The NSW Government has appointed a new specialist careers adviser who has been tasked with showing the employment opportunities available to the state's multilingual young people and boosting its interpreting and translating ranks.
A first-of-its-kind in Australia, the new adviser will work with students fluent in another language across high schools, community language schools, and universities to show them the opportunities to work as interpreters and translators.
Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure said this new role will be a big win for multilingual young people and the NSW Government's language services.
"The NSW Liberals and Nationals are committed to supporting our multicultural state. But, to do that, we need to increase our interpreting ranks, especially with people that speak languages from new and emerging communities that weren't prevalent 5 or 10 years ago," Mr Coure said.
"Through this new adviser, we will be able to strengthen our language services while also connecting young people with opportunities that are available simply for being fluent in another language, whether as a professional interpreter or as a means to earn money while undertaking further study."
Identified students will have the opportunity to secure a partial or full interpreting and translating scholarship, where those who complete the program can access employment, mentoring and professional development opportunities with Multicultural NSW.
"With more and more people speaking a language other than English at home and people needing help accessing services or information, we should be empowering those that can speak a second or third language with these opportunities," Mr Coure said.
"Thanks to an $8 million investment into the NSW Government's language services, we will provide 450 scholarships a year to people wanting to become interpreters and translators.
"While this will give opportunities to people to find employment using their language skills, it will also mean we have more people to call on to help make sure our services and information are accessible to everyone."
Chief Executive of SydWest Multicultural Services Elfa Moraitakis hailed the new initiative as a great investment into the state's multicultural future.
"Speaking a second language myself and being very passionate about language and culture, I am very pleased to see the level of investment that has been made into increasing the opportunities for young people to use these skills as a profession," Ms Moraitakis said.
"Recognising the importance of speaking another language will give our youth a sense of pride and belonging. It is a skill that is not easily obtained, and it is great to see that it is appreciated and valued."
Over the past 4 years, the NSW Government has provided more than 400 scholarships to budding interpreters covering more than 55 different languages.
In December, the NSW Government announced that HSC language students who achieved a band 6 score in targeted extension languages would also be eligible for scholarships to become interpreters or translators.
To find out more about the NSW Government's language services and Interpreting Scholarship Program, visit the Multicultural NSW website.
