- Interpreter Training and Certification. From the 1980s, Australia became a much more multi-cultural country with an increase in overseas immigration and new human rights laws. The government needed to develop policies to deal with the language diversity, and saw the need for interpreting provision. So NAATI was established to accredit interpreters, That included spoken languages and Auslan. At that time, Auslan was called 'deaf sign'. Once NAATI started testing interpreters, training courses then needed to be set up. Most of them were delivered by TAFE colleges and state Deaf Societies. Those courses taught sign language and basic interpreting skills. In the early days, some training courses included Auslan, plus signed English, plus cued speech, plus oral interpreting techniques, because you could be accredited in any of those skills when NAATI was first started. NAATI currently certifies hearing interpreters working between Auslan and English at different levels, as well as Deaf interpreters in different skill areas. Our idea of what an interpreter is and does has been changing substantially over time, so our training and assessment has had to adjust, especially as deaf people move into much broader roles and with the growth of new technology.