPLEMENT
In line with AUSIT’s Constitution, the Pay andConditions Committee’s aims are:
a) to carry out an annual review of pay and condi-tions for interpreters and translators in Australiaand to report to the Annual General Meeting withrecommendations for action;
b) to negotiate working conditions and remunerationwith key service users.
After meetings with the Australian Services Union(ASU) and the Community & Public Sector Union,the Committee is examining two proposals forprotecting the working conditions of interpreters andtranslators:
Option 1 - Registration as an Industrial Organisation
AUSIT could apply to become a registeredorganisation to represent the industrial interestsof interpreters and translators.
Assuming legislative requirements are met andobjections settled, AUSIT could then seek to
establish a national award with major employers.
The Australian Services Union could conductthis work at a fee for service.
The Writers’ Guild and The Rugby Players’Association are examples of registered organisa-tions. AUSIT would simply add another functionto the range of services it provides to members.
Option 2 - ASU Membership
Alternatively, AUSIT members could becomeASU members at a proportion of the union fee(approx: $350) depending on weekly hours. TheASU would represent interpreters and translatorsin the process of making an award.
Any decision along these lines would need to beapproved by a general meeting of members. TheCommittee will soon meet with the Union again toassess the issues and to report to AUSIT’s NationalCouncil.
EXAMINING THE OPTIONS:
6
On January 28, President YvelinePiller and AUSIT member VivianStevenson met with three seniorCentrelink representatives.
Centrelink’s answers to members’concerns over the new inter-preters’ contract were as follows:
- Pay levels: Centrelink said veryclearly that there is no plan toupdate pay levels (unchangedfor at least 5 years).
- Superannuation: Centrelink willcontinue to pay 9% super forsole traders/individuals.
- Worker’s compensation,professional indemnity insur-ance: not provided
- Public liability insurance:applies on Centrelink premisesonly
- The Centrelink DevelopmentAgreement (EnterpriseBargaining Agreement) doesnot apply.
- Onerous clauses (access tocontractor’s premises, intellec-tual property, solvency,indemnity of legal costs, longcore hours): explained away as“already implicit in the currentcontract”, “standard clause”,“has never been used” or“unlikely to ever be used”.
Notes:
Centrelink makes negligible paydifferentiation between NAATIlevels and is not concerned aboutthe lack of experience or qualityof newly accredited or non-accredited interpreters.Centrelink’s $4M budget for over2,000 interpreters represents anaverage income of $2,000 p.a perinterpreter, hardly enough tocover the various insurance policies.
Update:
According to legal advice received byAUSIT, the Centrelink contract islegal because it breaks no laws. Notbecause it is a moral document. It justdoesn’t break the law.
Our legal advice also suggests that itis not illegal for AUSIT to commencenegotiation on behalf of a group ofmembers who have each signed theCentrelink contract individually.AUSIT is examining this option.
Centrelink representatives seemedsomewhat unsettled by AUSIT’sactions, limited as they were.Centrelink offered to meet inMelbourne with the Pay andConditions Committee.
Centrelink has started a review of thetranslator’s contract.
CENTRELINK CONTRACTS – PRESIDENT YVELINE PILLER MEETSCENTRELINK MULTICULTURAL SERVICES
STD - on-Site, on-Time and on-Demand
AUSIT members would be awareof recent efforts by AUSIT torepresent concerns about inter-preter pay and conditions to amajor service user, Centrelink,which recently invited interpretersto sign new contracts.A report published by AUSIT lastyear, Australian InterpreterRemuneration 1993-2003,(researched and written by JohnGare, a member of the Pay andConditions Committee), showedan undeniable erosion of pay andconditions across the board, with
the economics of working as acommunity interpreter becomingunviable. The new Centrelinkinitiative promises more of thesame.
Access and equity policy meansCentrelink has to provide inter-preters on-Site, on-Time andon-Demand - what I term ‘STD’.Indeed, at a recent meetingbetween AUSIT and Centrelinkmuch of the time was taken up byCentrelink explaining its difficul-ties in guaranteeing STD serviceacross the nation.
However, while Centrelink (andother agencies) express a prefer-
ence for NAATI L3 accreditation,they will happily engage L2s andeven unaccredited people, whomthey term “Level Zeros” (half theCentrelink panel of 2100 inter-preters fits these latter twocategories).
Furthermore, there is no recogni-tion for professional developmentof any kind and therefore noincentive to maintain skills.
Interpreting is not a free marketservice
Community interpreting is anessential service that was createdby the Government – there are no
Community Interpreting in Australia – NAATI Level Zeroby Vivian Stevenson, Pay and Conditions Committee, NSW
Continued on page 8
7
Community Interpreting and Money
(Community Interpreting is inter-preting in health, welfare andlegal contexts, as opposed tobusiness).
When the Victorian HealthMinister, Bronwyn Pike, said onJon Faine’s morning program(26/2/04) that the ‘budget forinterpreter services was beingmaintained”, did she know thatinterpreters now earn 30% lessthan they did ten years ago? (Seethe recent AUSIT report onInterpreter Remuneration on theAUSIT web site).
If the Victorian Government hasbeen putting money into inter-preting, it has certainly not goneinto interpreters’ pockets.
It was the Kennett Governmentthat privatised the industry(except for the Central HealthInterpreter Service – CHIS - theclosure of which was announcedlast week) and the present LaborGovernment has continued tounder-fund interpreting.
AUSIT has no problem with theagencies who tender for the work– they are simply running theirbusinesses as best they can. It’sthe Government that provides –or doesn’t provide - the money torun the system. It’s the systemthat is bad.
Community Interpreting and Quality
The Victorian Governmentoutsources interpreting and payslip service to the quality of the
service it gets back. If you have aworkforce delivering a vitalcommunity service, and its remu-neration drops 30% over 10 yearsyou have to ask yourself what ishappening to the quality of theservice that gets delivered.
Many AUSIT members havedropped out of community inter-preting.
The Minister didn’t say on radiothat all agencies who hire inter-preters have an escape clause intheir government agreements,which says they will provide anaccredited interpreter providedthey can get one.
There are two levels of accredita-tion. Interpreters accredited at thelower level are being used moreand more often – even in estab-lished languages like Italian andGreek where there are plenty ofqualified people available to inter-pret.
What next?
The Victorian Government needsto:
1) Review its outsourcing and itsquality control measures,including the interpretingbudget it pays to contractholders so the contract holderscan in turn pay the workforce;otherwise all they’re getting fortheir peanuts are moremonkeys.
2) Ensure its own access andequity guidelines are followedto ensure that users of inter-preting services employinterpreters with the appro-priate skills and that
interpreters are used as amatter of course, and childrenand friends are not asked to dothe interpreting.
Examples of Bad Practice
The following cases reported byAUSIT members highlight thecrisis in community interpretingthroughout Australia.
Health Sector
• The TAC uses a husband tointerpret for the wife. Husbandand wife have a serious rela-tionship problem. Hedeliberately misinterprets whatshe is saying. She is notassertive enough to complain.
• A Victorian pain managementclinic routinely sends notes inEnglish to all non English-speaking clients to ensure thatthey bring a family member or afriend for their next appoint-ment, as the hospital does notfund interpreters.
• A few weeks ago a patient whohad been seen at a VictorianPublic Hospital for testicularcancer appeared on ABC talk-back radio. He told listenersabout his 12 year old daughterbeing asked by hospital author-ities to interpret for him.
WorkCover
• The doctor says to the client:“How long have you been livingin Australia?” She says thatshe’s been here 15 years, towhich the doctor replies: “Idon’t think you need an inter-preter. Your English seemsperfect to me”.
• Half way through the appoint-ment the patient is asked to goto another room and change.The interpreter is asked to go
This is a summary of a longer overview presented to ABC talkback radio in February 2004 prior to members of the Payand Conditions Committee appearing on talkback to explain AUSIT’s concerns about the poor standards of servicebeing delivered in Victoria. See the AUSIT web site for a press release on Pay and Conditions and the full text of thisoverview.
THE CURRENT SITUATION IN VICTORIAN INTERPRETING
Continued on page 8
8
with her to “help her getundressed and stay there incase she needs any help”.
Family Court
• According to Family CourtChief Justice AlastairNicholson, the court has aconsiderable shortage of qual-ified interpreters and a seniorFamily Court staff membersaid children as young as 10had interpreted for parents.Justice Nicholson said peoplewere being forced to discussintimate details in front of theirchildren and other relatives.
Magistrates Court
• A Chinese lawyer alwaystranslates his clients’ docu-ments although he is not anaccredited translator. He thenasks his clients to sign a docu-ment stating they are accuratetranslations. Bi-lingual lawyerswho are not accredited inter-preters interpret for theirclients in courts and magis-trates allow this to happen.
Supreme Court
• A judge tells the defencelawyer: “Your client doesn’tneed a professional Interpreter.He can get a friend or a familymember to help him nexttime”.
From a local newspaper in Ryde,NSW:
"Gladesville police are seekingvolunteers who speak fluent Englishand another language to develop aregister of local residents willing toassist in dealing with victims ofcrime. Once established, police maycall upon a volunteer on the registerby phone to help in translating infor-mation to victims of crime. Alllanguages are sought after, howevertranslators in immediate needinclude Korean, Mandarin andCantonese speakers."
free market forces at work incommunity interpreting andwithout a minimum interpreterrate of pay (such as might beprovided by the old-fashionedaward concept), private andpublic sector agencies can payonly what the Governments (stateand federal) make available intheir budgets.
This is incontrovertible: there areno jobs for community inter-preters other than Governmentones. It is misleading to comparethem to other trades or servicessuch as electricians, cleaners orIT specialists - all of whom haveoptions outside the governmentambit and whose work may notbe performed by unlicensed/unqualified persons.
How do users of interpretersensure costs are kept down? Asinterpreters drop out of thesystem because of the poor payand conditions, state and federalusers of interpreters simplydemand that NAATI continue totest new people willing to workfor less.
Interpreters as ducks
The interpreter is treated as acurious mixture of employee(uniform, dictated pay rates, andstrict compliance conditions –including discretionary ‘entrance’examination, i.e. NAATI) and inde-pendent contractor – with all theattendant responsibilities ofcompetence, training, record-keeping, legal advice, travel,equipment (telephone, mobile,computer, internet) that producesignificant overheads. Yet s/he
can only ever work for Centrelinkor other Federal and Statebodies. To maintain that thecommunity interpreter is an ‘inde-pendent contractor’ is a fiction.We all know that if it walks,quacks and looks like a duckthen it’s a duck.
What is needed
We need:
• a general recognition that thewhole contractor notion is asham, that interpreters are aspecies of public servant thathas been created to provide aservice which interpreters can’tsell elsewhere.
• an award rate forCommonwealth and stateinterpreting jobs. Any agency,government or private,supplying interpreting servicesmust pay the award, and factorit into its cost base.
Finally, interpreters need not worryabout re-accreditation. Just let youraccreditation lapse and you’ll stillhave a job and a future as a LevelZero with Centrelink.
From page 6
Community Interpreting
From page 7
Victorian Interpreting
The AUSIT e-BulletinConditions of Use are now inforce and can be accessed on thewebsite. Space permitting, theywill be published in full in thenext newsletter.
9
The following are excerpts from 774ABC Melbourne “Mornings withJon Faine” Thursday, 26 February2004, a Melbourne radio program.One major talkback issue concernedthe closure of CHIS (Central HealthInterpreter Service) by the VictorianGovernment. Kassiani Halastanis isa member of the Health ServicesUnion and the AUSIT National Payand Conditions Committee.Transcribed by John Gare. See theAUSIT web site for the full text.
Jon Faine …. We’re going to tellyou a story about anotherVictorian state government cut-back. This time, interpreters inhospitals. Apparently it’s going tobe outsourced or privatised orsomething similar. You’d havethought that was a fundamentalright and a basic service thatGovernment would provide,wouldn’t you? Kass, in Richmond.‘Morning, Kass.
Kass Good morning, Jon. I’m aqualified interpreter and haveworked in the public health sectoron a full-time, part-time andcasual basis for a number ofyears, and I’m seriouslyconcerned with a couple of theissues that the Minister raised.She did say that CHIS hasbecome unviable... that’s onlybecause CHIS is the only agencythat pays interpreters at awardrates. It’s an open competitivemarket that the Government hasendorsed for the various inter-preting services to compete in ...and the only way that other serv-ices ... including VITS ... havebecome competitive, is becausethey pay interpreters at belowaward rates…
JF. So have they been undercut-ting CHIS?
K. Basically that’s it.
JF. So how much less do you getpaid if you’re … if you’re bookedby another agency instead ofCHIS?
K. If you’re booked by anotheragency you can be paidanywhere between five, ten orfifteen dollars less and there is noWorkCover and no super paid toyou…
JF. Does it mean that peopledon’t want to do the work ... It’snot worth doing it if you’re forcedto do it as a contractor?
K. Yes. I’ve been working in theindustry for about seven yearsnow... and I’m seriously consid-ering exiting the industry... Itwould probably pay me more towork as a courier... I’d get paidtwenty-five dollars an hour if Iworked as a courier... Where theMinister gave assurances that inpublic hospitals there will beaccredited interpreters alwaysavailable... I ... beg to differ. Ihave been asked many times byvarious departments in hospitalsto explain to patients that, whenthey come for their admission orfor their radiology procedure … isit possible for them to bring arelative …or a neighbour, to dothe interpreting, because thehospital can’t afford [to pay].
JF. That’s totally unprofessional.
K. One hospital I know has itclearly spelt out, in writing, wherepatients could bring, for radiology
procedures and admissions, theirfamily or their friends in …
JF. Well, if you’d give us a copy ofthat document, I’m happy to putit to the Minister when we speakto her next. Thank you Kass. Veryinteresting to hear ... there, therehad to be more to it than met theeye, and now you’ve explainedwhat the missing element was.
Note: A few days later a patient whohad been seen at a Victorian PublicHospital for testicular cancerappeared on the same radio program.He told listeners about how upset hewas that his 12 year old daughter hadbeen “roped in”, as Jon Faine put it,to interpret for him.
At the same time a standard letter onthe Northern Hospital’s letterheadwas faxed to Jon Faine. The letterinvited patients to bring a friend orrelative to help them with theiradmission.
The Victorian Health Minister lateradmitted on radio that the letter wasinappropriate, as was the use of a 12year old girl to interpret for her father.She promised it wouldn’t happenagain.
VICTORIA – TALKBACK ON THE STATE OF HEALTH INTERPRETING
10
The South Australia/Northern Territory Branch of AUSIT,through its Enterprise Bargaining Representative NellaSchulz, put some hard work into trying to improve the payand conditions of interpreters and translators recently.
Here is what Nella had to say.
Casual interpreters and translators employed by theInterpreting and Translating Centre (ITC) are publicservants and were therefore eligible to place a claim atthe current round of Enterprise Bargaining.
We requested that the Public Service Associationlodge a claim on our behalf, with our instructions. Thenegotiations were meant to be finalised in November2003 but the time line has been extended until a reso-lution is achieved.
We are hoping that once the PSA (Public ServiceAssociation) and the State Government settle thecurrent salary claim dispute, then the fine details of ourclaim will be dealt with. Certainly we expect somesignificant improvement from our current position.
The text of the claim prepared by the PSA on behalf ofSA interpreters employed by the ITC is available fromAUSIT.
Nella and the SA branch are to be commended for thework they have done, which should be an inspirationto the committees of other branches.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA ACTS ON PAY AND CONDITIONS
Eva Hussain, Vic/Tas Branch Deputy Chair, reports:
When the closure of the Central Health InterpretingService (CHIS) was announced the Victorian Branchbecame concerned about the lack of informationavailable to CHIS’s pool of casual employees.
Many had interpreting bookings scheduled well into2004 and no effort had been made by CHIS or theliquidator to inform them of their entitlements. Weexpressed our disappointment that the workforceCHIS relied on for so many years was treated withsuch disrespect. For many, hospital work was theironly source of income.
Penny Duckworth, Acting Manager of MulticulturalStrategy Unit at the Department of Human Services,agreed to meet with AUSIT for the purpose ofdeveloping closer links. At no stage was AUSITcontacted or consulted on this matter.
The Branch also spoke to the Victorian Office ofMulticultural Affairs Commissioner, wrote to thePremier Steve Bracks and to the Minister for Health,and contacted the Ethnic Communities Council ofVictoria to express its concerns.
Note: a few days after representations by the Vic/Tas Branch, theliquidator wrote an explanatory letter to all CHIS contractors. Atleast they now know what is going on.
VICTORIAN BRANCH CONCERNFOR CHIS CONTRACTORS
Déjà Vu Software Author Dies In MadridIt is with the greatest sorrow that we announce the passing away of Emilio Benito, President and Founder ofATRIL and original author of the Déjà Vu software concept. Emilio died aged 56 last Sunday morning in Madrid,Spain, after a long struggle with a cruel disease.For more than a decade prior to his effective retirement in early 2003, Emilio's legendary work inspired the trans-lation software industry, setting the standard for translation software quality, speed, reliability and, perhaps morethan anything else, customer care.Following a smooth, seamless transfer of roles over the past two years, Emilio's work has been continued byATRIL's team of software and support engineers led by his son, Daniel Benito. From the solid Déjà Vu 3 plat-form designed by Emilio, Daniel has taken the Déjà Vu approach to new heights with the Déjà Vu X softwarerange, marking the beginning of the new Déjà Vu era - an era that has only just begun. Emilio's life and work isthe legend of a humble man with the mind of a genius who practised software programming as a form of art andcustomer support as an act of love. His example will not be in vain. While we mourn Emilio's death, we shall usethe inspiration he left us with to reach the goals that he visualised for ATRIL and those of Déjà Vu users world-wide.Emilio will be remembered forever in our hearts. May he rest in peace.ATRIL, Madrid, 12.02.2004
Since this article (in summary formhere) was written, the VictorianGovernment has closed the CentralHealth Interpreter Service. See theAUSIT web site for the full text.
Delivering Health InterpretingServices in Victoria
In delivering health servicesthrough public hospitals inAustralia, the need to provideinterpreter services to patients ofCultural and Linguistically Diverse(CALD) backgrounds has been aresponsibility taken up byGovernment, in direct relation toGovernment’s adoption of multi-culturalism as a policy andspecifically, to Government’sadoption of access and equitypolicies. In the case of Victorianmetropolitan public hospitals,interpreters of the languagesmost in demand were employeddirectly by hospitals from theearly 1970s. But in the 1990s,management of various hospitalsdecided to outsource interpreterservices and establishedcontracts between some hospi-tals and the Central HealthInterpreter Service Inc. (CHIS), aquasi-government interpreterservice agency, with the specificpurpose of creating a more co-ordinated, responsive,accountable and efficient service.
1990s Public Sector Reform
In the context of the 1998Commonwealth Government’spublic service reform agenda, theDepartment of Immigration andMulticultural Affairs (DIMA) articu-lated its reform objectives clearly
by naming the principles of its“Charter of Public Service in aCulturally Diverse Society” (1998)as those of: access, equity,communication, responsiveness,effectiveness, efficiency andaccountability. The Charter wasendorsed at all levels ofGovernment and its frameworkwas specifically intended to“commit all Government serviceproviders to integrating theCharter’s seven principles intotheir strategic planning, policy
and corporate processes”1.
Interpreting in Public Hospitals
In the case of public hospitals,the principles of efficiency andaccountability in theGovernment’s public servicereform agenda were paramount inoutlining the specifications of thehospitals’ contracts with CHIS.Central to the contracts were theconcepts of productivity, measur-able outcomes and accountability.This necessarily entailed theabsence of interpreter staff over-heads (leave entitlements,WorkCover, superannuation) forthe hospitals, that is, theoutsourcing agency (CHIS) wouldabsorb all such costs.
The Bottom Line – InterpreterRemuneration
Those interpreters now employeddirectly by hospitals on a full-timeor part-time basis are currentlypaid award rates and conditions(WorkCover, superannuation,leave entitlements), whilst theircolleagues who are engaged bythe same hospitals on a casual
basis are denied that which isclearly stipulated in the HealthServices Award and that whichwas observed by the previousprovider, CHIS.
In attempts to cut costs, hospitalinterpreter budgets are beingreined in by sacrificing theworking conditions of casualinterpreter staff. This sacrifice hasbeen facilitated by hospitalmanagement teams who havebreached their Agreement withthe Health Services Union (HSU),by outsourcing casual interpreterappointments to competitiveprivate non-award paying agen-cies. This was achieved withoutany consultation with interpreters.
1.“Charter of Public Service in a CulturallyDiverse Society” (1998), Department ofImmigration and Multicultural Affairs
11
EQUITY FOR SOME: IS THE "EQUITY" OF PATIENT HEALTHCOSTING THE "EQUITY" OF INTERPRETER REMUNERATION?
by Kassiani Halastanis, Pay and Conditions Committee, Victoria, AUSIT & HSU member
.....the principles of its“Charter of Public Service ina Culturally Diverse Society”
(1998) are those of: access,equity, communication,
responsiveness, effectiveness.....
12
Branch News
Australian CapitalTerritoryJust before Christmas the ACTCommittee invited members toparticipate in a survey of possibleProfessional Development sessionsduring 2004. And the winners are:
1. Legal issues for T&I practitioners and Demonstration of ComputerAssisted Translation (CAT) soft-ware
(above two equal first)
2. Marketing techniques for T&Ipractitioners
3. Workshop for interpreters andnew entrants to the profession
(last two scores almost equal butwell below No. 1)
We are now planning a PD programwith those four sessions over thenext 5-6 months. We hope to adviseour members towards the end ofFebruary of arrangements for thefirst session, which will probablytake place around the end of March.
Members are welcome to suggestother topics for the secondsemester 2004.
Mike Ovington, Chair13.02.2004
New South WalesOur first event of the new year is aPD/networking presentation onThursday, 26 February 2004,presented by Michael Grunwald onINTERCULTURAL COMMUNI-CATION theory in translation andinterpreting practice.
A planned session by our memberIgnacio Garcia from WesternSydney Uni on the “Déjà Vu”computer-aided translation programhad to be postponed becausecomputer system engineers atWestern Sydney are not willing to
set up the CAT software on thelocal network.
The NSW issue of driver’s licencetranslation remains unresolved. Thebranch committee will approach theRTA senior management directly.
The branch committee stronglysupports AUSIT’s membership in“Professions Australia”.
Our relationship with the BarAssociation in NSW goes on andkeeps bearing fruit. More events areplanned to provide better insightinto court interpreting for thebenefit of Bar Association membersin their professional developmentprogram.
The branch is planning to edit alittle brochure issued by our Britishcolleagues and use it for promotingthe profession.
We are looking at the issue ofcompetencies for training T&Is.They may be a good basis forNAATI accreditation and AUSITmembership categories. Wouldn’tthat make an excellent subject forthe next AUSIT national confer-ence in October 2004:Competencies – a useful and mean-ingful basis for training andaccrediting T&Is?
Uli Priester, Chair17.02.2004
QueenslandNo report as such had beenreceived from the Queenslandbranch at the time of going to print,however the branch has not beenidle. Ita Szymanska has recentlytaken over the Chair from MiraChapman who has worked tirelesslyfor AUSIT for a number of years.The committee has met this yearand is working hard at developing aPD program for the year.
Editor
South Australia /Northern TerritoryCommittee Meetings
We have great plans and ideas butlack the time and manpower toimplement them all. Please bepatient and understanding. We dothe best we can. And we alwayswelcome "new blood". Why not joinus in one of our next committeemeetings, just to have a peep"behind the scenes"? There isnothing secret going on, just a get-together to discuss what is going onin AUSIT, what our plans are, andhow to go about it. We meet every3rd Wednesday of the month at6pm - 7.30pm. The new meetingvenue is the "Left Bank Cafe" atPulteney Street, opposite the oldmeeting place, Cafe du Val. Pleasecontact us first to confirm the timeand venue.
Social Events
Our end-of-year gathering inDecember at Eagle on the Hill wasa cosy little affair. We had theopportunity to catch up withcolleagues and meet new T&Iswhile enjoying the magnificent viewover Adelaide.
Seminars
Our next seminar will most likelybe on 1 April 2004 (no April fool'sjoke, I assure you! Really. Dobelieve me.). We will send out invi-tations in due time to notify you ofthe event. The topic?
"Marketing your services" - How togo about it, what to look out for,etc. We are inviting a marketingspecialist who knows her job and iswilling to share her secrets with us.Afterwards we'll have an informalnetworking session with fingerfood. That should give everybodythe chance to mingle, meet up withcolleagues, ask questions, have fun.
13
Plan
Future events might include a talkabout "Literary Translations". Thisis still in the planning stage, but weare optimistic that we could holdthis seminar in May. Anotherseminar on the cards is "CourtInterpreting", but again, this is stillin the planning phase.
Ideas
We always welcome feedback fromour members. Any seminars, socialevents, issues, etc. that you wouldlike to see organised, discussed,tackled? Do let us know.
Hope to see you soon in one of ourevents.
Andrea Hoffmann, Chair20.02.2004
Victoria / TasmaniaNo branch report as such had beenreceived at the time of going topress, however the Vic/Tas branchhas been very active on a number offronts this year. A very successfulPD workshop (Linguistic Issues forInterpreters and TranslatorsWorking in Legal Settings) was heldin late February, an ExcellenceAwards scheme has beenannounced and committee andbranch members have been activelyinvolved in discussions and negotia-tions relating to pay and conditionsand competency standards (see rele-vant items elsewhere in thisnewsletter).
Editor
Western AustraliaThe WA members turned up ingreat numbers to the End-of-Yearparty on 29 November 2003 at theHellenic Club in Perth. Theevening’s program included Greek(Bouzouki) music, Greek dancingdemonstrations and lessons, and ofcourse fantastic food and drinks!But the highlight was the presenta-tion by our PD committee member,Rita Pasqualini, entitled “The Blue
Stocking Angel – the case of unsafetext”. It was a series of cautionarytales of mistranslations – sometimeshilarious, sometimes chilling – thatsurely everyone could relate to. Itwas a great evening and everyonehad a jolly good time.
The WA Committee is having theyear’s first meeting on 16 February2004. In the meeting we plan toapprove the formal transfer ofTreasury duties from BarbaraDelevoy to Diana Rodriguez-Losada.
Also at the meeting, the forth-coming PD sessions will bediscussed:
Our first session is planned on 21February and is entitled “Subtitlingcourtroom dramas across states,countries and languages”. AgainRita will preside at the sessionwhich features a solicitor fromLegal Aid WA. Next session will becalled “Steel Yourself ” (how not tobreak down while interpreting indistressing situations), and is sched-uled for April 3rd.
Other items on the agenda includea planned meeting with NAATInational executives who are visitingPerth on 4 March 2004, and themethod of decision-making (byemail conference).
The committee is almost back tofull strength and fresh from acouple of months’ break. We arelooking forward to another fruitfulyear of activity!
Yutaka Kawasaki, Secretary13.02.2004
FIT Fourth AsianTranslators' Forum
Date and Venue:October 29-31 2004, TsinghuaUniversity, Beijing, P.R. ChinaShort Description: The Asian Translators' Forum is aregional conference held onceevery three years under theauspices of the InternationalFederation of Translators [FIT].The first Forum was held inBeijing in 1995, the second inSeoul in 1998, and the third inHong Kong in 2001.The Fourth Asian Translators'Forum, co-hosted by theTranslators' Association of Chinaand Tsinghua University, will beheld at Tsinghua University onOctober 29-31, 2004. About 300participants from all over theworld are expected to attend theforum.The Fourth Forum will comprisesessions in the following formats:plenary, panels, workshops, roundtable discussions and book exhibi-tions.The working languages of theforum will be English andChinese.Theme(s): 1. Translation and Cognition; 2. Teaching of Translation and
Interpretation; 3. Translation and Mass Media; 4. Translation and Intercultural
Communication; 5. Translation Corpus and
Machine TranslationContact Details:Luo Xuanmin, Department ofForeign Languages, TsinghuaUniversity, Beijing, 100084, P. R.China. Tel: 86-10-62783579. Email:[email protected] Speakers: Betty Cohen,President of FIT (Canada), LinWusun, Executive Vice Presidentof TAC (China), Martha Cheung,
Continued on page 15
14
One step forward – Surveying the reality of PD inTranslation and Interpreting
Continuous self-education is the core characteristic of acontemporary practitioner in all professions. We all doit, in one way or another. We keep up with new devel-opments in the language by reading newspapers, books,magazines and by listening to recorded speech via radioand television. Occasionally we travel and update ourvocabulary through immersion in that language. Weattend TAFE or university courses or upgrade ouraccreditation level. We keep up with new developmentsin technology by learning to work with new software,hardware and using the internet. The task of managingour own business also demands that we should takenotice of and follow changes in several related fields:taxation, contract law, marketing etc.
Keeping up with advances within the profession is acontroversial problem. Some cherish the belief thatonce you have learnt how to translate and interpret andobtained accreditation, you are set for life and there isno real need to continue learning. However, most of us
profess an insatiable thirst for knowledge and wish tofollow developments in academic research, study howothers perform the same T/I tasks; we aspire to dosomething better each day, we feel we should beconstantly moving ahead.
AUSIT has always offered opportunities for learning.Our team currently responsible for organising profes-sional development works hard to continue and expandthe tradition.
Wishing to know how our colleagues keep up with thechanges, what works for them, what difficulties theyencounter and what kinds of PD events they like best,we began to ask questions and are gathering responses.Many thanks to those who already sent back theirquestionnaire and to those too, who are yet to volun-teer their participation. The results of the PD Surveywill be published in the next issue of this Newsletter.
Annamaria Arnall, Vice President
Professional Development
AUSIT Joins Professions Australia
We have great pleasure in announcing that AUSIT hasjust affiliated with Professions Australia (formerlyknown as the Australian Council of Professions, Ltd),which is the national peak body for professional associ-ations.
AUSIT need no longer be a "lone voice in the wilder-ness". It is now allied with many other professionalassociations which have sought and achieved much fortheir members.
Professions Australia is an organised network of otherprofessional associations, aimed at improving the lot ofits affiliates, who, collectively, give it greater political"clout". As such, it has gained recognition in the "corri-dors of power" as the legitimate spokesman for theassociations.
Professions Australia has already fought many battles,and has experience in addressing many issues of currentrelevance to AUSIT. It is well placed to provide bothinformation and advice on a range of issues, and to helppress our case on important matters.
The benefits for AUSIT members and committees will
include :
• sharing in Professional Development eventsorganised by other members;
• discussing issues of common interest, such ashigher education, price setting, national compe-tencies, members' credentials, taxation,registration boards, codes of conduct, privacypolicy, DIMIA professional occupation list (i.e.the 60-point issue), etc.;
• cooperation at branch level between AUSIT andlocal branches of professions as users or poten-tial users of T&I services, as well as space in theirnewsletters or even exchange of articles;
• having access to the political arena and a voiceand
• opportunities to speak before the Senate or tolobby relevant parties;
Paul Sinclair and Yveline Piller
15
Back Office
New MembersTo February 2004, NationalCouncil has admitted the followingpeople to AUSIT membership orassociate membership:
Ikuko Tamon (QLD), Mie Tsumori(QLD), Andrea Sinclair (ACT),Hadar Bensaul (NSW), FrankLapere (NSW), Dong-Ly Phan(VIC), Kassiani Halastanis (VIC),Heike L. Kavanagh (WA), YukaliArmstrong (ACT) and AmaroPinas Mueller (NSW).
Congratulations and a warmwelcome to all our new members.
From the AdministratorsHave a look at the members’section of our websitewww.ausit.org
New documents are regularlyuploaded there, recent examplesbeing the President’s end-of-yearreport and other reports on theissue of pay and conditions fortranslators and interpreters. If youneed your password and ID foraccess to the members’ section, justask your administrator.
If you compare the current AUSITmembership fees to those in othercountries, you’ll realise that you getremarkable value for your money.In the UK the annual membershipfee of the Institute of Linguists is£81.00 Sterling (approx. A$200)and those of the Institute ofTranslation and Interpreting are£184.00 (A$460). The AmericanTranslators’ Association chargesUS$120 (approx. A$160) formembership, and an extra US$15(A$20) for each specialised group(language, medical etc.) you belongto, whereas with AUSIT for nomore than A$90 you get access tothe e-Bulletin and any one or moreof the 15 language groups availableby e-mail. There are also two new
e-mail groups: literary translationand translation technology. Pleasecontact your administrators for anyhelp with the above, or with yourentry in our on-line database, or onany matter relating to yourmembership. E-mail us or give usa call on 1800 284 181.
Tineke Millard (NSW, ACT & Qld)[email protected]
David Connor (Vic/Tas, SA/NT &WA) [email protected]
New Chair of QLDBranchI am delighted that Ita Szymanskahas agreed to take the Chair of theQueensland branch. We met duringmy visit in November and I lookforward to talking to her againsoon.
Warm thanks to Mira Chapman,outgoing Chair, for her tirelesswork over the last few years. I amglad Mira is planning to remaininvolved as it will be for the benefitof all.
Yveline Piller
Do you ever feel isolated inyour work as a T/I? Wouldyou like to be able to ask foradvice or opinions fromcolleagues, or share yourconcerns? Do you ever wonderwhat AUSIT is doing and howdebates and developments inthe T&I industry may affect yourwork? Then subscribe to theAUSIT e-Bulletin. Simply send ablank e-mail message to: [email protected] to be able to exchangenews and views with hundredsof colleagues throughoutAustralia and beyond.
A Touch ofGlamour!
(From the Sydney Morning Herald,Jan 31 - Feb 1)
"The United Nations said a moviestarring Nicole Kidman would bemade at UN headquarters in NewYork, a location where Hollywoodhas failed for decades to getpermission to film. The movie, tobe directed by Sydney Pollack, iscalled The Interpreter. Kidmanwill play a Kenyan-born translatorwho overhears an assassinationplot, becomes a target too andhelps stop the killing of an Africanleader addressing the GeneralAssembly.
(.....)" (Reuters)
It’s good to see T/Is finally gettinga share of the limelight. We’vealways known that doctors andlawyers aren’t the only profes-sionals to lead glamorous, excitinglives! As National PresidentYveline Piller says, though, “Iwonder how she is going to copewith the ethics angle!” . Wouldanyone like to offer Nicole a fewpointers? (Editor)
Hong Kong Baptist University(HK), Cay Dollerup, Universityof Copenhagen (Denmark), EdwinGentzler, University ofMassachusetts (USA), TheoHermans, University CollegeLondon (UK) Registration: Conference Fee:RMB1000 (Mainland China), $250USD (Others); URL: www.tsinghua-translation.org.cn<http://www.tsinghua-transla-tion.org.cn/>
••••
From page 11
