Table of Contents

Chapters

Definitions

IN THESE STANDARDS:

“AUSIT” means Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators, the national association for the translating and interpreting profession;

“ASLIA” means Australian Sign Language Interpreters’ Association, the national peak organisation representing the needs and interests of Auslan/English interpreters and Deaf Interpreters in Australia;

“Certified Interpreter” means a person certified by NAATI as a Certified Interpreter;

“Certified Mentor” means a Certified Interpreter in another language who is a member of AUSIT, ASLIA or other recognised State or Territory based association requiring adherence to a code of ethics and/or standards, and is experienced in court interpreting;

“Certified Provisional Interpreter” means a person certified by NAATI as a Certified Provisional Interpreter;

“Certified Specialist Interpreter” means a person certified by NAATI as a Certified Specialist Interpreter in the legal or health domain;

“Certified Specialist Legal Interpreter” means a person certified by NAATI as a Certified Specialist Legal Interpreter;

“Certified Translator” means a person certified by NAATI as a Certified Translator;

“court” includes state and federal courts and tribunals, and other decision-making bodies which conduct hearings, and includes any government agency responsible for providing administrative services and resources to a court;

“Court Interpreters’ Code of Conduct” means Schedule 1 to the Model Rules;

“interpret” means the process whereby spoken or signed language is conveyed from one language (the source language) to another (the target language) orally;

“judicial officer” includes state and federal judges, magistrates, tribunal members and members of other decision-making bodies which conduct hearings;

“language” includes Auslan and other signed languages;

“NAATI” means National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, the body responsible for setting and monitoring the standards for the translating and interpreting profession in Australia through its certification system;

“party” includes an accused in criminal proceedings and may include a person with a significant interest in the proceedings;

“Qualified Interpreter” means a person qualified for court interpreting because they have all of the following attributes:

  • a tertiary (VET or university) qualification in interpreting; and
  • certification from NAATI; and
  • membership with a professional body (e.g. AUSIT, ASLIA or other recognised State or Territory based interpreter association); and
  • experience interpreting in court.

“Recognised Practising Interpreter” means a person holding the NAATI award of Recognised Practising Interpreter, which requires the person to demonstrate English proficiency, ethical competency, intercultural competency and complete a minimum amount of introductory interpreter training, but there is no testing of the person;

“sight translate” means the process whereby an interpreter or translator presents a spoken interpretation of a written text;

“Suitable Person” means an interpreter who has some of the attributes of a Qualified Interpreter, or where no interpreter can be found, a bilingual;

“translate” means the process whereby written language is conveyed from one language (the source language) to another (the target language) in the written form.