Language services

WA Health is committed to providing high quality, culturally safe and accessible health care to all Western Australians who may need language services when accessing the WA health system. This includes people who experience challenges communicating in written and/or spoken Standard Australian English such as some Aboriginal people, some people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and people who are Deaf or hard of hearing who communicate in Auslan (Australian sign language).

• WA Health Language Services Policy

Resources

• Interpreter sticker template (PDF 37KB)
• Decision making tree for engaging an interpreter (PDF 33KB)
• Do you need an Interpreter – ABC chart (PDF 815KB)
• Multilingual 'interpreter service available' poster (PDF 2.7MB)
• 'I need an interpreter' card (external site)
• 'How to work with an interpreter' poster (external site)
• Multilingual communication strategies (external site)
• Auslan Communication Toolkit for Hospitals (external site)
• ‘Interpreter services available here’ desk sign – contact culturaldiversity.royalst@health.wa.gov.au 

National Interpreter and Auslan symbols

Language service training

• The Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors (ASeTTS) - Working with Interpreter (external site)
• The Australian Sign Language Interpreters’ Association of WA – Working with Auslan Interpreters and Deaf Interpreters, and Deafness awareness training (external site)
• Ethnolink Education – Translation, interpreting, and multicultural communications training (external site)
• National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) – Translation and Interpreting training (external site)
• WA Interpreters Pty Ltd – Working effectively with interpreters (external site)
• Western Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (WAITI) – Use of translating and interpreting services (external site)
• Access Plus WA Deaf Inc. – Deaf awareness training (external site)

According to the 2021 Census, 18.7 per cent of the Western Australian population spoke a language other than English at home. Of these, 88 per cent of people spoke English well or very well, while 12 per cent did not speak English well or not at all. 12.6 per cent of the Western Australian Aboriginal population speak an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language. Of the 16,242 people that communicate in Auslan (Australian sign language) across Australia, 11 per cent reside in WA.