Translating and interpreting

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) provides the TIS National interpreting service for people who do not speak English and for the English speakers who need to communicate with them. TIS National has access to over 1,750 contracted interpreters across Australia, speaking more than 170 languages and dialects.

TIS National is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any person or organisation in Australia requiring interpreting services. The phone number is 131 450. To find out about booking an on-site or telephone interpreter, click here.

Not all interpreting and translating services provided by TIS National are free. TIS National provides free interpreting services to non-English speaking Australian citizens or permanent residents communicating with the following approved groups and individuals:

• private medical practitioners providing Medicare-rebateable services and their reception staff to arrange appointments and provide results of medical tests;
• non-profit, non-government, community-based organisations for case work and emergency services where the organisation does not receive funding to provide these services;
• Members of Parliament for constituency purposes;
• local government authorities to communicate with non-English speaking residents on issues such as rates, garbage collection and urban services;
• trade unions to respond to members' enquiries or requests;
• Emergency Management Australia; and
• pharmacies for the purpose of dispensing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications.

For more information about charges for using TIS National, click here.

Translation of documents

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) provides a free translation service for people settling permanently in Australia. The service is provided to enable permanent settlers to participate in the community by having personal documents translated into English during their initial two year settlement period.

Requests for free translation of personal documents from eligible persons may be lodged at select AMEP tuition centres which will then despatch them to a translation service provider. To find the location of an AMEP service provider where documents can be lodged for translation, click here.

Personal documents eligible for translation

The free translation service is available for translating documents into English only.

Personal documents intended for settlement purposes and documents intended for use in legal proceedings in Australia are accepted for free translation.

There are three broad groups of eligible documents.

• Identity and relationship
• Birth certificate, baptism certificate, identity certificate, family registers/books (one only from this group)
• Certificate of change of name – up to two change of name documents will be accepted (issued before migration)
• Marriage certificate – only one marriage document will be accepted (or other acceptable alternative such as household registration documents)
• Divorce certificate – only one divorce document will be accepted (or affidavit)
• Death certificate – only one death certificate will be accepted
• Custody documents (only if essential for settlement purposes)
  
  
• Facilitation
• Drivers licence or motorcycle licence – only one licence will be accepted (an international drivers licence is not acceptable)
• Police/penal certificate (if required for employment)
• Medical certificate/report (issued before immigration and needed for medical treatment in Australia)
• Vaccination certificate
  
  
• Education and employment (in most circumstances, only the highest educational/vocational qualification is eligible for free translation)
• Primary school certificates (only when required for entry to primary or secondary school)
• Secondary/vocational secondary certificate (only when it is the highest level of education)
• Tertiary certificate
• Transcript of academic record (related to the Education Certificate) may be translated if the transcript is required as a prerequisite for recognition of the qualification or for further study to attain an initial qualification, first degree or for employment
• Professional and trade certificates (must contain an assessment of performance or result in a qualification)
• Employment certificates – maximum of two by 100 word extracts
• References – maximum of two by 100 word extracts
• Letters of appointment/employment contracts – maximum of two by 100 word extracts.

Fee-free translation of documents is limited to an extract or summary translation of not more than 100 words, except for medical, legal and educational documents, where the limit is 300 words.

For more information about translating documents, click here.