The Department of Human Services has entered the celebration of 2019 as the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages by showcasing the language skills of its staff in remote areas.
Bathurst Island, one of the two largest islands that make up Tiwi, north of the Northern Territory, is predominantly populated by Indigenous communities where English is often their second or third language.
Jessica Mullins (pictured second right) manages the Department of Human Services’ Remote Service Centre on Bathurst Island, and is one of four staff who use Tiwi to deliver services to locals.
The majority of their communication is in the local language, so people can understand the Centrelink and Medicare payments and services they need.
Ms Mullins describes the way the language is spoken as going on a journey.
“When you speak in Tiwi, whatever you’re saying needs to have a story around it,” Ms Mullins said.
“It has to be told in a way that tells the whole picture, for example, you couldn’t just say ‘I went to the shops’ like you would in English.
“You’d have to tell it in a way that describes each thing that happened, and all the people you met along the way.”
She said there was not a Tiwi word for a lot of the things typically said in a Centrelink office, which meant a substitute had to be found — “and that can often be hard”.
“We celebrated the importance of language on Mother Language Day (21 February), and this year it coincided with the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages,” Ms Mullins said.
