Electronic surveillance and systemic deficiencies in language capability: implications for Australia’s national security

摘要

Australian law enforcement agencies increasingly deploy electronic surveillance techniques to combat serious and organised crime to maintain national security. The criminal justice system is an important source of data that can shed light upon non-traditional security challenges. Telephone interception and listening device recordings of suspected criminal activity often comprise conversations conducted in languages other than English containing jargon and/or code words. Community translators and interpreters are relied upon to translate these conversations into English for evidentiary purposes. Military cryptologic linguists also translate languages other than English from electronic surveillance activity to support national security objectives. However, unlike ongoing language capability development in the military in support of meeting traditional security objectives, language capability supporting non-traditional security areas of law enforcement has remained relatively unchanged for three decades. Using qualitative interviewing methods and discourse analysis of court transcripts, this research investigates the strengths and weaknesses of language capability available to support law enforcement agencies. Systemic deficiencies in language capability and associated causal factors are identified. This thesis argues that language capability supporting the criminal justice sphere is seriously under-resourced and that this has significant implications for Australia’s national security defined to include non-traditional security challenges.