Language Services Policy
At the time of the 2021 Census 1,004,932 of Queensland residents said they used a language* other than English at home. This represents 19.4 per cent of the state's population. Of those, 90,851 said they do not speak English or do not speak it well (1.8 per cent of the state's total population).
The Queensland Government recognises that a significant number of people do not speak English well enough or are not able to communicate adequately with Queensland Government staff and Queensland Government funded non-government organisations to access services.
The Queensland Language Services Policy outlines the Queensland Government's commitment to use interpreters and translated information to improve access to the full range of government and government-funded services for people with difficulty communicating in English.
The Queensland Language Services Guidelines provides Queensland Government agencies with information and examples of how to implement the Queensland Language Services Policy within their department.
The Queensland Language Service Policy Data Dictionaries defines what data is required to evaluate performance, and ensures consistency across Queensland Government agencies in the way data is captured.
The Queensland Government has released a whole of government multicultural policy, 'Our story, our future' and three year action plan to drive Queensland Government action to promote our state as a united, harmonious and inclusive community. The Language Services Policy supports the multicultural policy and action plan by providing guidance on the use of language services to ensure fair and equitable service delivery for people accessing Queensland Government services.
*Languages include migrant community languages, First Nations languages and Auslan (Australian Sign Language).
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI)
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (NAATI)
NAATI is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, jointly owned by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 .
NAATI's role is to set and maintain high national standards in translating and interpreting to ensure there is a supply of appropriately credentialed translating and interpreting professionals responsive to the changing needs and demography of Australia's culturally and linguistically diverse society.
On 1 January 2018, NAATI introduced a new certification system to improve NAATI's standards. According to the system, interpreting and translating professionals need to recertify every three years upon demonstrating their currency of practice and participation in professional development. The government owners of NAATI have endorsed NAATI's certification system.
Statement of Endorsement of NAATI's certification system
Standing Offer Arrangement (SOA)
Queensland Health are the lead for the whole-of-government Language Services SOA.
HSQ81638, the Provision of Language Services (Interpreting and Translation) is available to all Queensland Government agencies and other eligible Queensland Government-funded service providers.
In accordance with principle 5.3 of the Queensland Procurement Policy (PDF, 480KB), common-use supply arrangements are mandated to achieve savings and benefits wherever practical.
Language service providers
The below language service providers are accessible via SOA arrangements:
First Nations
If you have any queries about the SOA, please email SPLanguageServices@health.qld.gov.au
Interpreter Training Boost Program
The Interpreter Training Boost (ITB) program provides opportunities for up to 125 Queensland participants to obtain NAATI certification to work as interpreters in priority languages and deliver better communication outcomes for multicultural communities.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence