Hi, everyone. This is coming from the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne, Australia. You will probably hear from a few of us over the next week or so because we have just returned from the annual conference of the Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia and feel it bit charged because of all the people we have spoken to.
This year the conference was held in Canberra, Australia's capital -- known affectionately as 'the paddock' because it was incongruously situated in a remote farmland area half-way between our two biggest capital cities, Sydney and Melbourne, to avoid jealous sniping between the two.
Paddocks aside, the conference was stimulating and now we would like to share some of our experiences with you.
I thought I'd say a few words about Australian Hansards and writing methods, because the patterns are changing in interesting ways, and we are wondering what is happening in other Hansards around the Commonwealth.
Pre-shorthand machines, Hansard writers in Australia were always male and came from shorthand-writing backgrounds such as journalism or the courts. These days they come from a variety of genders and backgrounds.
Of the five Australian states who employ a mix of written, manual and Cat shorthand writers -- Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia -- three also employ audio reporters.
In Victoria people are chosen more for their editing ability than anything else, so many of our audio reporters come front writing backgrounds -- one of our members has recently published a book and the other has an interest in a tourist magazine featuring luxury resorts.
The five states between them employ 73 transcript providers in total. Of those 36 write CAT shorthand, 3 write on manual machines, 17 write pen shorthand and 18 use the digital recording and either type or dictate the transcript using voice activated technology (VAT). The VAT technology is proving to be a boon, not only for those who do not use shorthand but for the non-CAT writers who no longer have the luxury of a personal typist to dictate to.
What is happening in other places? Please drop a line. We would love to hear from you. Who knows, maybe we could have a Commonwealth Hansard Reporters conference one day! Until then, let's email.
