About the workshop

This advanced skills workshop is designed for practitioners working with interpreters in mental health settings.  

Using a variety of facilitation modes, grounded in a reflective practice approach, the workshop provides learners with the opportunity to explore challenges and realities in the interpreting environment and to understand these within broader cultural responsiveness frameworks, including an intersectional lens. The workshop also invites and promotes strategies for adapting practice for working with interpreters in a variety of mental health settings. 

The workshop is designed around the materials created as part of the Approaching work with interpreters in mental health settings project (VTMH, 2019). The resources developed through the project used a co-design process, involving a variety of stakeholders including consumers, carers, interpreters, clinicians and academics, across the project lifespan. 

Participants will receive hard copies of resources developed in the project Approaching work with interpreters in mental health settings (VTMH, 2019), including a Practice Tips Poster, Tri-Fold Booklet and Report after completion of the workshop. 

Learning outcomes

In the workshop, participants will 

• Consider the applicability of cultural safety, cultural humility and intersectionality in the interpreted encounter 
• Explore meaning making and language  
• Reflect on challenges and realities in the interpreting environment  
• Explore the role of the interpreter and the practitioner in the interpreted encounter 
• Discuss engagement strategies prior to, during and after the interpreted encounter 
• Explore institutional responsibilities in relation to supporting the implementation of systems that support the provision of interpreting services  

Date, duration and delivery style

This is a full day face to face (in person) workshop. Online attendance at this workshop is not available.  

Date: Monday, 21 September 2026
Time: Doors open 9:15am, for a 9:30am sharp start. The workshop will conclude by 4pm.
Location: Balam Balam Place (Room 401), 15 Phoenix Street, Brunswick

Morning tea and lunch will be provided at this event. All food will be vegetarian with some gluten free options. If you have additional dietary requirements or have any allergies, we encourage you to let us know and to bring your own meals. We also encourage all participants to bring a water bottle to reduce waste. 
 
Participants will be asked to complete some pre-reading, including a self-paced online learning module, Working with Interpreters, prior to attending the workshop. The module takes around two hours to complete. More details about this module can be found here. 

Further venue details and housekeeping information will be provided to registrants closer to the workshop. 

Target audience

This workshop will interest staff working with interpreters in a range of roles across clinical and community mental health services across Victoria. This includes but is not limited to community rehabilitation and recovery workers, lived experience workers, mental health nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychiatry, and program leaders/project workers. 

Please note: This workshop is targeted at mental health workers rather than interpreters, and as such, is not intended for those solely working as interpreters. 

Eligibility

VTMH workshops are open to staff working in Victoria’s state-funded mental health workforce. This includes public clinical and community mental health services, as well as state-funded mental health programs within community health and social services. 

Due to funding arrangements, workshops are currently unavailable to those working solely in private practice/NDIS providers. If you register and it is not clear you are part of the intended audience, we may contact you to confirm your eligibility. We thank you for your understanding. 

Registrations

Registrations are essential, and close Friday, 4 September 2026.

Spaces in our workshops are limited and provided free through state funding. We ask that you please use your work email address, and provide your manager’s email details, as part of the registration process. 

If you are registering as part of a team, we ask that you please limit registrations to 2-3 attendees per team, given the limited number of spaces available. Each individual attendee must register themselves.

Cancellation policy

We know circumstances change, however if you register for a workshop and are unable to attend, please contact us as soon as possible at vtmh.learning@svha.org.au to allow us to offer your space to those on our waiting lists. 

Whilst we do our very best to deliver our workshops as scheduled, unforeseen circumstances may require us to cancel, change or postpone events at short notice.  

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