AGY-4728 | Community Interpreter and Information Service (1977-1996) Language Services Division (1996- )

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The Community Interpreter and Information Service (CILS) was established in May 1977 as part of the Ethnic Affairs Division of the Premier’s Department.(1) In its first year, the Service established five branch offices with thirty-four full-time professional interpreters, and seven support staff in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.(2) In its first year, the Community Interpreter and Information Service provided interpreting and translation services for the Courts, Police, State Government Departments and voluntary agencies. From its second year the Service was broadened to also provide services to assist individual members of the community.(3) The role of the Community Interpreter and Information Service is to provide to those residents of New South Wales who experience difficulty with the English language assistance in gaining access to benefits, services and information which are normally available to the community in general.(4) The Community Interpreter and Information Service became part of the Ethnic Affairs Commission in early 1979 when the Ethnic Affairs Division of the Premier’s Department was amalgamated with the Ethnic Affairs Commission.(5) The Community Interpreter and Information Service became responsible for the administration of the part-time panel of interpreters and translators formerly administered by the Department of Attorney-General and of Justice.(6) The panel became the responsibility of the Translation Unit within the Community Interpreter and Information Service. The Community Interpreter and Information Service provided assistance to: all State Criminal Courts, the Police Service (24 hour), Civil Courts (for disadvantaged people), Tribunals, the Workers’ Compensation jurisdiction including Rehabilitation and Medical Board hearings, Community Justice Centres and Community Legal Centres.(7) The Chinese Language Unit was created as part of the C.I.L.S in September 1980 to offer specialist translation and interpreting services to foster trade with the People’s Republic of China.(8) Translation services were also provided to all New South Wales Government Agencies. By 1985, staff from the Community Interpreter and Information Service presented cultural awareness sessions, particularly involving guidelines on the use of interpreters to staff of the Department of Youth and Community Services, the Department of Attorney-General and of Justice, the Water Resources Commission, the Australian Museum, Sydney Technical College and the Trade Union Training Authority.(9) In October 1985, an “on call” casual typist panel was established to assist translators to complete translations more efficiently. The service had previously been available in Chinese and Japanese but now included Arabic, Greek, Italian, Persian, Polish, Turkish, and Spanish.(10) The Community Interpreter and Information Service also continued the policy established by the former Chief Government Interpreter’s Office of the Department of Attorney-General and Justice, to provide the Courts and Police with deaf sign interpreters through the auspices of the New South Wales Adult Deaf Society. Recruitment and training of deaf sign interpreters was undertaken by the Society and the Commission was responsible for accreditation and payment.(11) During the 1989-90 financial year, the Community Interpreter and Information Service was renamed the Language Services Division when the Ethnic Affairs Commission was restructured into the following five divisions: Finance and Administration, Policy and Liaison, Language Services, Information Services, Public Relations.(12) The Division continued to provide efficient and cost effective interpreter and translation services for people of non-English speaking background. The Language Services Division was restructured in 1996 to facilitate the transition to a 24-hour interpreter and translating service. The expanded service commenced on a trial basis on 13 May 1996.(13) A key feature of the restructure was the introduction of multi-skilled positions so staff were individually responsible for the entire booking, allocation and confirmation procedures.(14) The Language Services Division continued to provide interpreting and translation services as part of the Community Relations Commission when the Commission replaced the Ethnic Affairs Commission [II] on 13 March 2001. ENDNOTES
1. Annual Report of The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, 1978–1979, p31.
2. ibid., p4 and p7.
3. ibid., p31.
4. loc. cit.
5. loc. cit.
6. loc. cit.
7. Annual Report of The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, 1982, pp66-67.
8. ibid., p80.
9. Annual Report of The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, 1984-1985, p73.
10. Annual Report of The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, 1985-1986, p29.
11. ibid., pp. 23-24.
12. Annual Report of The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, 1990-91, p31.
13. Annual Report of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales for the Year ended 30 June 1996, p10.
14. ibid., p41.