University of NSW, Sydney

Prof Sandra Hale is head of the Interpreting & Translation Programs at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, where she teaches interpreting in community, legal and conference settings. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts in Interpreting & Translation, a Diploma of Education, a Master of Applied Linguistics and a PhD in court interpreting/forensic linguistics. She was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Antwerp for her ground-braking research into Community Interpreting. She is currently involved in two Australian Research Council funded research projects on court interpreting and one FBI funded project on police interpreting.

She is the sole author of the book: The Discourse of Court Interpreting (2004/2010) and Community Interpreting (2007) and co-author of four other books. She has also written numerous journal articles and book chapters. She is regularly invited as plenary/keynote speaker at international conferences and has delivered numerous presentations to the judiciary, tribunal members and other legal professionals on how to work with interpreters. She was one of the main contributing authors of the Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals.

Professor Hale also has over 30 years’ experience as a NAATI accredited/certified (Spanish A <>English A) interpreter and translator, and continues to practice as a conference interpreter in international settings. She was AUSIT national president from 2014 – 2017.