Methodology & Ethics

How I work

Basic rule of thumb:

I’ve received a lot of requests for translation assistance over the years. This is a fantastic sign of improved cross-cultural awareness of language and its importance amongst service-providers in the desert. However, translation is rarely effective on its own.

Many if not most projects, even in the most cross-culturally competent, genuinely indigenous-led organisations, still benefit at the planning stage from a bit more critique by application of the cross-cultural power of the linguistic lens (See my About page for more on the importance of language and the linguistic lens). 

If a project looks flawlessly designed and obviously worth doing quickly (eg. assisting people who have pre-existing relationships, with urgent key messaging for well-planned COVID awareness AND outreach), I’ll eagerly and quickly jump on board, and probably work at a discount to help smash it out.

When you contact me, I’ll likely interrogate whether this is true for your project, or how your project might benefit from a bit of strategic cross-cultural planning and application of the linguistic lens. This will be a fruitful, collaborative process, saving time, money and goodwill for all stakeholders in the long-run. There’s a good chance I’ll even provide discounts on translation down the track once we’re all confident the messages for translation will be efficiently scripted, well-targeted, and have a clear benefit to indigenous stakeholders. 

If anyone’s not keen for that type of critique and planning, and I can see potential conflicts between accountability to Martu and accountability to funders’ deliverables, then I’ll likely opt not to be involved. The trick is to work in ways that marry accountability to both sides. While translation is important, it first requires genuine and skilful cross-cultural planning, engagement and advocacy for the sake of the community and of their aspirations. Doing so openly and honestly will bring heightened accountability to ALL stakeholders, indigenous and non-indigenous. My work is not just about quickly hitting deliverables for the sake of box-ticking.  It’s about real cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

Some Ethical Considerations

Let’s not beat around the bush: “consultants” as a category have a pretty awful reputation in remote Australia. 

Too many over the years have arrived in a given setting, ignorant of local cultural and linguistic contexts, guided exclusively by English concepts and mainstream expertise and values, and have gone on to make poor recommendations to the detriment of local communities and at the cost of millions of dollars . Making such recommendations while unqualified to do so is ignorant and unethical at best, exploitative and extractive at worst. 

In order to not be one of the awful consultants, but rather one who acts ethically, acts in the community’s expressed interests, and genuinely adds value to projects, there are a number of principles and Rules of Thumb that guide how I work:

  • The aim is to make sure that accountability to the community and to funders is aligned. If there’s ever a conflict between the two, then the community’s interests, as they have been (and continue to be) expressed over years of collective cross-cultural experience in the desert, will always take priority. Such is proper ethical conduct in this space. 
  • Language is a huge part of being able to really hear what those aspirations are and what people really mean when they talk about them – after all, it is absolutely true that familiarity is not the same as understanding. With a bit of nuance and creativity in how we measure and understand the real value of our work, we can together adapt the ways we work (incl. the boxes we tick) to best serve the community and all partners and funders as well! Meaningful and genuine consultation, including by means of language and the linguistic lens, takes time – and your experience, relationships and consultation process will always be the first thing I inquire about (particularly if I don’t already know you).
  • I do not take opportunities away from the community that are better off going to the local community. When my own combination of mainstream AND multilingual education and expertise is required, I aim for it to be used, if anything, to create more and better opportunities for others.
  • Language and culture are strengths. I always take a strength-based approach, that recognises the multilingual capabilities and communicative innovation of  EVERYBODY we work with.
  • I do not take on work that I’m not qualified to do. If I’m not the right person for the job, or am asked to work in a context and a culture with which I’m completely unfamiliar, then I’d rather we explore whether someone else might better make well-guided recommendations. See also the FAQ’s about interpreting on the Services page of this website.
  • I aim to set a standard for honest, open, authentic communication. “Authenticity, Reciprocal Connections, Understanding” are in my tagline for a reason: they’re simultaneously the proper ideals, and the keys to success, in bridging and working in cross-cultural spaces. It also makes for a much more enjoyable way to work when we can rely on trusting each other.

AUSIT Code of Ethics

AUSIT (Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators) is the national association for interpreters and translators. Among AUSIT’s charter of services is: “establishing and upholding professional and ethical standards”.

AUSIT’s Code of Conduct for Interpreters and Translators is widely recognised as “setting the standards for ethical conduct of interpreters and translators in Australia and New Zealand”, and is something they “hope non-members will also use to guide them in their interpreting and translation practice”.

https://ausit.org/code-of-ethics/

Although a non-member, I have been trained in AUSIT’s Code of Conduct, think it’s a well-thought out guide, and uphold and use it as an additional tool to guide me in my work.

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