A new government internet video service connecting deaf people in Otago and Southland to a sign language interpreter in Auckland will help with the ''terrible'' lack of interpreters in the South, Otago Deaf Children Association president Alan Hughes says.
Disability Issues Minister Tariana Turia said Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) was being progressively rolled out at government services across New Zealand.
''VRI is a simple, practical solution to the long-standing difficulty that those who are deaf have experienced in accessing services provided by government agencies.''
Previously, deaf people who lived outside Auckland or Wellington, had to write notes at a meeting, or bring someone who knew sign language, or the government agency had to supply an interpreter.
''None of this supported great service delivery or an efficient use of public money.''
Mr Hughes said it was important for a deaf person to be able to communicate clearly.
''If you get one word wrong, it takes the whole context out of a sentence and you could be off on a tangent and not even realise it.''
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was administering the new technology on behalf of the initial participating government agencies - the Ministries of Social Development, Health, and Education, and Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Mrs Turia said the introduction of VRI was timely, as it was a priority recently highlighted by the Human Rights Commission in its inquiry into New Zealand Sign Language.
Mr Hughes said the association had ''battled'' to get improved services for deaf children.
''When they made New Zealand sign language an official language, there was no funding that came with it, so although it was supposed to be accessible as part of the school curriculum, there was nobody there to teach anyone because there was no interpreters and no funding to train them.''
Mrs Turia said VRI would be rolled out at locations where there was a concentration of deaf people including Work and Income in Dunedin, ACC and Child Youth and Family in Invercargill and at schools in Gore, Wyndham and Waikouaiti.
Mr Hughes said deaf children had regular internal assessments and if there was no interpreter it was difficult for a deaf child to be included in the assessment.
The was a ''huge deficit'' in the number of interpreters in Otago and Southland.
He knew of three interpreters in Otago and Southland but the new technology would help with the ''terrible'' lack of interpreters.
''It's a good idea and it will fill a few gaps.''
Mrs Turia said a deaf person needed to tell the government agency that wanted to use a VRI at least two business days before a meeting and it was the government agency's responsibility to book the VRI and pay for it.
