Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Australia's translating and interpreting services have a long history and play a vital role in our community. This bill will establish a new act to provide a clear statutory foundation for these services, reflecting the government's commitment to the work of the Translating and Interpreting Service—TIS National—and the important role it plays in our modern, multicultural Australia.

The Australian government began providing translating services in 1947, and interpreting services commenced not long after that. These were introduced to support post World War II migrants. The government recognised then, as it does today, the critical importance of these services to migrants making their new homes in Australia. Since 1947, these services have continued to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the Australian community. In 1973 Australia established the world's first telephone interpreting service, which remains a core component of the services today. The government's translating and interpreting services are now provided by Translating and Interpreting Service, or TIS National, in the Department of Home Affairs. TIS Nation's services facilitate communication between people with limited English proficiency and the agencies and businesses that they rely on for vital services. TIS National operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides more than 1.3 million interpreting services each year in more than 150 languages.

Australia is a diverse, multicultural society with a rich Indigenous heritage and a successful migration story. More than one-quarter of us were born overseas, having migrated from more than 200 countries. The diversity of the Australian population provides us with a variety of languages, beliefs, traditions and cultures, and that is why we have the Multicultural Access and Equity Policy—a key policy ensuring that all Australians, whatever their cultural or linguistic background, are able to access government programs and services. This, in turn, means they can fully participate and contribute to our society. The services that TIS National provide are vital in upholding this commitment to Australians.

Beyond helping us achieve access and equity outcomes, the government's translation and interpreting services also play a vital role in supporting social cohesion in our multicultural nation. Australia's multicultural diversity is fundamental to the character of our nation—it is who we are—and all Australians have an equal right to participate in the social, political and economic life of our country. However, this often isn't always the experience of diverse Australians, and this is why the government recently established an Office for Multicultural Affairs and elevated to cabinet for the very first time the standalone position of Minister for Multicultural Affairs.

The government's translating and interpreting services play a vital role in supporting a multicultural Australia. Over the years, new migrants and humanitarian entrants have relied on these services to engage with the community and build their lives as full participants in Australian society. Services like this help new Australians navigate the complexity of our country and access essential support. They make it easier for people to engage with government and community services. For patients, these services can mean better access to health care, and the ability to explain their symptoms in their own language and receive the care they need.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, translating and interpreting services were absolutely vital. For families with limited English, a simple call to TIS number 131 450 meant they were able access life-saving information on where to get vaccinated, how to stay safe and the latest health advice when they needed it most. Day-to-day, we know that TIS National provides an invaluable service, with its free interpreting service available to all parliamentarians, ensuring that their constituents are able to access assistance and support from their representatives regardless of their English ability.

Ultimately, the government's translating and interpreting services help us to harness the economic and social benefits of our diversity and build a more productive and socially cohesive Australia for all of us. This bill does not seek to change the way in which the services of TIS National or provided or funded. It will simply provide a clear legislative framework for the services, providing certainty and ensuring their continued availability to support our community into the future.

To achieve this, this bill will establish express legislative functions for TIS National, as functions of the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs. These functions include the provision of translating and interpreting services to government departments, across all levels of government, and private sector entities to facilitate communication by and with people with limited English language proficiency, including visa holders and newly settled migrants.

The functions also enable the operation of TIS National's 24/7 phone interpreting service, which supports calls to triple 0 emergency services. Further, the functions will enable the development, training and support of translators and interpreters, and ensure ongoing powers to enter into contracts and arrangements to provide these services.

The bill also includes provisions to make clear that arrangements entered into before commencement of the legislation, including those arrangements that continue to be in force when the legislation commences, will continue to have effect. This appropriately ensures that established arrangements are able to be maintained and provides certainty for all parties—and reinforces that the purpose of this legislation is to provide a statutory framework for existing, longstanding functions and services provided by TIS National.

The bill will also provide a power for the minister to make rules—a disallowable legislative instrument—to prescribe matters required or permitted by the proposed act, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the act. This will enable the minister to specify further functions to support and sustain TIS National's operations and important role in the provision of translating and interpreting services for the Australian community, into the future.

The bill sends a strong signal about the government's commitment to a united and prosperous multicultural Australia.

I commend this bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned.

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