Aboriginal languages the new stars of the ABC news service

On 1 July, the ABC launched a trial Indigenous Language News Service in the Northern Territory, providing daily radio news bulletins in two Aboriginal languages, Warlpiri and Yolngu Matha.

The languages are spoken in some of the remotest parts of Australia with Yolngu Matha covering Arnhem Land in the north of Australia, and Warlpiri covering a large area of central Australia, including the communities of Lajamanu and Yuendumu.

Developed with the support of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion, the ABC’s Indigenous Language News Service is available on ABC News online and mobile services for the duration of the trial. The bulletins will also be made available to remote Indigenous broadcast services for re-broadcast free of charge.

Northern Territory Aboriginal Interpreter Service (AIS) is assisting the ABC in producing the Warlpiri and Yolngu Matha services and the AIS’s Derek Hunt, a Yolngu man from Elcho Island, is one of the newsreaders, reading the daily news bulletin in Yolngu Matha.

Derek says that the news service is a huge benefit for many Yolngu people.

“A lot of Yolngu people listen to the news in English but as it isn’t their first language, they don’t fully understand the news, so having the broadcast available to them in Yolngu Matha will greatly help them understand what is happening in the world, especially when it’s stories that directly affect them,” Derek said.

Although the Indigenous Language News Service is new, Derek has already had compliments from Aboriginal people around the country.

“Feedback has been really positive, not just from Arnhem Land and the Warlpiri lands of central Australia, but from all over Australia,” Derek said.

“Yolngu people I’ve spoken to have said that it has really boosted morale in communities, while Aboriginal people from outside the Territory have said they enjoy hearing the news in an Aboriginal language even if it’s one they don’t understand.

“And when Aboriginal people hear my voice on ABC radio it makes them think they could also work as an interpreter,” he said.