SBS will be providing live interpretations in Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese for the upcoming debates between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.
SBS will also provide interpretations for the upcoming ministerial debates between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Opposition Treasury spokesperson Jim Chalmers, and Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Opposition Defence spokesperson Brendan O’Connor.
The announcement comes after SBS live streamed the first leaders’ debate in both Arabic and Mandarin as an Australian first on SBS On Demand.
The next debate will be taking place at 8.30pm AEST on Sunday 8 May with streams in Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese available live and exclusively on SBS On Demand and Facebook.
SBS will also provide interpretations across these four languages for the final Leaders’ Debate hosted by Seven on Wednesday 11 May and broadcast on Channel 7 and 7plus.
SBS Managing Director James Taylor said SBS was enabling those who prefer other languages to “engage with our democratic process”.
“SBS is extremely pleased that it will again be providing live interpretations of the upcoming election debates.
“We are expanding the offer to now cover four key language communities and are so proud to be fulfilling our charter in this way.
“SBS is uniquely placed to ensure that audiences whose preferred language might not be English can engage fully with our democratic process," Mr Taylor said.
Empowering multicultural communities
SBS Director of Audio and Language Content David Hua said translated coverage empowers communities.
“As election day nears, communities are keen to hear from a range of candidates and have access to as much information as possible.
"Through offerings such as live interpreting the debates, the SBS Election Exchange events, and our impartial and balanced election coverage, our goal is to enable and empower communities to engage with the election and to make an informed decision when voting.”
The first ministerial debate is between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Opposition Treasury spokesperson Jim Chalmers, taking place 12.30pm AEST on Wednesday 4 May.
The debate will be live streamed in Arabic and Mandarin on SBS On Demand.
This second is on Thursday 5 May between Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Opposition Defence spokesperson Brendan O’Connor, which will also be live streamed in Arabic and Mandarin on SBS On Demand.
The SBS Election Exchange is also well underway, with SBS’s language services heading into the community and hosting a series of events to speak with local candidates and members of the public in the lead up to the 2022 Federal Election.
Following successful events in Bankstown, Hobart, Launceston, Dandenong and Broadmeadows, the final three events will take place this week in Wagga Wagga, Eastwood and Ballarat.
SBS’s Federal Election initiatives build on the network’s ongoing commitment to multilingual audiences, including the recent launch of its locally produced TV news services in Arabic and Mandarin, multilingual login, navigation on SBS On Demand, and the upcoming launch of the SBS World Watch TV channel on 23 May.
