Clarice
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‘As far as I'm concerned, when I see the Prime Minister on TV I should see an interpreter. Because how do Deaf people increase their knowledge about the political system and be part of civil life in our country if Deaf people can’t access the information?’
Clarice is in her 50s and a child of Deaf adults (CODA).
‘I’m what you would call a CODA, growing up in a bilingual home where I learnt to sign before I could speak and then later learnt to speak in English,’ Clarice told the Royal Commission.
As a CODA, she was often expected to interpret for her parents.
‘My mother had quite serious mental health issues … and there were many times that I would attend medical mental health appointments with her and interpret … quite disturbing types of questions.’
Clarice became a professional Auslan interpreter in schools. She said it’s ‘baffling’ that education departments don’t employ more interpreters and teachers fluent in Auslan.
‘Deaf children are more and more integrated into mainstream schools and there is no standard of provision of access for those signing students to qualified interpreters. I just think that is absolutely abominable.’
She said when Deaf students leave school, they still struggle to find good interpreters. For example, in most hospitals there’s a telephone interpreting service for spoken languages, but nothing similar for Auslan. There are also few interpreters in the legal system, especially for Deaf First Nations people.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a boom time for Auslan translators, but Clarice said the media often ‘cut them off or [didn’t] show them in an appropriate size on the screen so that Deaf people could view the information’.
‘The people that they appointed for these roles were absolutely inappropriate. They did not have the skills and … I was actually told by one agency that we've got to give these interpreters a go, give them some practice, and I was just horrified.’
Clarice said there should be a minimum standard of training for interpreters. For example, the NDIS is ‘fantastic’, but some poorly-trained interpreters are taking advantage of Deaf people.
‘People who have NDIS packages can hire people who are not qualified to interpret as interpreters. Now I don't know what is in the legislation for the NDIS or other professionals such as OT [occupation therapists], speech therapists, but I would be sure that people cannot hire those professionals without them having some form of a qualification.’
Clarice also said there are too few interpreters in government.
‘If Parliament wasn't accessible to those in wheelchairs then, you know, there would be a big uproar, so changes need to be made,’ Clarice said.
‘I don't see the same uproar about the [Deaf] citizens of this country being unable to access our government … I just find that absolutely shameful and discriminatory.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.