Ask your MP

Ask your local federal Member of Parliament to support multi-employer bargaining

The current system for translators and interpreters to negotiate improvements to their pay and working conditions is broken.

Low pay, insecure and often precarious working conditions are driving translators and interpreters out of the profession. LSPs are meeting demand often with unqualified and non-credentialled bilingual individuals – putting both the profession and the community at risk.

The language services industry is dominated by small business, most without enterprise agreements in place. Instead, professionals work for multiple providers as either contractors or employees on individual contracts - both reliant on the bottom of the barrel pay and conditions with the latter underpinned, at best, by the National Employment Standards.

Translators and interpreters are subject to varying and ever-changing unilateral decisions around pay and conditions designed to accommodate the LSPs latest tender submission. A single LSP can have multiple tiers setting out different fees for different client groups.

It’s time for change.

The federal government has recently introduced the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill into parliament - the Bill proposes a number of positive changes to the Fair Work Act, including access to multi-employer bargaining.

If passed, the proposed legislation offers translators and interpreters with a real opportunity to collectively bargain for pay and conditions on a multi-employer level resulting in workplace agreements that would enhance pay and conditions across the sector.

Take action

It’s time for you to stand up and tell your story.

Your local federal Member of Parliament (MP) is currently deciding whether to support the legislation to improve access to a bargaining system which is simple, fair, and accessible for all.

Send your local MP a message and ask them to meet with you to discuss how a fairer bargaining system will give translators and interpreters a fair go.

We will help you prepare so you are confident and can get results. You can use the below form which will automatically generate an email to your federal MP.

The email we will send on your behalf

Dear [MP name],

As a constituent of your electorate and language professional, I'm writing to you seeking your support for the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, recently introduced into Federal Parliament.

Low rates of pay, poor and often precarious working conditions and resulting high rates of attrition have plagued the language services sector for many years.

The industry is dominated by small businesses, almost all without enterprise agreements in place – which has left the majority of translators and interpreters simultaneously employed by multiple employers on unilateral and unfair individual contracts.

If passed, the proposed legislation offers translators and interpreters with a real opportunity to collectively bargain for pay and conditions on a multi-employer level resulting in workplace agreements that would enhance pay and conditions. This would also deliver a safe and reliable workforce to both government and community service providers and the communities that rely upon translators and interpreters to facilitate the delivery and access to information and services.

I would like to engage with you and other language professionals in your electorate to discuss the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, how you can support our profession and assist our campaign for better wages and conditions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
[Interpreter's name]