Olive Knight, an interpreter since 1982 who has worked in the fields of health, language and native title, lives in the Fitzroy Valley in the Kimberley, Western Australia.
The AUSIT Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct sets the standards for ethical conduct of interpreters and translators in Australia and New Zealand, and is promoted as a guarantee of professional integrity for users of translation and interpreting (T&I) services. The Code of Ethics is meant to provide practitioners with a base from which to work through ethical and moral issues that arise during their interpreting practice. The Code of Ethics is meant to provide practitioners with a base from which to work through ethical and moral issues that arise during their interpreting practice, and to achieve quality and consistency and across the profession.
However – according to Olive Knight – as it stands now, the AUSIT Code of Ethics does not provide consistency or support for Aboriginal language interpreters, and in many cases can make a situation more problematic. For example, the ‘principle of impartiality’ requires interpreters to declare if they know or are related to a client. Aboriginal interpreters often work in small communities where they may be known – or even related – to clients with whom they work. When an Aboriginal interpreter discloses that they know or are related to a client, this brings up many issues: how they maintain impartiality; how they negotiate their role as both an interpreter and also a member of their Aboriginal community; and how others may misunderstand their role. These are challenges that could be addressed in a revised version of the AUSIT Code of Ethics.
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