Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

6
Let’s build a better future for translators and interpreters – together. Fair deal for translators and interpreters

description

Professionals Australia Many Languages One Voice brochure

Transcript of Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Page 1: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Let’s build a better future for translators and interpreters – together.

Fair deal for translatorsand interpreters

Page 2: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Every day translators and interpreters experience the problems that plague the language services industry.

As practitioners we do our best, but despite our efforts, this is an industry in crisis. Translators and interpreters currently experience:

• Poor pay and conditions;

• Insufficient or sporadic work;

• Little or no employment security;

• Inefficient and sometimes unsafe conditions;

• Lack of recognition for professional skills;

• Exodus of skilled colleagues, because people can’t make a reasonable living.

Challenging working conditions are becoming amplified since clients and governments are unable to measure the contribution translators and interpreters make to the economy and community.

This prevents us from delivering quality services to the communities that rely on us to access fundamental health, legal, government and immigration services.

Practitioners are taken for granted, under-utilised, and given no real incentive to undertake professional development. We also see growing occurrences of the use of practitioners with no credentials and consequently, NAATI standards are not enforced.

Even though the work of translators and interpreters is essential, the system continues to suffer ongoing budget cuts.

Agencies are being squeezed on price and pass on financial, ethical and professional burdens to practitioners. This compromises service delivery and creates huge risks and costs to governments.

The fragmented nature of the language services industry means that a more effective structure won’t build itself.

What’s wrong with our industry?

Translators and interpreters know the value of quality services and can provide a blueprint for change.We have an opportunity to work together to create a strong, influential voice for the industry that builds momentum for change.

In working together, we can help lay a new foundation for language services and build an industry that ends the race to the bottom.

We share many common goals.

Last year ASLIA, AUSIT and Professionals Australia signed a joint statement that set out how we could work together to fix the problems facing our industry. We committed to increasing the profile of the profession and our industry.

We agreed to the goal of building a sustainable industry where practitioners are remunerated at a professional level.

We agreed to act together to improve standards and engagement in the workforce, and to strengthen the education pathways into translating and interpreting.

We committed to improving recognition for the role practitioners play in alleviating communication barriers to access and equity for Australia’s diverse communities.

Low pay and conditions

Unsustainable wages

Unenforced government policies

Unrepresented workers

Under-utilisation of practitioners

Failure to attract new practitioners to the industry because conditions are poor

Practitioners leaving the industry

What’s wrong with our industry?

Page 3: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Work with industry to negotiate improvements

Open discussions with industry to create a fairer and more sustainable industry.

Convince governments that investment in language services will deliver better services, more e�ciently.

Provide a strong and in�uential voice that will change industry focus from cost, to quality of service.

Provide legal and industrial advice, professional development, support and advocacy for practitioners – at lower cost.

Lobby governments for change

Provide a strong voice for practitioners

Build e�ective industry representation

What can we do to change it?

Since signing our joint statement we’ve had some small wins.

But, what do we need to do now - to transform our industry and achieve our common goals?It’s now time for all practitioners and members of ASLIA, AUSIT and Professionals Australia to take big steps towards change in our industry.

We want translators and interpreters to discuss how practitioners will be best represented and how that representation can be financed.

This is the largest ever attempt to bring translators and interpreters together to create positive change for both the profession and language services in Australia – we invite you to be part of it.

To create a sustainable language services industry, we need to reshape it.

We have a plan to achieve change.We need to build a strong voice that represents the majority of practitioners.

Our industry needs effective representation that can shape the industry to be one based on respect, recognition and reward for translators and interpreters as the providers of quality services.

We need to build an industry that values quality services, and also provides safeguards against practices that undermine the incomes of translators and interpreters.

We have it within our control to advocate for an industry that delivers high quality services to the community, is cost effective and low risk for government, profitable for business and sustainable for practitioners.

Page 4: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

What’s our plan to achieve change?

1. Build effective industry representation

To achieve change we need to represent the majority of practitioners in the industry. The simplest way to do this is through industry partnership that brings together the members of ASLIA, AUSIT and Professionals Australia.

Partnership would enable us to:

• Represent and advocate for the majority of practitioners;

• Reduce running costs for each organisation by pooling resources, while also enabling each organisation to maintain independence;

• Provide high-quality Continuing Professional Development that meets NAATI requirements;

• Provide training to address codes of ethics, business and industry issues;

• Produce cohesive and strong communications to generate awareness;

• Develop cross-organisation working groups in each state; and

• Visit universities and provide industry briefings.

Without a partnership, we cannot do all these things.

2. Provide a strong voice for practitioners

To improve language services we need a high proportion of translators and interpreters to become members and engage around the issues; and we need ASLIA, AUSIT and Professionals Australia to invest the resources necessary to achieve a viable membership base.

Translators and interpreters cannot rely on other people to cover the cost of their representation. The present situation cannot be sustained as the cost of campaigning far outweighs the financial contribution made by translator and interpreter members.

Currently, practitioners are represented by multiple organisations that have similar and often overlapping purposes. If practitioners want to achieve wage increases and industry improvements we also need to work towards sustainable and effective representation.

If we acheive a strong and sustainable voice we can work towards improvements across the board, e.g. wages.

3. Lobby governments for change

Governments will only change their contracting practices if we convince them that investment in professional translator and interpreter services will deliver savings in costs, efficiency improvements and productivity gains.

We will raise understanding across government, that declining translator and interpreting services expose entities to significant and expensive risk. Poor service delivery raises the risk of litigation, the risk of waste when services are deemed unsatisfactory (e.g. court mistrial) and the risk of breaching the Disability Discrimination or Equal Opportunity Acts.

Our advocacy to government will highlight the political consequences of the failure to deliver services; the potential for negative media coverage of waste/failures and how poor service can impact voter intention in marginal seats.

More positively, we will strongly advocate for the benefits of fixing the industry and highlighting how politicians can play an active role in creating a sustainable, quality service industry. We will work with all political parties to ensure politicians are equipped to fix problems and oppositions form good policy platforms.

4. Work with industry to negotiate improvements

The ACCC has now given Professionals Australia approval to collectively bargain for translator and interpreter members who operate as independent contractors.

This will enable Professionals Australia to provide information and advice about rates of pay and conditions, and to negotiate these terms for translators and interpreters.

This ruling is a huge leap forward in shifting this industry from being purely cost-focussed, to one that is sustainable and quality-focussed.

With the ACCC’s authorisation, Professionals Australia can regularly survey practitioners about their pay and conditions. This information will be used to engage in negotiations with industry stakeholders and agencies, and work to create a fairer and more sustainable industry; that includes better wages and conditions.

Page 5: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Partnership aims to bring together the strengths of AUSIT, ASLIA and Professionals Australia.Individually, we are not big enough to do everything that is required to reshape our industry.

Together, we have a much better chance.

We need to work together towards a partnership that is capable of undertaking the broad range of activities to rescue the industry as well as building on those things that are already occurring.

The shape and form of partnership is something that practitioners can decide. There are many ways the partnership could be advantageous.

If we remain separate, our organisations have huge roles and little resources to undertake them to the standard that is required to ensure a high quality, secure and fair industry.

Together, with the shared areas of our expertise maximised, we would remove the limitations we currently have in achieving change.

By using the scale created by partnership we could build a more powerful and effective voice for

practitioners and the industry.

What is the way forward?

Partnership will allow us to build the capability to undertake the activities required to change the industry for the better.

Creating an industry where wages reflect the professional nature of our work, where practitioners can earn a living and invest in professional development, where services are high quality and the government and community see the benefit of investing in our industry.

There is little evidence the industry will fix itself. Translators and interpreters must play a part in shaping the future.

How would a partnership work?

“As an industry we need to sign up students and practitioners, lobby politicians, work with business and communities, support the practitioners legally and industrially, provide modern CPD and education opportunities and increase pay and recognition - all delivered for good value.

Together, we have a much better ability to achieve change, than apart.”

- Chris Walton, CEO, Professionals Australia

For individuals

Raise wages

Raise quality standards

Improve CPD

Reduce the cost of representation

Enforce Code of Ethics

Expand networking

Discounted professional indemnity insurance

Better value for membership fees

For organisations

Back-end savings that could be agreed. i.e. website; finance.

Investment in new CPD

Improved recruitment initiatives

Greater influence in industry

Improved scale to build a more effective voice

Stronger communications to raise awareness

Effective representation

Together, we can achieve change

Partnership could provide:

Page 6: Let's build a better future for Translators and Interpreters - Together

Let’s build a better future for translators and interpreters.

By working together, we could:

Tel: 1300 273 762 - Email: [email protected] - Fax: 03 9695 8902 - Post: GPO Box 1272 Melbourne VIC 3001.

Raise wages

Raise quality standards

Improve CPD

Reduce the cost of comprehensive representation

Enforce the Code of Ethics

Expand networking

Join online at: www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/groups/translators-and-interpreters

We have a much greater chance to achieve change in our industry if we work together. The Many Languages One Voice campaign can only achieve change with your support.

A sustainable industry will not happen by itself.

Fair deal for translatorsand interpreters