Deaf find unfair hearings in court

Deaf find unfair hearings in court

Deaf people have had unfair trials through a lack of interpreters to tell them what is happening in court, an Association of the Deaf spokeswoman said yesterday.

Executive member Pat Dugdale said a judge decided if an interpreter was needed when a deaf or partially deaf person was on trial or giving evidence.

“But we are in a Catch 22 situation, if judges do call for interpreters we do not have them. There are only two full time working in New Zealand — one in the North Island and one in the South Island.”

She hoped an amendment to the Human Rights Commission Act would stop deaf people being sent to prison without a fair hearing.

Ms Dugdale’s call for more interpreters to help deaf people to communicate is backed by Phil Harper of Melbourne’s Deaf Services Network and his wife Carla Anderson. They are in New Zealand for a month conducting workshops for the deaf and people who live and work with the deaf.

Mr Harper said Victoria had about 5000 people who used sign language — about the same as New Zealand.

“But Victoria has 30 interpreters. Deaf people we have met in New Zealand say a lack of resources for the training and employment of interpreters is a major problem.”

Neil Cameron of the Justice Department said the courts had provisions for interpreters. “But we do not have interpreters on tap for the 60 odd courts in New Zealand.”

Photo caption: AUSTRALIAN deaf lecturers Carla Anderson and Phil Harper with their children Benn, left, and Aaron, 2, in Wellington yesterday.

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NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

From New Lynn to Avondale: A Necessary Move

Tony served as President of the New Zealand Association of the Deaf from 1999 to 2003. At the time, the focus was on supporting Deaf youth – not relocating. But when asbestos was discovered in the ceiling of the New Lynn building, with removal costs estimated at $600,000, a major decision had to be made. With support from a funder willing to underwrite the risk, the building was sold and a new location was secured. The Avondale office officially opened in November 1999.

NZSL story – Taonga source: Tony Walton

Tony Walton on Building a More Accessible Deaf Aotearoa

Tony reflects on his involvement with the New Zealand Association of the Deaf (now Deaf Aotearoa). In 1989, during the World Deaf Games, New Zealand had only two or three qualified NZSL interpreters – a serious shortage. NZDSA was strongly sign-based, while the NZAD board leaned more oral. After the Games, Tony joined NZAD as a delegate to learn how it worked, eventually becoming President. His focus was on Deaf youth, leading to the creation of Friends of Young Deaf (FYD), better Māori engagement and involvement with more NZSL interpreters. One key goal was to have 13 interpreters nationwide, giving every major town and city access. Interpreter pay and access were limited back then – very different from today.

Carla Anderson

Jeff Harper

Pat Dugdale

Taonga source:

Unknown

Reference number:

SignDNA – Deaf National Archive New Zealand, A1991-004

Bibliographic source:

Unknown, 1991

Author:

Rob Drent

Copyright status:

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Note:

This item has been transcribed and/or OCR post-corrected. It also has been compressed and/or edited.

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