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President’s Newsletter May 2024

From: Acting National President Dr Erika González

Dear Colleagues, 

I’m drafting these lines from the state of Kerala in southern India, where I’m interpreting at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, working with an international team interpreting in French, English, Russian and Spanish. It’s very encouraging that out of the 12 interpreters here, 6 of us are Australian and 4 are AUSIT members (plus a fifth is being lured into membership, as he only settled in Australia recently). Working alongside these excellent colleagues at an international forum like this makes me realise the high calibre of the profession and educational institutions in Australia.

In the last four weeks we’ve been busy with the preparations for AUSIT’s 37th Annual National Conference. All the logistics are underway, we have keynotes lined up, and we’ve already received a broad selection of abstracts. Many thanks to those stakeholders who have already signed up for one of the sponsorship categories – your support is extremely important, and the sponsorship funds allow for the selection of high-quality speakers and services, thus raising the overall value of this year’s program.

As the end of the financial year approaches, it’s the time to renew our membership. The NC is trying hard to keep costs low, but the rising costs of goods and services and the need to keep up with a robust and dynamic organisation mean that we’ve had to adjust the fees to reflect the level of services delivered. Let’s also aim to attract colleagues who are not members, as a strong and solid membership base allows us to offer more services and benefits for all (and don’t forget the New Member Referral Reward program that’s running throughout 2024).

 

Unnamed

From left to right: Philippe Tanguy, Benoit Malmontet, Sandra Hale, Erika Gonzalez, Silvia Martinez, Marc Orlando

 

Some changes to AUSIT fees

AUSIT has a commitment to transparency and financial sustainability, so we want to let you know about some upcoming changes to our fees. Effective 1 July 2024, our membership and professional development fees will increase slightly:

  • Membership fees: The membership fee adjustment (across all levels) reflects current cost factors.* While we understand that any fee increase can be challenging, it is essential for the long-term sustainability of our organisation. Details of the new fees can be found on our website here.
  • PD event fees: A $5 increase (for both members and non-members) in our fees for paid PD will allow AUSIT to cover the true cost of hosting these events. AUSIT members will still pay substantially less than non-members.

* For more information about where your membership fee goes, click here.

The decision to increase the membership fee was not taken lightly. The National Council works diligently to minimise costs, but sustained increases in operational expenses require this adjustment.

Thank you for being part of our T&I community!

 

Correction

Apologies from the Communications team to all involved in Chief Justice Helen Bowskill’s presentation on 11 April, which was incorrectly reported in my April newsletter as organised by NAATI, ASLIA and AUSIT, aimed at law students and occurring at the University of Queensland’s Pro Bono Centre – actually, those are the details of an event that’s coming up. Chief Justice Bowskill’s presentation was open to the public and aimed at assisting lawyers, judicial officers and interpreters, and it was held in the Banco Court, Supreme Court of Queensland. (The workshop for law students will be held on Thursday 18 July.)

AUSIT’s new Language Divisions: on AUSIT Engage

With our new members-only networking platform AUSIT Engage launched this month, it’s time to start up (or join) that group for your own language pair!

If you’d like to know more about the ideas behind the Language Divisions, check out our recent National President Angelo Berbotto’s Language Divisions presentation from the AUSIT National Conference 2023.

To date, there are two Language Divisions in operation: Spanish (one event held already) and Mandarin, and we hope to see Thai, Macedonian and French groups in operation soon.

If you have any questions about the Language Divisions and how to set one up, please don’t hesitate to contact Angelo.

Guidelines for People who Work with Interpreters: Sight Translation

Our Ethics and Professional Practice Committee have recently completed another really useful set of guidelines for people who work with interpreters. Focusing on sight translation, it covers:

  • what sight translation is
  • what preparation interpreters need to carry out sight translation
  • how sight translation is carried out
  • the role if the interpreter
  • what documents are suitable for sight translation
  • sight translation in legal settings
  • sight translation in health care settings
  • sight translation in remote interpreting assignments.

Don’t forget to share the link to this set of guidelines with both individual clients and LSPs who request sight translation. You can find them here. And if it’s a while since you checked out the various guidelines and information sheets available on our website, you can find them in the menu on the AUSIT website

NAATI’s new CPI preparation resource

NAATI has launched a new preparation resource for CPI candidates: an Interactional Management module. It can be accessed from within the NAATI CPI Prep module in NAATI Learn – links below:

AUSIT National Conference 2024
Ausit Conference Logo Horizontalv2

With ‘Early Bird’ discounted registration opening up in June, why not book now and secure your place in November?

SPEAKERS

The Organising Committee are busy securing a variety of keynote and other speakers. Confirmed to date are:

Jill Blewett Memorial Lecture:

Ali Mond, Assistant Secretary, Settlement Program Operations in the federal government’s Dept of Home Affairs.

International Keynote Speaker:

Holly Ann Silvestri, Senior Coordinator, Translation, Training & Curriculum at the University of Arizona, USA. Dr. Silvestri will share findings from the SAFEAI Task Force’s survey on AI in interpreting. She will also present key principles for adopting AI solutions in interpreting, and offer advice on how interpreters can adapt to AI’s impact on their practice.

Keynote Speaker:

Alex Bowen, a forensic linguist, trainer and cross-cultural facilitator who is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Alex practised law in Victoria and the Northern Territory, particularly working in circuit courts in East Arnhem Land with Yolŋu and Warnindilyakwa people. His research focuses on cross-cultural communication about law and justice in the context of colonial and monolingual assumptions.

CALL FOR PAPERS

We’ve had a wide range of abstracts coming in so far, and with submissions closing on 15 June, you still have plenty of time to propose a workshop or presentation on one of the subthemes, which you can find listed here.

REGISTRATION

With considerable discounts available for the ‘Early Bird’ from early June, grab that worm and pull it! We’d hate to see you miss out if we reach our maximum # of registrations …!

SPONSORSHIP

We have many more sponsors signing up, and will be letting you know who they all are as the event draws closer … but for now, the spotlight is on our major sponsors. Those fully signed up to date are:

Ruby Sponsor

 

Languageloop Masterbrand Fc Rgb

Emerald Sponsor

 

02 Emerald Naati

Platinum Sponsor

 

03 Platinum Oncall

Venue Sponsor

 

Rmit University Logo

Silver Sponsors

Mnsw Logo Cmyk 1
Thq + Cv Logo Time Rgb

Bronze Sponsors

 

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Lote Agency Logo Version 01 (1)
Logoartboard 1 2x 100 Removebg Preview (1)

For anyone interested in sponsoring the conference, there are still plenty of options left. You can find our Sponsorship Prospectus here

 

ARC Research Project: ‘Access to justice in interpreted proceedings: the role of Judicial Officers’ – update (May 2024)

AUSIT is an industry partner in this UNSW-led project. Extending into 2024, the team has been focusing efforts on analysing the observation and interview data from the Northern Territory. This includes interview responses from Aboriginal Interpreter Service (AIS) staff, interpreters, judicial officers, lawyers and Indigenous interpreting experts. Linguistic analysis of the NT court transcripts has also commenced, and the linguistic analysis of judgements is currently being prepared for dissemination.

If you would like to know more, you can read the latest update here.

BRANCH NEWS

QLD Branch

… as reported by Macarena Paz Kotek

 

Far North Queensland branch members met on 4 May for an enjoyable brunch and chat at Trinity Beach. One member came all the way from the Atherton Tablelands to join us, so we are thinking of having our next meeting somewhere on the Tablelands. Stay tuned for details on our next gathering in the heart of tropical Queensland.

3

TAS Branch

… as reported by Echo Zhang

We’ve been so busy, we haven’t had time to report on all our recent activities til now! 

 

Tascat

In March, I was introduced by Angelo to Richard Grueber, Deputy President and Division Head (General) of the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT), who invited me to give a training session on behalf of AUSIT. The session was deemed very useful by members across the tribunal divisions, and provided insights into the process from interpreters’ perspectives, with the aim of improving hearings involving interpreters.

On the same day Martin, our TAS Branch PD Coordinator, and I met with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Navigating Team to design a workshop for interpreters, focusing on preparing them both mentally and knowledge-wise for this emotionally charged work

Photos: Echo Zhang with Richard Grueber (left), and with TAS Branch PD Coordinator Martin Blackwell and the Voluntary Assisted Dying Navigating Team (right) 

Vad Pic

In April, we facilitated a seminar with Zeph Lyne-Spink, the Coordinator of Interpreter Services at the Tasmanian Health Service, addressing the gaps in interpreting services in some languages and the risks inherent in using of non-certified individuals to interpret. We also provided a refresher on the AUSIT Code of Ethics.

The Seminar With Zeph
16th May Information Session

And in May, we facilitated two information sessions with NAATI – one about recertification and another about the CPI and CI tests – with the aim of providing professional advice to all practitioners and improving recertification and certification rates by encouraging them to upgrade their credentials.

VIC Branch

… as reported by Jess Shepherd

Our monthly social event continues to be a big hit! We decided to shake things up in April and host our after-work drinks at the Bank on Collins in Melbourne’s CBD. Inside the historic treasury building, both members and non-members enjoyed networking, discussing the latest industry trends and ethical considerations, and taking a well-deserved break from their T&I work – so much so that we forgot to take a photo until right at the end, after half the group had already left!

We look forward to seeing you at one of our social events soon! Upcoming dates for our monthly after-work drinks are: 30 May, 27 June, 25 July, 29 August.

Here’s the registration link for 30 May – do register if you can, so I can give the venue an idea of how many tables we’ll need, but if you forget, or decide to come at the last minute, I’m sure we’ll manage to squeeze you in!

Ausit Vic Social Drinks 24 April 2024

AUSIT PD & EVENTS

EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES, 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.

NAATI free online recertification workshops (free interactive workshops for practitioners – next one: 5 June. Find out more and register here.

Legal words for interpreters – Criminal Law (webinar, free, 24 June)

5th East Asian Translation Studies Conference (EATS5) (26–28 June)

Eye-tracking and Subtitling (symposium, University of Warwick, UK, 8 July)

University of Queensland: Master of Arts in Translation and Interpreting (MATI) (Commonwealth Supported Places available to eligible students, next intake July)

Monash University: Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies (mid-year intake starts 22 July)

Monash University: Double Masters International program for French, Italian, Japanese students (second year of study overseas, mid-year intake starts 22 July)

TAFESA: Diploma of Interpreting (live online, course starts 30 July, languages: Cantonese, Dari, Italian, Mandarin, Nepali, Persian, Spanish, Vietnamese)

NAATI at Careers Expo in Perth (July 24–25)

Sight Translation Workshop (27 July)

Bait AlGhasham DarArab Translation Prize (submissions close 31 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)

Language Understanding in the Human-Machine Era (conference, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 20 October)

IV International Conference EnTRetextos (23–25 October)

Translation Practices and Policies in Crime Fiction (1945-1989) (conference, University Paris Nanterre, France, 24–25 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)

CALLS FOR PAPERS / PROPOSALS

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 TranslatorsVol. 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)

Centre for Legal and Institutional Translation Studies (Transius) (conference, submission of abstracts: 2 Sep – 3 Nov) 

CALLS FOR PARTICIPANTS

Research project exploring the uses and perceptions of video remote interpreting in healthcare settings (participants wanted: health interpreters, health professionals, language service managers/coordinators)

UNSW: interview study – Did you translate information during the COVID pandemic? To participate, email Medha Sengupta

Audiovisual Translators’ Well-being and Work-life Balance (survey)

Professionals Australia | WorkSafe wants to hear from interpreters about your working conditions (interpreters who live and work in WA, or those in other states who work remotely for WA Government agencies)

UNSW: Research Project: The efficacy of post-editing machine translation on translation processes and products in translator training (online participation for native speakers of Mandarin who completed school in China, are currently undergraduate students in Australia, and have taken at least one translation course)

JOBS KIOSK

2M Language Services is hiring casual interpreters in:

Victoria: Hakha Chin, Hindi, Karen, Khmer, Malay, Punjabi, Rohingya, S’gaw Karen, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese.

Queensland: Auslan, Burmese, Dari, Hazaragi, Karen, Korean, Nepali, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Somali, Swahili, Vietnamese.

ACT: Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Karen, Punjabi.

READING CORNER: interesting books, articles & journals ...

From your AUSIT Acting National President

As the temperatures keep dropping (at least in Melbourne where I’m based!), keep warm and stay tuned for our PD offers and myriad of opportunities to connect and network with colleagues and stakeholders.

Erika González
Erika Portrait 2021

Supporting Professional Standards

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Copyright © 2024 AUSIT, all rights reserved
Contact AUSIT Secretariat: admin@ausit.org
Phone enquiries for members: 1800 284 181

Submission form

for court interpreters to report incidents or issues that occur in court interpreting assignments.

Purpose and function of this information submission form.

This form enables you to report issues or problems that you encounter in the course of court interpreting assignments. These issues and problems will be collected by AUSIT to report to the JCCD (the Judicial Council on Cultural Diversity) to monitor the implementation of the Recommended National Standards. The reporting of these issues and problems enables AUSIT to work with the JCCD to suggest steps to address these issues and to avoid the repetition of these problems in the future.

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