Checklist · Personal Injury & Compensation

Checklist for an interpreted interview

Checklist for running a personal injury interview with an interpreter: who speaks, how often to pause, and what the interpreter is not asked to explain.

Kind
Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
Where it applies
Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
AI use
Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
Law stated as at
23 October 2026
Status
Maintained. Checked on 23 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
Version
1
Source
Written for this library

When to use it

Use at the conference after an interpreter has been booked. Do not use it as a witness statement, and do not hand the client a statutory declaration to sign through the interpreter.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

The tool may set out the conference steps and record the interpreter's credential, and it must not turn the interview into a witness statement or put words in the client's mouth.

AI may

  • List the opening points the lawyer will say, in the lawyer's words
  • Record whether the client could understand this interpreter
  • Note a break, a clarification, or a point the interpreter asked to have repeated

AI must not

  • Must not ask the interpreter to simplify the legal advice or to say whether the claim is a good one
  • Must not conduct a long side conversation with the interpreter that is not interpreted to the client
  • Must not write a statutory declaration or an affidavit from this checklist
  • Must not ignore a client who says they cannot understand the interpreter

The lawyer checks

  • The credential on the day matches the booking letter
  • The client was asked, through the interpreter, whether they understand this interpreter and whether they have a difficulty with this person
  • Advice was given in plain English by the lawyer. The interpreter was not asked to explain it
  • The conference stopped at the end of the booked time, or the interpreter agreed to continue
  • The note of what the client said is the lawyer's note of the interpretation, not a statement for filing

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

Read the full text

More in Personal Injury & Compensation

All precedents for Personal Injury & Compensation · Tasks and AI use in this area