Hilary
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Hilary’s parents are Deaf.
‘I was Mum’s and Dad’s interpreter,’ Hilary told the Royal Commission. ‘English was my second language … It’s only in my later life that I have really picked up the English and understood it. I still think in Auslan.’
Hilary isn’t Deaf, but said she didn’t start speaking until she was five ‘because [her family] used Auslan in the home’.
Hilary still interprets for her parents.
‘[My mother] couldn’t even get an interpreter for a solicitor’s appointment yesterday through video remote interpreting. I couldn’t get anybody for the whole of Australia. I had to interpret my mum’s solicitor’s appointment.’
Hilary works as a professional Auslan interpreter in a regional city. Much of her work is with First Nations people in the legal system.
‘They haven’t got the support. It’s really, really sad for the Deaf [in remote communities]. It’s just heartbreaking, what I have heard, some of the stories. Grew up in a hearing household remotely and didn’t understand. Just heartbreaking. And the access to interpreters there [in remote communities] is very difficult.’
Hilary said when Deaf First Nations people first come into contact with the legal system it can be ‘life and death’.
‘How many times have police pulled people over and then they’re arrested because they’re making all these terrible noises? It’s because they’re Deaf and they don’t understand. Some Deaf can be very loud and can sound like they’re being violent, but they’re not.’
She said some end up in court without knowing why.
‘Before we go in, we’re talking to the lawyer and the Deaf person says, “I had no interpreter when the police were talking to me. I was put in handcuffs and walked away. I don’t know what I did.” … They have no idea. I nearly cried. And have come home so many times after court just going, “My goodness. This poor person. If they had an interpreter we would know what had happened.”’
Hilary said there are no Auslan court interpreters in her town who can speak First Nations languages. As a result, some people ‘don’t understand what's happening and how there’s a law in all of this, because they grew up in remote areas’.
Hilary said she wants to learn First Nations languages, but the high demand for her services means she doesn’t have time.
‘I can go 21 days straight without a break … There’s not enough of us.’
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.