A shortage of sign language interpreters means as many as 7700 deaf people are struggling to access services in their communities.
Deaf Association national services manager Tony Blackett said there was a “clear and definite” shortage of interpreters, and this meant that deaf people found it difficult to connect with their communities.
“It is a significant challenge communicating and participating in everyday situations, such as visits to the doctor and parent-teacher meetings.”
Victoria University deaf studies programme director Rachel McKee said a 2001 Statistics NZ disability survey of sensory disabilities had shown there were between 4500 and 7700 deaf people using sign language in New Zealand.
Sign Language Interpreters Association president Alan Wendt said the number of qualified interpreters in the country was not known but there were 54 working members in the association.
About 90 people had graduated from the two-year Auckland University of Technology sign language interpreter course since 1994, but some had since left New Zealand. Interpreters usually earned between $35 and $80 an hour, depending on their experience and the nature of the job.
Some were on salaries but they were significantly outnumbered by freelancers.
Dr McKee, who founded the AUT course, said the need for interpreters was not well quantified in terms of how many were needed and where the shortages were.
Smaller centres such as Blenheim and Nelson felt the need more acutely, and had to bring in interpreters from Wellington and Christchurch.
There were two factors contributing to the need – an inadequate supply of interpreters and the inability of some agencies to pay for them.
An initiative in the 2006 Sign Language Act to provide interpreters in legal proceedings had not progressed, Dr McKee said.
A policy setting out interpreter qualification standards had merely formalised existing practice. “They haven’t raised the bar at all.”
The comments come a year after sign language was made an official language in New Zealand and the Government announced initiatives to improve the accessibility of interpreters.
Disability Issues Minister Ruth Dyson acknowledged there was a shortage of interpreters, and said the act had been passed to provide a framework for interpreting as a career.
“If people are attracted to interpreting because there’s more security in the job, they’re more likely to train.”
Ms Dyson rejected complaints of no progress in providing interpreters during legal proceedings.
“That’s not the case at all. Interpreters are provided as a right. Prior to the legislation deaf people did not have that right.”
At present, only the justice system observed the right of deaf people to have trained interpreters.
Government departments and agencies were required to report yearly on their progress in implementing the act and some had developed specific plaans.
Departments such as ACC understood the need to cater to deaf people and had introduced measures such as informative DVDs with deaf presenters using sign language.
There was no set timeframe for departments to implement interpreter standards, and the funding for this would need to be found, Ms Dyson said.
“There has to be steady progress – it can’t be done too rapidly because we have to have supply to meet demand.
“But it can’t be done too slowly – these people have been waiting too long already.”
