Chronic shortage of Indigenous interpreters in Australia’s legal system risks violating human rights

Her client felt “so alienated” by going through a court trial without an interpreter that he entered a guilty plea to expedite the process.

• Kristina Kukolja
• ABC

Irwin, a managing practitioner at Northern Territory Legal Aid in Darwin, tells ABC RN’s Law Report that her client is one of a growing number of Aboriginal people who aren’t getting access to the courtroom interpreters they have a right to.

And it’s having dire consequences.

For pleading guilty, Irwin’s client was fined $3,000. But she fears he won’t be able to pay that on his Centrelink income, and that he’ll become “another statistic in the…

• Chronic shortage of…