If re-elected, the Australian Labor party has promised to invest in language services for the elderly.

Nationwide parliamentary elections were held in Australia on Saturday. Following a historically close race, the leading Labor and Liberal parties still don’t know the exact results and won’t for days. It’s all certainly a very exciting political situation.

What caught my eye about this vote, though, is that the Australian Labor Party developed a marked interest in language interpretation services for the aged – and made it part of their final campaign strategy.

“The $5 million [promised by the Labor party] will include $2.2 million to engage interpreter services to help older people from non-English speaking backgrounds to communicate effectively when dealing with health and aged care matters,” reported the Australian Ageing Agenda website on August the 13^th. “The government said that this initiative will support around 14,000 hours worth of on-site visits and telephone interpretation services each year.” (The amounts cited are in Australian dollars.)

The article refers to the proposal as “a last ditch effort to win the sector over,” so the Labor party appeared to feel that this promise could sway some elderly or health-oriented voters.

Although offers of language services were apparently not quite enough to clinch the election for the party, it is interesting to see them used as a last-minute campaign argument.

Language Translation, Inc. offers all types of language interpreting services, including telephonic interpreting. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about what language services can do for your company or organization.

Betty Carlson

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