- [Woman] Welcome to ASLIA National, the Australian Sign Language Interpreters' Association. 

- ASLIA was established with an aim of leading and promoting sign language interpreting across Australia. We want to ensure that interpreters are very aware of their responsibilities and have adequate training and support to do a good job. We advocate for high quality interpreting work and that working conditions are fair for our members. ASLIA previously was more focused on hearing interpreters working between Auslan and English, but now we've extended to include the work of deaf interpreters. Sometimes, we work independently, sometimes together. 

- ASLIA has been established for over 25 years as a professional association. Prior to ASLIA being set up, there certainly was interpreting work being done, but it wasn't yet a recognised role, so it was a much more informal approach. Often, family and friends would come and help out, and at deaf school, the teachers did interpreting work. And also, sometimes, deaf students who came from deaf families would assist with interpreting and translation, and sometimes other deaf adults. 

- But a lot of the interpreting was done by the welfare offices at deaf societies. And you can see that those roles are much more helper or advocate-style, not as impartial as we have today. And those welfare offices were very involved with the interpreting task. 

- So say a deaf person had received a letter that they didn't understand. They could go along and get an explanation and advice. Or if they wanted to apply for a job, they'd come and ask the welfare officer, and that officer would organise and set up the interview and the interpreting, and the deaf person hopefully got a job out of it. So, much more involved than we are today. 

- Then in the 1970s and '80s, Australia became a much more cultural country with all the overseas immigration. And policies needed to be established to deal with all the language diversity, especially around interpreting. So NAATI was established to accredit interpreters, including spoken languages and Auslan, but at that time, it was called deaf sign. 

- Once NAATI was established, then the training courses needed to be set up. So most of them were offered by tapes and deaf societies around the country. The courses taught sign language, and sometimes basic interpreting skills. Then each of the states started to develop their own associations so that the local groups of interpreters, newly acquired roles, were able to analyse and figure out what they were going to do in those roles. 

- The model changed from a welfare to a more professional style. Sometimes, training courses would involve deaf sign, not yet called Auslan, plus sign English, plus cued speech, plus oral techniques, 'cause you could apply for any of those skills onto NAATI. 

- Obviously, now, we're reduced back to the basics, sign language so we can have hearing interpreters certified and deaf interpreters certified as sign language interpreters. But you've seen that the training content has changed, and we're becoming more specialised to match our new needs. ASLIA is a not-for-profit organisation, which means we rely heavily on kind volunteers to set up our committees and get the work done. 

- Our structure is based on three tiers, starting with state or territory groups who are connected with ASLIA National, and we have a further connection with the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters, WASLI, at international level. Very similar to the way that Deaf Australia has an international connection with the World Federation of the Deaf. Because we are working with WASLI, we're responsible not just for looking after Australia, but the Asia-Pacific or Oceania region, especially working with Fiji to develop their work in the region. Clearly, we also need to work with other partners and stakeholders. 

- In the deaf world, that includes Deaf Australia, the various deaf societies around Australia, especially delivering workshops in PD, and also with Auslan interpreting service providers. Plus, we work with other interpreter associations. 

- Most closely, with SLIANZ, the Sign Language Interpreters Association of New Zealand, as well as working with our spoken language peers. The main association in Australia for spoken languages is AUSIT, and they cover the whole gambit of spoken languages, not just one like we do. So we liaise within closely around membership and training opportunities. We also clearly work with NAATI as our accreditation authority. So with all those liaisons and collaborations, we can do our work more effectively. 

- If you have a look at the ASLIA website, you'll see a lot more information under different topic headings. There's one section called About Us, and in there, you'll find more in-depth information about the history of interpreting and ASLIA. Quite interesting. 

- There's also a section called Governance. In there, you'll find policies about specialist types of interpreting work. For example, legal interpreting, educational interpreting, and the work of DIs. There's also a section called Pathways to Interpreting. And that includes information about how you can plan to become a qualified interpreter. 

- We also provide information about various PD opportunities. You may be aware that under NAATI, if you want to remain certified, you need to show evidence of regular PD attendance to improve your knowledge and your insights. 

- So we show information about news events, deaf community festivals, new PD opportunities, and job vacancies. There's other information, but that's for members only. 

- Now, if you're not yet a member or you don't know about ASLIA, have a look at the website and see what we do. If you have anything to do with sign language interpreting, it's really worthwhile being involved. 

- Well, hope you consider it because we need you.