20251120 Engagement Issues - CoE community awareness poster. Language Loop

Emiliano Zucchi - CEO of VITS LanguageLoop Dr Jim Hlavac - Chair, Ethics & Professional Practice Committee (AUSIT) Launch of information campaign to inform CALD residents about interpreters, what they do and their standards of practice. Between 2016 and 2020 1,120 LEP patients were surveyed in a major health service in Melbourne in their preferred language. Patients reported high awareness and utilisation of interpreting services, but these were predominantly initiated by clinicians rather than themselves. While it is encouraging to see clinicians have a good understanding of the impact interpreters have on health outcomes, many patients still rely on family members for linguistic mediation and have an ambivalent predisposition towards professional interpreters. The surveys results point to the patients’ privacy concerns and a lack of understanding that interpreters are bound by a Code of Ethics which requires them to observe ethical principles such as confidentiality and impartiality. Patients’ responses emphasise the need for greater awareness and explicit explanations from both clinicians and interpreters themselves about their roles and the protocols they observe. Following the publication of the survey results, VITS LanguageLoop decided to commission the development of a poster to raise awareness about the role and impact professional interpreters have in service delivery, and to translate the poster in multiple languages. The poster will be distributed free of charge to all government and non-government agencies.