On July 16, 2021
Australia imposed several lockdowns in 2020 in response to Covid-19, most notably six months’ worth of various stay-at-home orders in Melbourne between March and October. At this writing, Victoria had just entered a five-day lockdown following the one in Greater Sydney, which was extended to, at least, July 30, 2021.
On top of the general business slowdown, translator and interpreter testing also took a hit. According to Australia’s certifying authority for linguists, NAATI, a significant number of certification exams were canceled or rescheduled, including more than 200 Certified Translator tests between March and September 2020.
NAATI, which stands for the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, responded by accelerating the adoption of the online testing model it had in the works. By June 30, 2021, the company had delivered over 1,700 tests, including 952 Certified Translator and 597 Certified Provisional Interpreter tests.
On July 16, 2021
Australia imposed several lockdowns in 2020 in response to Covid-19, most notably six months’ worth of various stay-at-home orders in Melbourne between March and October. At this writing, Victoria had just entered a five-day lockdown following the one in Greater Sydney, which was extended to, at least, July 30, 2021.
On top of the general business slowdown, translator and interpreter testing also took a hit. According to Australia’s certifying authority for linguists, NAATI, a significant number of certification exams were canceled or rescheduled, including more than 200 Certified Translator tests between March and September 2020.
NAATI, which stands for the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, responded by accelerating the adoption of the online testing model it had in the works. By June 30, 2021, the company had delivered over 1,700 tests, including 952 Certified Translator and 597 Certified Provisional Interpreter tests.
Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Community Services and Development
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to making sure that all people feel welcome, and we are delivering on our commitment by expanding opportunities for those wishing to accredit as interpreters.
Interpreters play an essential part in delivering government services to people who require language assistance, and our Tasmanian Interpreter Training Scholarship Program is designed to increase the supply and quality of credentialed interpreters, particularly in languages in demand.
Jointly funded with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, the scholarships valued at $1000 each will help local interpreters and bi-cultural workers enrol in an online training program through RMIT University.
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As Australia begins its COVID-19 vaccination program today, there is concern in Victoria s Pasifika community about a lack of information in language
Despite the headline COVID-19 vaccine information in your language displayed prominently on the Australian Health Department s website, the only Pacific language available is Samoan.
This is concerning for Rita Seumanutafa, who runs a consultancy business and also serves on the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group, helping to share messages about the COVID-19 vaccination program. Our people are getting their news from Facebook posts. There s a copy-paste anti-vaxxer post going around at the moment and I m just thinking to myself none of this advice is from a medical professional but I know our people will be reading it word for word, Ms Seumanutafa told Pacific Beat.
JOINT STATEMENT
Queenslanders who rely on interpreters to access essential services will soon have greater assistance with the Palaszczuk Government providing $740,000 over three years to boost the number of Interpreters who are certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).
Working in collaboration with NAATI, an Interpreter Training Boost Program will be launched in 2021 to support people who speak in-demand languages by assisting with their interpreter training and NAATI certification fees.
Minister for Employment, Training and Skills Dianne Farmer said the funding had the potential to kickstart vital careers.
“We are providing opportunities for up to 100 Queenslanders to gain jobs in the interpreting industry and this investment will ensure Queenslanders have the skills they need to set up employment pathways for the future,” Ms Farmer said.