Community Projects - Up Coming Projects
Professional Aboriginal Interpreters Accreditation Project PAIAP
8th February 2008. GREAT NEWS- our club has raised all of the $20,000 required for this project. The names of the very generous corporate sponsors will be provided soon.
The Aboriginal Interpreter Service AIS has been operating since April 2000 and currently has 200 active paraprofessional interpreters, who have undertaken interpreting assignments during the past 6 months. The Rotary Club of Hampton approached the AIS in July 2007 with a view to facilitate a project to help aboriginal interpreters. In response, AIS suggested this important project.
Current formal qualifications for interpreters of Aboriginal languages is only at the Paraprofessional level as defined by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). The paraprofessional level of interpreting is that required for conversational English only. However, the interpreters are required to interpret at a much higher level in many situations. For example, court and hospital interpreting, without the minimum qualifications for these tasks.
While NAATI provides examinations at the professional level for over 25 ethnic language interpreters, they do not provide any support for testing in Aboriginal languages at any level, and, despite repeated requests, NAATI have no plans to do so. The Aboriginal Interpreter Service (AIS) has been responsible for the development of all Aboriginal language testing for interpreters registered with the AIS. Hence the prima facie need for professional level tests for Aboriginal languages to be developed independently of funding from NAATI.
It is envisaged that the initial pilot program will be conducted in the NE Arnhem language of Djambarrpuyngu. This language has been chosen due to the high demand for interpreters in this and closely associated languages, the availability of staff to conduct training in this language and the high population base that these language interpreters service.
The program will be implemented in the period January – June 2008. Training will be conducted in Darwin due to the availability of resources and staff and paraprofessional interpreters flown from Arnhem Land to Darwin for training and examination at Professional Level One.
AIS interpreters already demonstrate strong dedication and provide a professional approach to their work. The opportunity to gain accreditation at the professional level would give them the recognition that has until now been denied them, not as a result of their inability to reach such a level but due to the fact that there is no way they are currently able to advance beyond the level of a paraprofessional interpreter.
The availability of professionally accredited level one interpreters will not only benefit the interpreters, but it will also improve understanding between speakers of Aboriginal languages and the providers of health, justice and education services in the wider community.
Heritage walks in Hampton
Our club is developing a series of self-guided walks/drives specifically on the heritage of Hampton, in consultation the Sandringham and District Historical Society. We anticipate that they will be available by May 2008.
