Dear Colleagues,
I landed a couple of hours ago. I was in Perth for another ‘Linguists and the Law’ presentation, plus the workshop on working with interpreters at the Law Society of Western Australia. There were over 70 lawyers in attendance. It is encouraging to see that we are making allies. I think that many of the problems interpreters face in courts and tribunals stem from the fact that most lawyers, court staff and judicial officers are monolingual and unaware of exactly what is involved in interpreting.
As I’ve said before, we need to feel empowered in order to educate others because nobody else is going to look after our interests as T/Is … that’s something we have to do ourselves. AUSIT is here to empower and help you.
Whilst going around the country, I’ve met inspiring practitioners who are doing a great deal to engage with the legal profession in order to effect full implementation of the Recommended National Standards for the benefit of interpreters that do that type of work. We could achieve more if we had more help. You can help by:
- becoming familiar with the Recommended National Standards, taking them with you to court/tribunals and showing them to other professionals, quoting from them, using them as the tool they are;
- using the anonymous Interpreter Feedback Form that’s on the AUSIT website, so we can collect evidence. With this we can go to the judiciary and say ‘Please deploy resources to train judges, magistrates and tribunal members, because this is evidence that they are not following the RNS.’ Similarly, without evidence we cannot persuade the Law Societies around Australia that they should source their own training for their members on working with interpreters in courts and tribunals (rather than relying on us, AUSIT, to offer to do it for them for free – we need to use our resources for our own members, not to educate members of other professional bodies!); and
- getting involved, as there are opportunities for service in the various committees of AUSIT! We would be able to achieve so much more if we had more volunteers. If you have an idea that you want to run, we will create a committee for you to develop it. So, if you are looking for a New Year’s resolution, I hope this gives you some food for thought.
As we get closer to AUSIT’s National Annual General Meeting (NAGM), two members of the current National Council have already stated that they will not be standing for re-election: the Vice President for Communications and Public Relations and the Vice President for Events and Professional Development. We are grateful for their leadership and service.
The current VP for Events & PD, Xiaoxing (Amy) Wang, described her role in my September newsletter, which you can read here, and the current VP for Comms & PR, Vesna Cvjeticanin, does so in the AUSIT OPPORTUNITIES section below.
If you have experience in volunteering within AUSIT, please do consider throwing your hat into the ring for one of these positions. In addition, all positions are up for re-election. Anyone who is interested in standing for a position should fill out the National Council nomination form (also attached to this newsletter) and submit it to the given email address by 17 November.
Changes to the AUSIT Constitution: cast your vote
You will have received an e-Flash on 19 September, explaining the National Council’s proposed changes to the AUSIT Constitution. The three proposed changes are in the areas of:
- membership categories: discontinuing the current distinction between the Associate ‘level’ and the Member level
- making specific provision for investigating breaches of the Code of Ethics / Code of Conduct
- adding an extra step of ratifying the results of an electronic ballot such as this at the next national AGM, to comply with the requirements of the legislation under which AUSIT is incorporated.
The Constitution is the document that governs the association. Please take the time to review the changes and cast your vote before Friday 10 November. You can find more information here, and log in here to vote.
Connecting with AUSIT via social media – are you up to date?
In case you missed this in my July newsletter, AUSIT has updated some of its social media accounts. We’ve become aware that some members are still connecting to the old, inactive Facebook account, which we’re trying to have closed down. Make sure you’re connecting with AUSIT via:
@ausit.insta
Scholarships program: 36th AUSIT National Conference
As previously announced, this year AUSIT offered nine scholarships to help individuals attend the AUSIT National Conference next month.
Only 14 applications were received despite our active encouragement for members to apply, including only one for Category 2 (practitioners in C & D languages); therefore, it was decided to award five scholarships in Category 3, T&I Student Members.
Applicants were each asked in what way they had contributed to the T&I industry in 2022 to 2023. You can read summaries of the recipients’ answers below.
Category 1: T&I Practitioner in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages
Gail Yorkshire Selby is a board member of Aboriginal Interpreting WA (AIWA) and a mentor, and she provides training to people in the medical field and the judiciary on both how and why they should work with interpreters. Gail will travel to the conference from Western Australia.
Annette Kogolo is a strong advocate for T&I in her community, and sits on several boards. She is also a director for Aboriginal Interpreting WA (AIWA), and helps guide the organisation in the areas of good governance, training, and culturally safe best practice. Annette will travel to the conference from Western Australia.
Lou-Ann Pindan works with Aboriginal interpreting WA on many T&I jobs, and recently attended an international language conference in Darwin to speak about and promote AIWA’s work. She also trains medical students on why they need to work with interpreters, and how best to do so. Lou-Ann will travel to the conference from Western Australia.
Category 2: T&I Practitioner in Tier C or D languages
Alina Ielenko arrived in Australia last year on a humanitarian visa from Ukraine. In the short time since then she has joined AUSIT and achieved NAATI Recognised Practising Interpreter and Recognised Practising Translator credentials. She is working as a Ukrainian interpreter and translator, and is also doing some volunteer work for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine, including translating documents that are required when applying for a protection visa. Alina will travel to the conference from Queensland.
Category 3: T&I Student Member
Mai Ho has been involved in a community organisation aimed at bridging the communication gap between Vietnamese jobseekers and employment consultants. As a T&I student she has become aware of the deep interplay between language and culture. This has driven her to prioritise both linguistic accuracy and cultural respect in her work, and she feels that attending the conference will help her to uphold these ethical standards. Mai will travel to the conference from Victoria.
Chris Rodd volunteered on the Spanish translation team, and also participated in a terminology masterclass, for RMIT’s project to develop LGBTQIA+ inclusive terminology (see the Recent Research report In Touch magazine, October 2023, or read it on AUSIT’s blog here). He has also volunteered in a role play to help forensic science students at RMIT practice working with interpreters and been a student representative for RMIT’s Student Staff Consultative Committee, and he’s currently serving as a volunteer English role player for French interpreting students at RMIT. Chris will travel to the conference from Victoria.
As a third-year PhD candidate, Tiansu Zhang surveyed Mandarin speakers’ perceptions of the Mandarin renditions of English police questions (extracted from simulated interpreter-mediated police interviews). She believes that adopting this novel angle to study police interviewing will contribute to new knowledge, and that this will be particularly important in the Australia context, as Mandarin is the language with the second highest number of speakers in Australia, and Mandarin speakers are the largest group with low English proficiency (according to the 2021 Census). Tiansu will travel to the conference from Victoria.
Laura Fritch was involved in the (re-)translation of the AUSIT Code of Ethics into Japanese. She has recently contributed a pair of articles to AUSIT’s In Touch magazine about her translation research project, which investigated how ideophonicity can be translated in Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa’s Kaze no Matasaburo (you can read the articles here and here). She’s also one of two co-secretaries at AALITRA, helping to promote and coordinate events celebrating literary translation. Laura will travel to the conference from Victoria.
Mikoto Araki is a member of AUSIT’s RNS Feedback Committee, and helps promote AUSIT social events via social media to let non-members know what AUSIT does. She intends to join the VIC Branch next year, so she can help with organising the AUSIT National Conference 2024 and welcome colleagues from interstate and overseas. She is also an active member of Translators and Interpreters Australia, a division of the union Professionals Australia. Mikoto will travel to the conference from Victoria.
Thank you scholarships panel!
A huge thank you to the scholarships panel, who volunteered their time to assess the applications. To make this a blind, ‘merits only’ selection process, the material received by the panel had had all identifying information edited out. The panel consisted of the following AUSIT members:
Annamaria Arnall has been a translator and interpreter working with the Hungarian language throughout her adult life. She had served AUSIT on various committees with state, national and international involvement for nearly two decades. She finds observing the successes of the new generation of T&I professionals a most rewarding development.
Marcia Almeida started working as a NAATI-accredited interpreter in 2013 (Portuguese and Spanish). In 2015, Marcia completed a two–year Advanced Diploma in Spanish Interpreting at TAFE. Marcia’s background is in law and linguistics. She has been part of research doctorate studies in linguistics since 2005, and is a member and volunteer for AUSIT and also for the Commonwealth of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
Nancy Carrasco is an administrator and coordinator in the corporate sector and tertiary education. A NAATI-certified Spanish interpreter, she provides consecutive and occasionally simultaneous liaison interpreting for government departments and the corporate sector. Over the past six years, Nancy has contributed to AUSIT as Professional Development Officer, Branch Committee Chair and National Membership Officer.
Yveline Piller is a French<>English interpreter and translator based in NSW. She served as AUSIT National President from 2004 to 2006, was made a Fellow of AUSIT in 2007, and was a joint winner of the AUSIT Award for Excellence in Interpreting in 2013. From 2020 to 2021 Yveline designed and ran a very successful series of online French translation masterclasses for AUSIT members.
BRANCH NEWS
QLD Branch
… as reported by Carina MackenzieAUSIT QLD Branch celebrated International Translator’s Day (Saturday 30 September) in Brisbane and Cairns.
Brisbane:
Brisbane members met on this beautiful day to enjoy some healthy conviviality. Nothing to foster team spirit like a brisk walk by the river, learning how to say ‘Welcome to Brisbane’ in a variety of languages and then enjoying a Mediterranean lunch together. New and old members (in experience, not age) had the opportunity to meet, talk, laugh and share news.
Plans are currently underway to organise an End of Year event in Brisbane and a Welcome to the New Year event in Cairns. Stay tuned!
WA Branch
… as reported by Mary Street
On the occasion of International Translation Day (30 September), AUSIT WA organised a ‘Find an AUSIT Buddy’ event from 2:30 to 4:30 pm at South Terrace, Fremantle.
The purpose of the event was to meet and connect with fellow T/Is and help link up in language groups or through other common interests. The event was successful and the interaction was fantastic. Later, homemade snacks were served.
participants in the event
AUSIT PD & EVENTS
It is a matter of weeks before we meet in Sydney for the annual conference. We couldn’t do any of this without our devoted volunteers and the support of our sponsors. As AUSIT’s position in Australia’s T&I industry becomes more prominent, more industry stakeholders are seeing the advantages of sponsoring our main annual event.
Since I last listed them, four more sponsors have come on board: the Australian Signals Directorate, Congress Rentals, Health Translations and the University of Queensland. Also, Connecting Now has upgraded from Silver to Gold sponsor. Here are all our sponsors to date:
Ruby Sponsor
Emerald Sponsor
Platinum Sponsors
Venue Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Other AUSIT PD & Events
- AUSIT VIC: Monthly Social Event – After Work Drinks – 26 October 2023.
- AUSIT NAT: Meet and Greet for Turkish Translators and Interpreters – 30 October 2023.
- AUSIT ACT: Ethical Decision-Making – 31 October 2023.
- AUSIT NAT: Meet and Greet for Arabic Translators and Interpreters – 31 October 2023.
- AUSIT NAT: 2023 AUSIT National Conference – 23-25 November 2023.
- AUSIT WA: End of Year Party – 13 December 2023.
CLICK ON THE BUTTON below for more information and the registration links:
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.
APTIS 2023 – The Teaching and Learning That Matter Today (conference)
Spotlight on Spanish
Join The Localization Institute for this illuminating VIRTUAL CONFERENCE as we turn the Spotlight on Spanish. Culturally dispersed and richly woven into many nations, Spanish offers a unique challenge and opportunity for any company wishing to grow globally.
Day 1: Monday 6 November 2023
Day 2: Tuesday 7 November 2023
Find out more and register here.
IAPTI International Conference
NEXPD: Note Taking for Long Consecutive Interpreting
This workshop covers the key principles of note-taking including what to include, how to structure notes and how to take notes effectively so it supports source text comprehension and target text delivery.
This workshop suits practitioners and students preparing for the NAATI Certified Interpreter Consecutive Monologue Interpreting tasks, or seeking to improve their Note Taking for Long Consecutive Interpreting skills.
When: 13 November
You can find out more or register here.
Legal Words for Interpreters and Bilingual Workers – Criminal Law Words
This workshop covers the key principles of note-taking including what to include, how to structure notes and how to take notes effectively so it supports source text comprehension and target text delivery.
This workshop suits practitioners and students preparing for the NAATI Certified Interpreter Consecutive Monologue Interpreting tasks, or seeking to improve their Note Taking for Long Consecutive Interpreting skills.
When: 13 November
You can find out more or register here.
National Multicultural Health and Wellbeing Conference 2023
In partnership with NSW Health, the conference will address challenges, review best practices and explore how to improve access to health and wellbeing services for Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population.
When: Mon, 21–22 Nov 2023
Where: Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park
You can find out more or register here.
BRiTA Futures Training: a program to promote health and well-being for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds
Traducción audiovisual: doblaje, subtitulación y accesibilidad en los medios (e-course)
11 December 2023 – 27 May 2024
La enseñanza de lenguas en el S.XXI y el uso de la traducción audiovisual didáctica (e-course)
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
15 December 2023 – 31 May 2024
CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
CFP EATS5 Conference in June 2024
Hosted by the University of Queensland (hybrid conference)
26–28 June 2024
For more details visit the conference website, and if you require further information email the organisers here.
Lingusitica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies
special issue on Machine and Computer-assisted Interpreting, Vol. 24, 2025
Transl-AI-tion 2.0: Embracing the AI Revolution
Peter Lang, 2024 (call for chapters)
Contact: Rashid Yahiaoui (ryahiaoui@hbku.edu.qa)
23rd ITRI International Conference – Cultural Conflict and Dissonance in Translation and Interpreting
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea
12 January 2024
CALLS FOR PARTICIPANTS
What do you need to know before interpreting for the family of a child who is deaf?
We are looking for interpreters to complete a 5 to 10-minute survey about what they need to know before interpreting for the families of young children with hearing loss in health and education settings. This study is aimed at interpreters who work between spoken languages, not Auslan interpreters.
Click here to complete the survey.
Working Conditions of Translation Workers in the Digital Platform Economy
Find out more and take part in the survey here.
Research Project: The efficacy of post-editing machine translation on translation processes and products in translator training (Online Participation)
My name is Jia Zhang, and I am a PhD student at the School of Humanities and Languages, UNSW, supervised by Professor Stephen Doherty. I am currently working on a project titled ‘The efficacy of post-editing machine translation on translation processes and products in translator training’, in which I intend to recruit Chinese undergraduate students in Australia who have taken at least one entry-level translation course. This research project has been approved by the HREAP B: Arts, Architecture, Design, and Law on 16 May 2023 under ethics approval No. HC230142.
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 register your interest. Eligible participants will be contacted later for further arrangements. I would be grateful if you could also help spread the ads to potential participants.
AUSIT OPPORTUNITIES
IAUSIT National Council positions coming available
As I mentioned above, if you have experience volunteering for AUSIT and would like to join the National Council, you may be interested in declaring your interest in one of the vice-presidential positions that will become available at the National Annual General Meeting (NAGM) in November: Vice President (Communications & Public Relations) and Vice President (Events & Professional Development). You can read Amy’s description of the VP (Events & PD) position in my last newsletter, available here, and Vesna has written the below to help you decide whether you would fit the VP (Comms & PR) position which she’s vacating.
You can apply via the National Council nomination form, also attached at the end of this newsletter.
Vesna Cvjeticanin, Vice President (Communications & Public Relations)
The VP (Comms & PR) chairs the AUSIT Communications Committee* and plays a pivotal role in overseeing and coordinating the Committee’s efforts to fulfill its aims and responsibilities, as outlined in the Committee’s Terms of Reference. The VP is supported by a number of people who make up the Communications Team – primarily the Communications Officer (a casual part-time paid position), Office Logistics (an outside company who provide administrative support) and the IT company 5by5, who manage the website in consultation with the Communications Team. The Communications Committee members are volunteers who represent most of the state and territory branches and support the Chair by providing ideas, comments and suggestions at the Committee’s monthly meetings.
The roles and responsibilities of the Chair are closely guided by the directions of the National Council and the National President, and from time to time include:
Leadership: The Chair provides leadership to the Committee, guiding its members toward achieving the Committee’s aims and fulfilling its responsibilities. The Chair sets the tone for the Committee’s activities and maintains a clear vision of its goals.
Committee Coordination: The Chair ensures that the Committee functions cohesively by coordinating its activities, setting meeting agendas, and monitoring progress toward its stated goals, aims and responsibilities.
Strategic Planning: The Chair is responsible for developing and implementing a strategic plan to promote AUSIT to T&I practitioners, service users, and agencies, and to raise the profile of the T&I profession. This includes developing strategies for public outreach, promotion and advocacy.
Content Oversight: The Chair oversees the Committee’s provision of content for the public sections of AUSIT’s website, ensuring that the information is accurate, current, and aligned with AUSIT’s priorities and goals, as indicated by the National Council.
Media Engagement: The Chair liaises with the media and seeks opportunities for media releases and interviews. The Chair may have a role in representing the Committee and AUSIT to the media.
Fundraising and Sponsorship: With the National President, the Chair plays a role in seeking sponsors and advertisers to generate funds for AUSIT. They engage with potential sponsors and contributors to secure financial backing for AUSIT’s activities.
Online Presence Management: The Chair oversees the administration of AUSIT’s presence on public media outlets, including platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. This involves ensuring that the Association’s image is maintained and actively engaging with the online community.
Advocacy and Public Speaking: The Chair supports the National President in seeking public speaking opportunities to raise awareness about the profession. They may advocate for T&I policies and standards and represent AUSIT in various public forums.
Website Review and Enhancement: The Chair oversees the review and correction of links and references to AUSIT on public access websites and documents. They make recommendations for updates to ensure accurate and up-to-date information is presented.
Policy Advocacy: The Chair promotes adequate T&I policies among end users of T&I services, advocating for policies that support the profession’s ethical principles and best practices and standards.
In summary, the VP for Comms & PR is responsible for providing leadership, coordination and strategic direction to ensure the committee effectively achieves its aims and responsibilities, with a strong focus on promoting AUSIT and the T&I profession to a broader audience.
* NOTE: a process is currently underway to divide the Communications Committee into the focus areas of liaison / website and directorate / social media / advocacy. A Liaison Committee has been formed. The Editorial Committee for AUSIT’s In Touch magazine also reports to the National Council via the VP (Comms & PR), and the Chair of the Editorial Committee sits on the Communications Committee.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Interpreter Scholarship Program 2024
The Victorian Government is offering scholarships to support students undertaking interpreting courses at RMIT University in 2024. Applications close 31 January 2024, or when all available places have been allocated. You can find out more or apply here.
JOB KIOSK
Ethnolink are looking for NAATI Certified freelance translators. Applications are open to translators around the globe.
Interpreters especially in:
Albanian, Bangla, Cantonese, Dinka, Greek, Gujarati, Hazaragi, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Kirundi, Korean, Kurdish Sorani, Lao, Mandarin, Nepali, Polish, Punjabi, Rohingya, Swahili, Tamil, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Urdu, Uyghur and Zotung
and translators especially in:
Amharic, Dinka, German, Hakha Chin, Karen, Lao, Pashto, Tigrinya, Turkish and Uyghur.
READING CORNER: interesting articles & journals
Simon, Sherry. 2023. Le Genre en traduction. Identité culturelle et politiques de transmission. Translated by Corinne Oster. Artois Presses Universitaires.
Torres Díaz, Maria Gracia. 2023. La interpretación bilateral. Comares.
Translation Studies, special issue on Media Paratexts and Translation, Vol. 16(3), 2023.
If you are able to make it, please come to the 36th AUSIT National Conference, the full program is here. it is going to be the most important T/I event in the country and possibly in the region! Come, learn, network, debate and be!
J. Angelo Berbotto
AUSIT National President
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
