Multicultural broadcaster SBS Australia is making the 2022 Federal Election accessible for multicultural communities, including live streaming the leaders debate in Arabic and Mandarin.
A first for an Australian television network, the service kicked off with live streaming of Arabic and Mandarin translations of the 2022 Sky News/The Courier-Mail People’s Forum, the debate between Prime Minister The Hon. Scott Morrison MP and Opposition Leader, The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP. The interpreted streams are also available on SBS On Demand.
SBS Director of Audio and Language Content, David Hua, says SBS’s focus is to effectively support Australia’s diverse communities throughout this election and provide an interface between Australia’s leaders, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
“Arabic and Mandarin are two of the largest language groups in Australia. By offering the leaders’ debate in Arabic and Mandarin, we hope to ultimately drive an understanding of the key issues, and enable informed participation in this election.
“We thank Sky News Australia for helping make this possible.”
In addition to live-translating the debate, SBS is making the 2022 Federal Election more accessible for multilingual communities in Australia through a series of events and videos providing impartial information about the election, and clear instructions on how to participate.
SBS has partnered with the Australian Electoral Commission to produce a series of videos subtitled in over 40 languages, explaining the voting process and which combat election misinformation.
The SBS Election Exchange will also return for 2022, with SBS’s language services hosting a series of community-based events in the lead up to the 2022 Federal Election. Running for three weekends from this Saturday 23 April, across eight locations, nineteen of SBS Radio’s programs will head into the community to speak with local candidates and community members.
SBS Director of Audio and Language Content, David Hua, says the SBS Election Exchange is an important tool for empowering communities and encouraging engagement with the election.
“The SBS Election Exchange enables an independent and informed approach to policies and politicians at a local level. This is an important outlet, encouraging culturally and linguistically diverse communities to be a part of the national conversation at a local level, providing the opportunity to drive the agenda and discuss the issues that matter to them.”
Commencing this Saturday 23 April in Bankstown, the 2022 SBS Election Exchange will also visit Hobart, Launceston, Dandenong, Broadmeadows, Wagga Wagga, Eastwood and Ballarat.
These latest initiatives build on SBS’s ongoing commitment to multilingual audiences, including the recent launch of its locally produced TV news services in Arabic and Mandarin, multilingual login and navigation on SBS On Demand, and the upcoming launch of the SBS World Watch TV channel on 23 May.
Visit https://www.sbs.com.au/