Until recently the idea of carving out a full- time career as a dialogue inter preter and translator in community- based organizations and state- run statu tory services would have appeared unrealistic in many countries. However, the demand for public service interpreting and translation (PSIT) across the globe has steadily risen in recent decades and continues to do so,1 leading to employment opportunities at the front line of interpreting and in the related activities of service organization, education, policy making, research and technologies development. Individuals attracted to work in these fields are commonly united by a belief that access to human services for limited- proficiency speakers through appropriately managed, professional trans lation and interpreting services, forms part of a socially enlightened and ethically responsible approach to the complexities of migration. This includes an appropriate response to and understanding of the needs of users of lin guistic and cultural services, be it linguistic minority populations, institu tions or organizations. The introduction of legislation such as the European Directive 2010/64/ EU on the Right to Interpreting and Translation in Criminal Proceedings and the publication of the document Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe (Eurydice Network 2009) are indicative of shifts toward understanding PSIT in rights- based terms. Such shifts are helping to consoli date the professional status of PSIT together with increased evidence- based policy making, especially in the healthcare sector where timely provision has been found to contribute to better patient outcomes and reduced readmis sion rates (Lindholm et al. 2012).
