Guide for parliamentary committees: Indigenous witnesses and languages [consultation draft]

This guide is designed to support parliamentary committee officers to organise a hearing where Indigenous witnesses are invited to give spoken evidence. It aims to ensure respectful interactions and good communication between committees and Indigenous witnesses, especially those whose first language is not English. Importantly, it encourages secretariats to be proactive in relation to witnesses' language needs—for example, to ask about each witness's preferred languages for giving evidence well ahead of time. If a witness prefers to submit evidence in an Indigenous language, then the guide equips the secretariat and the committee to work with interpreters. This will result in better communication between language speakers and committee members and better evidence.

The guide is an original idea by Anneke Myers, a PhD candidate in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics in the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Australian National University. Her PhD is supported by the national Research Training Program (AGRTP) through a stipend scholarship and a fee offset scholarship. The content of this guide is informed by Anneke's PhD research, including conversations and interviews with Aboriginal interpreters and other Indigenous stakeholders, and by her professional experience as a Hansard editor since 2012 and as a language professional before that.

Anneke is the author of this guide and finalised this draft concept version in September 2023 for discussion and consultation. It incorporates feedback from Emerita Professor Jane Simpson and Dr Denise Angelo, two of the authors of the 2020 National Indigenous Languages Report (NILR), which offers 'guidance on practical ways to use its findings to inform policy, program development and service delivery for Australia's First Peoples'. Generous hyperlinking throughout the guide will assist any content conversion to online or other formats. It is a work in progress.

This consultation draft is an interim output of Anneke's PhD project. Version 1.0 of this publication will be considered the 'artefact' component of her candidature for a PhD by Artefact.

© 2023 This draft for consultation is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives).

Table of contents

Introduction: Communication, respect and recognition: Show respect in practical ways

Step 1: Take time to understand the language situation

Step 2: Identify witness language preferences

Step 3: Organise interpreters as soon as possible

Step 4: Get the best results

Step 5: Double-check the transcript

Appendix A: Modified witness form for non-English speaking witnesses

Appendix B: Full details for interpreting services providers

Appendix C: Modified chair opening statement scripts

Appendix D: Recognising Indigenous languages at the hearing

Appendix E: Senate standing order 35

Appendix F: Worked example: Jilkminggan, Northern Territory

Appendix G: Briefing paper on Indigenous language speakers