Record one million calls for interpreting services
A record one million calls were made to the Australian Government’s Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) in the 2008-09 financial year, a milestone in the provider’s 36-year history.
TIS National is a Department of Immigration and Citizenship interpreting service for people who do not speak English, and for English speakers who need to communicate with them.
The Department’s recent launch of a business card-sized ‘I Need an Interpreter card’, which has an ‘I speak’ space for clients to include their native tongue, has raised awareness among communities of the service.
The Melbourne-based TIS National Contact Centre (131 450) services all of Australia and provides phone interpreting around the clock in more than 160 languages and dialects.
TIS National helps non-English speakers communicate with government departments, private businesses, emergency services and community-based organizations.
The highest demand languages in 2008-09 are (in order): Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Korean, Persian, Turkish, Spanish, Greek and Russian.
On-site interpreting is also available by appointment.
