38th AUSIT National Conference
Call for proposals

The 38th AUSIT National Conference

20–22 November 2025

The Kambri Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT

Focusing on Engagement:
with government, clients, language communities, colleagues

Submissions open

28 April 2025

9 am AEST (UTC + 10)

Submissions close

24 June 2025

11:59 pm AEST (UTC + 10)

The 2025 AUSIT National Conference aims for an informative, positive and candid exposition of the Translating and Interpreting (T&I) profession’s engagement with all stakeholders; focusing on current and future priorities for engagement, on celebrating achievements, and on reflecting on lessons learnt from recent engagement.

With both AUSIT’s objectives and stakeholders’ needs in mind, issues to be considered include how best to engage with stakeholders and influence major decisions that impact on our profession. How can the T&I profession build more meaningful relationships between AUSIT, practitioners at large and external stakeholders? There are many case studies of successful engagement that the profession and stakeholders can share.

The Conference Organising Committee invites T&I practitioners, professionals and stakeholders, including those with expertise in other professions, to share their knowledge and experience at one of the conference sessions. Please submit an outline of your proposed presentation (or workshop or panel discussion) addressing the conference theme / a sub-theme, including preferred duration and format, and include a bio and a photo of yourself (for word counts, file sizes, etc. see below).

The conference opens on the afternoon of Thursday 20 November, with 3 plenary sessions and 60 breakout sessions taking place over 21 and 22 November.

Sub-themes:

Initiatives of engagement by individuals and groups in the T&I profession
Engagement in professional settings/domains
Engagement with community language support organisations
Engagement with educational institutions and academia
AUSIT’s engagement strategy with T&I practitioners
Indicators of engagement

Initiatives of engagement by individuals and groups in the T&I profession:
- Examples of initiatives and experiences of engagement encountered by individuals and groups in the T&I profession.
- Case studies of good, educative and/or successful professional engagement experiences.

Engagement in professional settings/domains:
- In legal settings – for example, the Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals, and AUSIT’s Interpreter Feedback Form on experiences in courts and tribunals.
- In healthcare settings – for example, the Guide for Clinicians Working with Interpreters in Healthcare Settings.
- In administrative settings, to inform associations or bodies about suitable and appropriate requirements for translation and interpreting.

Engagement with community language support organisations:
- How to facilitate access to a T&I professional and services for client and community support organisations.
- ‘Community translation’ – enlisting assistance from the target language community to ensure that English > LOTE translations are meaningful for that community.
- How to facilitate engagement between AUSIT, the broader T&I profession and community support organisations.

Engagement with educational institutions and academia:
- Importance of the collaboration between T&I stakeholders and educational institutions.
- Engagement between T&I employers and T&I students and graduates.
- Connection between NAATI and endorsed educational institutions.

AUSIT’s engagement strategy with T&I practitioners:
- How does AUSIT decide its engagement strategies and prioritise directions?
- How should AUSIT follow up with input and feedback received?
- Case studies of engagement to celebrate, and lessons to learn for the future.

Indicators of engagement:
- How do AUSIT and the broader T&I profession know or measure whether advocacy is influential and effective? Is there an evaluation tool
- How do T&I professionals and other stakeholders perceive the impacts and benefits (or otherwise) of engagement with and by AUSIT or its members, e.g. personal and professional benefits, including sense of well-being and ‘connection’?
- How can AUSIT members advocate, and educate others through engagement?

Session format options

Presentation:
- 30-minute session (20 min + 5 min for questions + 5 min buffer)
- 1-hour session* (45 min + 10 min for questions + 5 min buffer)

Workshop:
- 1-hour session (55 min + 5 min buffer)

Panel discussion:
- 1-hour session (55 min + 5 min buffer)

* Please note: proposals for 1-hour presentations may not necessarily be accepted. The Organising Committee may accept a paper for presentation, but allocate a shorter time than requested for the session.

Guide for presenters and workshop/panel facilitators

Proposals (maximum 250 words) must be submitted before 24 June 2025.
Proposals can be submitted via Whova at the bottom of this page.*
All proposals submitted will undergo a peer review process. The reviewers’ decisions will be emailed to all proponents by 22 July 2025.
Successful proponents must register for the conference, and upon payment, will receive a confirmation email with an official invitation to present.

* Please note: proposals cannot be edited after submission.

Before you start your submission, use this checklist to prepare the information and files that you will be asked for, including:

your personal details: name, email address, affiliation (e.g. company, association, university), job title
your biography (up to 2000 characters)
details of previous speaking/presenting experience – include links to slides, videos or recordings of talks (up to 5000 characters)
links to any personal website and/or LinkedIn profile
a profile photograph (file type jpg/jpeg/png, max file size 1MB)
your session title (up to 200 characters)
format (present a paper / organise a workshop / organise a panel discussion)

the timeframe for your session (including any time needed for questions): 30/60 mins
summary (max 1500 characters)
3-5 keywords that summarise your topic
target audience (who is your talk intended for / who will gain the most from attending?)
learning objectives: 3–5 takeaways you hope the audience will learn from your talk (max 5000 characters)
any co-speakers / additional speakers.

You will also be asked to indicate:

which of the sub-themes (listed above) is the best fit for your proposed session, and
whether you consent to your session being recorded and/or photos being taken.

When you’re ready, click the ‘Go to submission portal’ button below and follow the prompts to set up a Whova account, or log in if you already have one, then follow the prompts to submit your proposal.*

* Please note: proposals cannot be edited after submission.

Contact

We look forward to receiving your proposal, and hope to welcome you as a speaker at the 38th AUSIT National Conference! For any enquiries, please contact the Organising Committee via the ‘Contact us’ button below.

** Early Bird ticket sales will open in early July, check back here then. **

** A wide range of sponsorship opportunities are available. Check out our Sponsorship Prospectus, and if you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please fill out this Sponsorship EOI Form. **

** You can contact us via the button below if you have any questions regarding the conference or sponsorship. **

38th AUSIT National Conference
Call for proposals

Focusing on Engagement:
with government, clients, language communities, colleagues

Submission form

Details of interpreter and court interpreting assignment

Your interpreting assignment experience

Thank you for taking the time to report your experience. It will assist us in advocating for interpreters to be treated as the skilled and experienced professionals that we are. Your feedback is welcome.

Share This

38th AUSIT National ConferenceCall for proposals

Focusing on Engagement: with government, clients, language communities, colleagues

Submission form

Details of interpreter and court interpreting assignment

Your interpreting assignment experience

Thank you for taking the time to report your experience. It will assist us in advocating for interpreters to be treated as the skilled and experienced professionals that we are. Your feedback is welcome.

Share This

38th AUSIT National Conference
Call for proposals

Focusing on Engagement:
with government, clients, language communities, colleagues