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Guide — Assisting communication — Disability related interpreting and translation supports
This article provides guidance for a planner delegate, participant support officer, early childhood partner or local area coordinator to understand:
e disability-related interpreting and translation supports.
Recent updates September 2023
This guidance comes from the Practice Guide — Assisting communication. We’ve made minor updates to change any NDIS Business System language to PACE language. We’ll make improvements to this guidance in the future.
Before you start
You have read and understood: e article Guide — Assisting communication e article Guide — Assisting communication — Considerations when arranging interpreting services
e article Check a participant’s preferred communication method.
Disability-related interpreting and translation supports All participants must be supported to communicate in their preferred method in all their dealings with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
Consider the level of support the participant may need in their everyday life. This may depend on factors like:
e access to family and social networks e access to early intervention or education
e additional disabilities
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geographic location cultural background. This may influence the barriers for a person who is Deaf,
Deafblind or hard of hearing.
Hearing-related interpreting and translation supports
The participant’s level of hearing loss is just one factor to consider. Think about other factors to determine the level of support they may need in their everyday life.
Supports are funded through the participant’s plan for those participants who are Deaf, Deafblind, have hearing loss or a hearing impairment. To learn more, go to Guide – Hearing Supports.
The participant has choice and control over who provides their preferred communication support (Auslan, tactile fingerspelling, hand-over-hand signing, or visual frame signing).
It is the responsibility of the NDIA, the local area coordinator or early childhood partner to book and pay for an interpreter, for any interactions they have with the participant.
When you organise a meeting or event, you must make sure it’s accessible. If you need an interpreter, you need to book well in advance, particularly in remote parts of Australia.
There are a number of booking organisations that can arrange interpreting support for people with hearing impairment. These can be state-based Deaf and hearing impairment societies or national organisations.
When you book an interpreter service, make sure the interpreter has a valid Working with Children Check. This is required even if the participant is over 18, because it means the interpreter has the appropriate clearances.
A specific interpreter can help maintain quality of support and benefit the participant throughout their National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) experience. You must discuss the participant’s preference with them when arranging an interpreter.
Note: Disability-related interpreting and translation supports are funded separately to interpreting services required to support the participant to interact with the NDIA. To learn more, go to article Add disability-related interpreting supports.
Translation and interpreting services
Includes reasonable and necessary translation and interpreting supports to attend events and occasions like:
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medical or health professional appointments like general practitioner, nurse practitioner
or medical specialist. private legal and financial appointments special occasions like weddings or funerals volunteering opportunities support or interest groups sporting opportunities courses provided by private education providers who do not provide interpreters.
Check that the supports are not funded by mainstream services like:
Health Care Interpreting Services (HCIS) at public hospitals. Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) for the workplace. Community Relations Commission (CRC) for the justice system. National Relay Service (NRS) to help a deaf, hard of hearing or person with speech
impairment to make and receive phone calls.
The following is important information to note:
National Auslan Booking Service (NABS)
NABS is not a free service for NDIS participants. If reasonable and necessary, interpreting services should be funded in the participant’s plan. Participants have choice and control over who provides their preferred communication support.
National Relay Service (NRS)
NRS is not funded as it is a free-of-charge phone service to help people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. These services help to make and receive phone calls via a range of devices from computers, tablets, mobile phones, an ordinary phone or TTY (a special phone with a small keyboard and screen). The NRS does not provide on-demand face-to-face support for Auslan users to interact with government services.
Remote captioning
Remote captioning can include:
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
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VRI uses videoconferencing technology to provide a professionally accredited Auslan-English Interpreter via the internet. VRI allows a person to see and talk to an interpreter. They don’t have to be in the same room, or even in the same city.
Live Captioning
Live captioning provides an instant, readable alternative to spoken English. Offsite captioners listen to what is being said. They transcribe the words and then send the text over the internet to the participant’s screen within five seconds of it being said.
Deaf relay interpreting or specialist Deafblind interpreting
These supports are more than typical Auslan interpretation support. The participant will need two interpreters working together. It is similar to translating from one language into two consecutive languages.
Interpreter One: A Deaf or hearing interpreter will understand the context and meaning of the information from the source language to other visual and tactual communication forms and vice-versa.
Interpreter Two: Assists with the flow of communication so no information is lost. When requesting a second interpreter, specify the second interpreter needs to be either a Deaf language interpreter (relay for language other than English) or Deafblind.
Deafblind communication supports
Deafblind communication supports include:
tactile fingerspelling hand-over-hand signing visual frame signing.
Deafblind communication guide
This guide provides visual-information support to help the participant communicate or
participate in social and community activities. For more information, go to article Deafblind
Disability Snapshot.
Auslan Training
Auslan in the home is to provide children, adults and their family access to Auslan training in the home.
Determine reasonable and necessary supports and think about:
the participant’s primary mode of communication
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the participant’s age. For example, a toddler has a shorter concentration span than
older children or adults other family members with Auslan language skills or role models like a person using
sign language local access to mainstream services for Auslan classes (this varies nationally) packages for Auslan training in the home. This will depend on the age of the participant
and the intensity they require in terms of sign language development the level of support the participant currently receives, either through the NDIS or
mainstream services. For example, through the Education system.
Specialised equipment
Specialised equipment includes:
flashing light or vibrating baby cry alarms flashing light or vibrating doorbells flashing light or vibrating smoke alarms.
Hearing equipment, training, maintenance and batteries
For more information on hearing equipment, training, maintenance and batteries, go to article Guide – Hearing Supports.
Supports for parents
Early access to communication supports for children and family members is important to support:
full integration in the family home which is integral to speech and language
development a positive sense of identity.
These supports can include:
speech therapy for children Auslan training for family members of children with a hearing impairment.
Coordination of complex supports
Coordination of complex supports helps to:
navigate mainstream systems
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arrange supports deal with major life transitions translate letters or bills.
Capacity building supports
Capacity building supports help with:
social skills development independent living skills training mentoring support travel training.
Funding for disability-related interpreting and translation supports
The NDIA, local area coordinator or early childhood partner fund disability-related supports to help a participant communicate with the NDIA. Funding arrangements at each stage of the NDIA pathway are:
Applying – funded by National Access and Reassessment Branch Plan approval – funded by Regional office budget, local area coordinator or early
childhood partner budget Plan implementation and check-ins – include funding in the participant’s plan:
- Auslan or Signed English Training (03_089_0121_1_1)
- Telephone or video interpreting (03_091_0121_1_1)
- Interpreting & translating (03_090_0121_1_1) Plan changes – funded by Regional office budget, local area coordinator or early
childhood partner budget
For more information, go to article Add disability-related interpreting supports.
Non-disability interpreting and translation services for languages other than English can’t be funded in the participant’s plan. This is because it isn’t directly related to the participant’s disability. To learn more and for information on accessing Indigenous languages, go to article Guide – Assisting Communication – Non-disability related interpreting and translation support.
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National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) provides the certification needed to practice as an interpreter or translator in Australia.
Where available, you are encouraged to use NAATI recognised services. In some circumstances, it may not be possible to access NAATI recognised services, for example in regional and remote areas. Translating and Interpreting Services (TIS) provides interpreting services to support the NDIA to communicate with their non-English speaking participants. The TIS National policy is to recruit NAATI certified interpreters.
A certified interpreter facilitates accurate transfer of meaning between the two languages and considers any cultural sensitivities.
NAATI Interpreters are bound by the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) professional code of conduct and ethics. This requires them to:
interpret accurately and honestly without adding or omitting anything being said maintain confidentiality be impartial and objective act in a professional manner at all times.
Interpreters should not:
provide advice to the participant. For example, how to answer a question translate written documents.
Interpreters of new and emerging languages which are not included in the certification system can receive recognition from NAATI.
To learn more, go to NAATI (external), TIS National (external) or AUSIT (external).
Next steps
For further information on:
assisting communication, go to article - Guide – Assisting communication – Non
disability related interpreting and translation supports accessible formats, go to article Guide – Assisting communication – Accessible
formats.
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Article topics and case names - internal use only
Topics
This article relates to the following topics:
e Communication
e Implementation.
Case names You can use this guidance for the:
e Plan Approval
e NDIS Plan
Version control
Version Amended Brief Description of Change Status
by
1.0 CS0074 |Class 1 approval APPROVED | 2022-12-12
2.0 ED0024 |Class 1 approval. APPROVED | 2023-08-18Article formerly known as Appendix A — Disability related interpreting and translation supports.
Cl: Planning cohort guidance updates.
Transition Guide - Assisting
communication from PG to PACE articles include PACE language and plain English update.
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