The Wire

The thought of going to hospital in foreign country sounds frightening enough, especially when you don’t understand the language the doctors are speaking. But what about when this happens in your own country? This is exactly what’s happening for Indigenous Australians, says new research by Charles Darwin University, and it’s putting their health at risk. Researcher Bhavini Patel says there are not enough interpreters to cover all of the different Aboriginal languages, particularly in the Northern Territory where a service has only been operating for five years. She’s going to tell industry professionals from all over the world about Australia’s problem tomorrow at the Critical Link interpreting conference in Sydney.