From: Acting National President Dr Erika González Dear Colleagues, It feels a little strange to be steering the AUSIT boat again! Our organisation is growing, and so are our visibility and influence, among both stakeholders and the public. As a result, the work for the National President and some of the other NC members has grown dramatically over the last few years, and we are looking into avenues to streamline our process, and to in some way compensate those for who the time demands now go well beyond the levels expected in volunteer positions. The National Council is working on a presidential succession plan at the moment, as I´ll be stepping down in November. Our former President, Angelo, is not off the hook, and he has agreed to keep supporting the language divisions and the work of the I-FRIC (Interpreters’ Feedback on RNS Implementation Committee), which is being led by Sandra Hale at the moment. In April, AUSIT will be participating in the second National Language Services Forum meeting of this year, hosted by the Department of Home Affairs. The purpose of the Forum is to discuss the sustainability of the industry, and AUSIT’s role within it is to represent the interests of our membership. The Forum consists of private and public language service providers, representatives of a broad variety of government departments, and other stakeholders such as NAATI and TIA (our division of the union body Professionals Australia). This meeting will be a great opportunity to table the declaration that emerged from our 2023 Conference in Sydney: AUSIT National Conference Statement Sydney 2023. In the last National Council meeting we also discussed avenues to boost our PD offerings and income, as other stakeholders and partners are also offering quality PD. As usual, the National Council are working for you on many fronts simultaneously, but one major push this month has been towards this year’s AUSIT National Conference, which will take place at RMIT University in Melbourne, 21–23 November. Stay tuned, as we’ll be announcing our Keynote speakers soon! |
AUSIT National Conference 2024
This month we’ve finalised the conference logo (see above!), and got the conference web pages up and running, prospectuses out to potential sponsors, and procedures underway to launch the Call for Papers on 1 May (see below for more). Early Bird discounted registration will open in June, so get ready to secure your place at our premier annual event.
National Conference sponsorship
There are a wide range of categories and pricing options for sponsoring this year’s conference. You can also find the Prospectus on our website here.
If you know of a business that might like to sponsor our conference, send a contact name, position and email address to our Communications Officer, who will send a prospectus and my covering letter out to them.
We’ve already signed up our four top sponsors:
Ruby Sponsor
Emerald Sponsor
Platinum Sponsor
Venue Sponsor
National Conference Call for Papers
‘What are the benefits of presenting at AUSIT’s annual national conference?’ Five of the many, many AUSIT members who have done so – including two newbies who presented in recent years – were asked this question in the current (April) issue of our In Touch magazine, and we were surprised what a variety of answers they gave. So, have a think about it! The theme of the AUSIT National Conference 2024 is:
Linguistic equity and access: translating and interpreting – connecting our communities and the world
with sub-themes:
- Community translation
- Community interpreting (including legal, medical, etc.)
- Accessibility through audiovisual technology (subtitles, captions, voiceover)
- The impact of AI on accessibility and quality: opportunities and challenges
- Translating and interpreting professionalism, ethics and accessibility
- Institutional policy: how to foster quality T&I service delivery
- Language revitalisation and promotion through T&I
- Translating and interpreting from and into minority languages
- Translating and interpreting in humanitarian contexts
- The role of T&I for speakers of First Nations languages
- T&I education pathways for minority languages / languages of lesser diffusion.
Abstract submission will open on 1 May and close 15 June – you can find more details here.
Introducing Australia's future lawyers to the RNS
On 11 April NAATI, ASLIA and AUSIT organised an event at the University of Queensland’s ProBono Centre to introduce law students to the Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals. Specialist legal and health interpreter (CSLI, CHSI) Liying (Lynn) Geng presented on behalf of AUSIT.
The event was well attended by legal professionals, interpreters, court staff and representatives from language service providers, and our Vice President for Events and PD, Carl Gene Fordham, has written a short report which will appear in the July issue of our In Touch magazine.
The Aboriginal Interpreter Service's Plain English Health Dictionary ... another opportunity to get hold of a copy
As many of you will remember, this book was the most prized giveaway at our AUSIT National Conference 2023. For those of you who weren’t there, as well as the many attendees who didn’t get to the AUSIT stall quickly enough to grab one before they were all snapped up, Madelyn Hay – who worked with the AIS to develop the dictionary – had some extra hard copies printed, and they can be purchased for $20 each. To request a copy, please email Madelyn.
Responses to our mailout regarding the RNS
As some of you know, in November our Communications team emailed members of the Australian judiciary and tribunals, lawyers, court and tribunal staff in every court in Australia, government departments and policy makers, and language service providers, urging them to take note of our petition and improve adherence to the Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals (the RNS). We also mailed out reminders in February, and have received many favourable responses, including:
- an email from the NT Government’s Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, requesting a training session for the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Solicitor for the Northern Territory, and
- emails from LSPs requesting assistance with communicating the need for adherence to their clients.
Our PD Committee are following up. So far they have offered the NT Dept. a PD session, and are planning another PD session specifically to assist LSPs.
If you work for an LSP that would benefit from this session, do tell them to look out for our notification. And if you’re not sure whether they are on our contacts list, please send their details to our Communications team (see below).
AUSIT Contacts List
Our Communications team are compiling a list of useful contacts for use in AUSIT communications. These include all LSPs, plus relevant government departments, policymakers, legal contacts, not-for-profits (NFPs) and ‘family’ (other interpreting and/or translation organisations). If you know of any new LSPs, or other relevant contacts, that might not be on our list, please send the name, position and email address of a contact to our Communications Officer, who will add them to our list.
AUSIT Engage
The Communications Committee have exciting news to share: AUSIT will soon launch ‘AUSIT Engage’ on the Engagement Hub platform. Go to our AUSIT OPPORTUNITIES section below to find out more about this great new way for groups of members to get together online.
Interpreters in WA have made history
This month, the WA branch of TIA (Translators and Interpreters Australia, our division of the Professional Australia union, were successful in their application to WorkSafe (the WA work health and safety regulator), requesting they investigate the WA Department of Health for exposing members to ongoing psychosocial harm in the workplace.
Look out for TIA’s report on this matter for the upcoming (July) issue of our In Touch magazine.
Reminder to be Cyber Smart
We have noticed of late an increase in scammers targeting contacts on our website including our lists of T&I members with invitations to join their ‘dynamic team’.
We would like to remind everyone to always be cautious when you receive email communications from unknown sources!
To learn more about cyber-safety you can find many informative articles and short courses online, here’s one to get you started – 8 Habits to Stay Cyber-Safe.
BRANCH NEWS
QLD Branch
… as reported by Andrea Dallape
Despite rainy conditions, enthusiastic members of the Queensland AUSIT group were undeterred in their efforts to socialise and enjoy a meal of international cuisine at their ‘Culture on a Plate’ event, which took place from 12.30 on Sunday 21 April, at Northgate Community Hall. The afternoon was further enhanced by the opportunity to engage in games and to meet new and old friends. The discussion about our profession and exchange of experiences was also a highlight of the afternoon.
WA Branch
… as reported by Mary Street
The Harmony Week social event Picnic in the Park, organised by AUSIT WA, took place on Saturday 23 March between 10 am and noon, at Sir James Mitchell Park, Mill Point Road.
The Harmony Week social event Picnic in the Park, organised by AUSIT WA, took place on Saturday 23 March between 10 am and noon, at Sir James Mitchell Park, Mill Point Road.
AUSIT PD & EVENTS
- 2 May – AUSIT SANT Presents: Self-translation and Translingual Writing (in-person event) In our talk we will discuss three versions of Li Kotomi’s novel Hitorimai in three languages to demonstrate how Li’s practice of self-translation and translanguaging muddles traditional boundaries between culture and language.
- 4 May – AUSIT Far North Qld: Brunch and Chat at Il Chiosco Cafe, Trinity Beach
- 4 May – AUSIT NAT Presents: How to build a criminal law glossary for your working language: a practical workshop for interpreters (Webinar) A practical workshop designed for interpreters looking to create their own personalised criminal law glossary that will better prepare them for assignments in Australian criminal courts.
- 13 May – NSW Branch Presents: What/why/when/how: Building your practice in 2024 and beyond (in-person event) Join us for some strategic insights from seasoned translator Chris Durban for building and advancing a translation practice in the evolving market of 2024 and beyond!
- 20 May – AUSIT NAT Presents: Demand and Control Schema to Support Ethical Decision Making This webinar will familiarise interpreters with the Demand and Control Schema as a tool to deal with ethical issues arising from working in NDIS settings.
EXTERNAL PD & EVENTS
All information below is provided by external organisations. Please register and direct any enquiries to the relevant contact outlined in each announcement, rather than to AUSIT.
NEXPD Chuchotage Workshop (3 May)
FIT Webinar: The Translation Industry By Numbers: Between Growth, Transformation, and Reinvention (10 May)
NAATI at Careers Expo in Adelaide (10–11 May)
AVTAR – 1st International Conference on Audiovisual Translation Authors’ Rights (conference, free registration, Residència d’Investigadors, Barcelona, Spain, 16 May 2024)
A conversation between Australian authors and Chinese publishers (Adelaide, 17 May)
7th International Congress on Science and Translation: Interdisciplinary Bridges and Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge (conference, University of Cordoba & University of Salento, Lecce, Italy, 22–24 May)
NAATI at Careers Expo in Brisbane (24–25 May)
Shaping the Future of Translation and Interpreting Studies in a Context of Technological, Cultural and Social Changes (conference, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 14–16 June – early bird registration deadline: 15 May)
5th East Asian Translation Studies Conference (EATS5) (26–28 June)
NAATI at Careers Expo in Perth (July 24–25)
Sight Translation Workshop (27 July)
Interactional Management Workshop (12 August)
NAATI at Careers Expo in Sydney (16–17 August)
2024 NZSTI Conference (Auckland, 7–8 September)
ASLITA National Conference 2024 (Adelaide, 13–15 September)
Translation and Interpreting Forum Olomouc 2024 – Technological Turn in Translator and Interpreter Training (Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, 10–12 October)
IV International Conference EnTRetextos (23–25 October)
APTIS 2024 Unconference: Taking stock and breaking the mould (conference, University of Warwick, UK, 7–9 November)
TransIbérica(online conference in Spanish, Portuguese and English, theme: ‘T&I and the evolution of Artificial Intelligence’, 21–22 November)
15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB15) – The Different Faces of Bilingualism (Kursaal, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, 9-13 June 2025)
AUSIT OPPORTUNITIES
'AUSIT Engage'
We’re thrilled to announce that AUSIT is embarking on an exciting journey with the software platform Engagement Hub. Our new online hub, aptly named ‘AUSIT Engage’, is set to revolutionise how our members connect, collaborate, and thrive within the T&I profession. We will be launching AUSIT Engage on 20 May.
What Is AUSIT Engage?
AUSIT Engage is a powerful cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) application designed specifically for community engagement and stakeholder management. It provides a dynamic and innovative space where AUSIT members can:
- inform: Share your stories, insights and expertise with fellow professionals in topic-focused groups.
- collaborate: Engage in meaningful discussions, exchange ideas and foster connections.
- grow: Learn, develop and contribute to our vibrant T&I community.
Calling All Volunteer Moderators!
As part of our commitment to fostering vibrant discussions, we’re inviting AUSIT members to become Moderators on AUSIT Engage. Here’s how you can get involved:
- Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible, you must have been an AUSIT member for at least two years.
- Diverse Perspectives: We encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, specialities, and experiences to step forward.
- Weekly Engagement: Moderators will actively participate in online discussions, engage with fellow members, and monitor forum behaviour.
Why Become a Moderator?
- Impact: Shape the conversations within our community.
- Connect: Network with peers, share insights, and learn from others.
- Contribute: Help maintain a respectful and constructive environment.
How to Express Interest
Ready to take on this exciting role? Simply express your interest here to let us know you’re eager to become a Moderator, and together, we’ll create a thriving space for T&I professionals.
If you have any questions about AUSIT Engage, don’t hesitate to email us.
Join us on AUSIT Engage, and let’s shape the future of our profession!
AUSIT Communications Committee
EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Expression of Interest (EOI)
Sponsored by Language Loop, RMIT University is delighted to announce the call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the Specialised Community Interpreting Course for the Semester 2, July 2024 intake. This course will be offered in a hybrid mode, allowing participants the option to attend either online or onsite. Successful applicants will be awarded a scholarship covering $5,000 towards the tuition fees for this course ($6,960).
Supported Languages:
- Arabic
- Cantonese
- Japanese
- Korean
- Mandarin
- Spanish
Eligibility Criteria:
- Current NAATI certified interpreters in one of the supported languages.
- Commitment to complete the course duration and participate in all required activities.
- AUSIT members will be given priority.
Course Summary
This is a 12-week, double credit course covering both, the health and legal specialisations. The course includes 4h of weekly practice, 3h of lectures, weekly knowledge-based quizzes and homework packages for self-practice.
You will extend your advanced interpreting skills in dialogue, consecutive, telephone, and simultaneous interpreting, and sight translation with a focus on modes of interpreting in specialised community settings (health and legal).
This course aims at preparing practitioners for the Certified Specialist Interpreter-Health & Legal credentials tested by NAATI.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their Expression of Interest before May 15, 2024. Successful candidates will be notified and guided through the enrolment process. Upon successful completion of the course, candidates will also be ensured ongoing court/hospital work with Language Loop. Any further inquiries, please contact the RMIT Higher Education team at translatingandinterpretinghe@rmit.edu.au
Australian children's literature: translation, publication and reception FREE events
Registration opens from Friday 19 April via the event website.
1. Panel discussion: A conversation between Australian authors and Chinese publishers
WHEN: 5:30-8:00pm, Friday 17 May
WHERE: Isabella Fraser Room, State Library of Victoria
Come to join us on Friday 17 May to listen to an enlightening panel discussion about the publication of Australian children’s books and their export to the Chinese market.
The event features Australian award-winning authors: Graeme Base and Alice Pung and invited Chinese publishers from Beijing and Wuhan: Jiapeng LIU and Xinwei ZHAO.
Come at 5:30pm for snacks and drinks before the 6-8pm event, which is of interest to those working in the creative industries, including authors, publishers and translators, as well as to anyone from the public who loves reading children’s books!
PD points: 10 PD Points for attending the event (Section 1.4 of NAATI Recertification PD Catalogue)
2. Symposium: Australian children’s books: translation, publication and reception
WHEN: 10am-5pm, Saturday 18 May
WHERE: Monash Docklands campus (750 Collins St, Docklands VIC 3008)
This full-day symposium (catered) will explore various aspects of Australian children’s literature, from creation to publication, and from translation to reception. Presenters include authors, publishers, translators, and renowned researchers of Australian children’s literature from Monash and elsewhere. The diverse presentations will be thought-provoking to translation practitioners (and trainees) and researchers in particular, but anyone with a general interest in literary translation may find the presentations insightful and inspiring!
PD points: 20 PD Points for attending the event (Section 1.4 of NAATI Recertification PD Catalogue)
Events organised by Monash Intercultural Lab and funded by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.
For any enquiries, please email Rick Qi.
AAH Medal for Excellence in Translation (biennial) (nominations are now open, and close on 5 May)
AALITRA Translation Awards 2024 (Focus language: French. Entries are now open and close 28 May)
Theatre Translator Mentorship (UK, entries are now open and close 16 May)
Scholarship to attend the American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation to attend the ATA 65th Annual Conference (Portland, Oregon, USA, 30 October – 2 November 2024 – entries are now open and close 1 June)
CALLS FOR PAPERS / PROPOSALS
Comic-Symposium am Institut für Romanistik (symposium, deadline: 15 May)
Feminist Translation Studies, special issue on Translating with the Earth: Gender, Feminism and Eco-Translation, 2025 (journal, abstract deadline: 15 May)
Article submissions always open for Defence Australia’s Yarningmagazine (deadline for July’s ‘English Languages’ edition: 24 May)
Enseigner la langue à travers la traduction; Perspectives franco-italiennes comparées entre Renaissance et Ère numérique (conference, deadline: 31 May)
Translation and Interpreting Forum Olomouc 2024 – Technological Turn in Translator and Interpreter Training (conference, deadline: 31 May)
The Journal of Specialised Translation, special issue on Sport(s) Translation / Translating Sport(s), Vol. 45, 2026 (abstract deadline: 8 June)
APTIS 2024 Unconference (conference, deadline: 15 June)
The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, special issue on Training Signed Language Interpreters and Translators, Vol. 19, 2025 (journal, abstract deadline: 20 June)
The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, special issue on Recent Advances in Media Accessibility Education, Vol. 20, 2026 (journal, abstract deadline: 15 July)
15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB15) – The Different Faces of Bilingualism (abstract deadline: 16 September)
IV International Conference EnTRetextos (no deadline given)
Digital Translation History. Processing Historical Data with New Methodologies, 2025 (edited volume, contact: Diana Roig Sanz (dsanzr@uoc.edu) and Philipp Hofeneder (philipp.hofeneder@uni-graz.at)
CALLS FOR PARTICIPANTS
Research Project: The efficacy of post-editing machine translation on translation processes and products in translator training(EOI)
If you meet the following profile:
- Native speaker of Mandarin Chinese
- Completed middle and high school in China
- Current undergraduate student in Australia
- Having taken at least one translation course
– click here to find out more and to register your interest. (Online participation.)
Research Project - Enhancing Translation during Emergencies: Exploring the Perspectives of Key Stakeholders in Community Translation
The pandemic and other emergencies have underscored the importance of providing accessible, timely and appropriate translations for multicultural communities in Australia. Researchers at UNSW are thus conducting a study that aims how to enhance such translation provision by exploring the perspectives of key stakeholders involved in producing and translating information. In particular, we are interested in:
- Understanding the nature of and challenges involved in translation provision during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Exploring the perceptions of relevant stakeholders on the different approaches that were used to translate information in previous emergencies, including those which can be harnessed during future emergencies.
We are keen to interview professional translators who translated information during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or other emergencies – either in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includes those who produced written translations as well as those who produced translated audio or video resources in languages other than English.
This study involves participating in one interview (30-40 minutes) via telephone or Microsoft Teams at a time that is convenient to you. Participation in this study is voluntary and the information interviewees provide will be kept confidential. Participants will receive a pre-paid Prezzee gift card of $50 in compensation for their time.
This study has been approved by the UNSW Ethics Committee [iRECS reference number iRECS4995].
For more information about the study and to participate – please contact Medha Sengupta at medha.sengupta@unsw.edu.au
Project closes 30 November, 2024
Research participants needed: Access to hearing services
Interpreters’ and hearing care professionals’ perspectives on engagement with translation & interpreting services by audiologists/audiometrists. Register your interest here.
Call for interpreters to participate in a research project for enhancing quality end-of-life care planning for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with cancer
Researchers from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, are looking for interpreters working within cancer services or palliative care services in Australia to participate in research for enhancing quality of end-of-life (EoL) care planning for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds experiencing cancer.
They are conducting 60-90 minute focus group study and are interested in hearing from those involved in EoL care planning with CALD patients experiencing cancer or their care support person:
For more details, or to take part, please contact Dr Ashfaq Chauhan (ashfaq.chauhan@mq.edu.au; 02 9850 2460) or Associate Professor Reema Harrison: (reema.harrison@mq.edu.au; 02 9850 2425).
This study is approved by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee, reference number 520221235442012.
This focus group study is part of the iCanCarePlan project. You can find more about the iCanCarePlan project by visiting this link – Macquarie University – iCanCarePlan
Dr Ashfaq Chauhan
JOBS KIOSK
NAATI Roleplayers (various languages)
Services Australia (various languages)
Government of SA is hiring casual interpreters and translators (various languages)
Post-doctorat, Simenon en traduction, University of Liege, Belgium (deadline: 31 May)
Tenured Position in Applied Linguistics (with a Focus on Interpreting), Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
READING CORNER: interesting books, articles & journals ...
La Traduction du texte juridique, prudence et imprudence du traducteur
Media and Intercultural Communication: A Multidisciplinary Journal, Vol. 2(1), 2024
Parallèles special issue on Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility in Language Education, Vol. 36(1), 2024
À Tradire, special issue on La didactique de l’interprétation : quels développements ?, Vol. 2, 2023
Cadernos de Tradução, special issue on Circum-Navegações Transtextuais e Culturais, Vol. 44(1), 2024
De Bonis, Giuseppe. 2024. Multilingual Films: A Portrayal of Language Contact on Screen. Paolo Loffredo
and a couple of interesting ones we missed late last year:
ATA Statement on Artificial Intelligence
Lost in translation: Fostering trust in interpreting services
From your AUSIT Acting National President
Erika González
Supporting Professional Standards Visit our website Check our Professional Development page for upcoming PD events Read our award-winning quarterly magazine In Touch Find past newsletters and magazine articles on our blog
This communication direct from AUSIT is part of your membership benefits. |
Copyright © 2024 AUSIT, all rights reserved |
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2024 AUSIT, all rights reserved
Contact AUSIT Secretariat: admin@ausit.org
Phone enquiries for members: 1800 284 181
