Key takeaways
- An interpreter translates faithfully. A lawyer who speaks your language knows which details actually matter to a compensation claim.
- Describing pain precisely is evidence, and what a specialist writes down shapes what your claim is worth.
- Advice is available directly in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, not only through an interpreter.
- You are entitled to ask for a lawyer who speaks your language. It is not a favour, and it is not unusual.
There is a moment in almost every injury claim where the words matter more than anything else.
A doctor asks you to describe the pain. Not whether it hurts, but what kind of hurt. Is it sharp or dull. Does it burn, ache, throb, or catch. Does it wake you at night. Can you lift your arm above your shoulder, and if you can, what does it cost you to do it.
Your answer to that question, written down by a specialist, becomes evidence. It shapes what your claim is worth.
Now imagine giving that answer in your second language, to a doctor you have never met, on a day you are already anxious. Or through an interpreter, who is translating faithfully but has no idea which details a compensation lawyer would want emphasised.
This is why language is not a comfort issue in a personal injury claim. It is an evidence issue.
The difference between an interpreter and a lawyer who speaks your language
Interpreters do important work and there are matters where one is genuinely needed. But an interpreter is a channel, not an advisor.
An interpreter translates the question you were asked. A lawyer who speaks your language hears what you actually meant, notices the thing you mentioned in passing, and knows to follow it up.
The gap shows up in ordinary ways:
- You describe your injury with a phrase that has no clean English equivalent. An interpreter gives the nearest approximation. A lawyer who speaks the language asks a second question.
- You mention, almost as an aside, that you have stopped attending your place of worship because you cannot sit on the floor. To an interpreter that is a small domestic detail. To a compensation lawyer it is evidence of how your injury affects your life.
- You do not want to overstate your symptoms, because in your family it is not done. So you understate them, consistently, at every appointment. Someone who understands why will ask differently.
None of that is about vocabulary. It is about knowing what to listen for.
Where this matters most in a claim
Describing your injury to medical specialists
Independent medical examinations are central to WorkCover, TAC and TPD claims. What the specialist writes down goes to the insurer and shapes the outcome.
Being prepared for that appointment, and understanding what you are being asked, is one of the highest value pieces of preparation in a claim. It is much easier to do in your own language.
Understanding what you are agreeing to
Costs agreements, settlement offers, discontinuance, discharge of liability. These are difficult terms in English for a native speaker. Signing something you have only partly understood is how people end up with outcomes they did not intend.
Not relying on family to translate
Many people bring an adult child or a relative to appointments. It is well meant, and often it is the only option available. But it creates problems. Your relative may soften what you said because they do not want to worry you. You may hold back detail because you do not want to discuss it in front of your child. Medical and financial matters are private, and you are entitled to that privacy in your own claim.
Advice in Hindi
Sha Hotchin is the Principal Lawyer of Hotchin Gupta Lawyers and a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law, with more than sixteen years of experience in WorkCover, TAC and superannuation TPD claims.
Sha is fluent in Hindi and English. That means your appointment, your questions, your advice and your decisions can all happen in Hindi, from the first phone call to the settlement of your claim. Not a summary in Hindi of advice given in English. The actual conversation.
Under our One Lawyer Promise, the lawyer you speak to at your first appointment is the lawyer who runs your claim to the end. You will not be handed between staff, and you will not have to explain your accident again to somebody new. For a client working across two languages, that continuity is worth more than it sounds.
If you speak Urdu or Punjabi
We want to be straightforward about this rather than let you find out at the appointment.
Sha is conversational in Urdu and Punjabi, not fluent. In practice that means she can talk with you comfortably, understand the context you are describing, and follow the everyday detail of what happened to you. It does not mean formal legal advice will be delivered in Urdu or Punjabi.
Where a matter needs precise legal advice and your English is limited, we will arrange an interpreter rather than rely on approximate understanding. Your claim is too important for anyone to guess.
What you do get is a lawyer who does not need the cultural background explained. Why you kept working through the pain. Why you did not want to make a fuss at the workplace. Why your family is involved in the decision. Those things do not need translating, and not having to explain them is a large part of what people are actually asking for when they look for a lawyer who speaks their language.
If that is what you need, we would be glad to talk.
The claims we handle
WorkCover and workplace injury. If you were injured at work, you may be entitled to weekly payments, medical treatment costs and in some circumstances a lump sum. Many of the industries across Melbourne’s north employ a high proportion of workers from migrant backgrounds, and they are exactly the workers least likely to lodge a claim.
TAC and road accident claims. If you were injured on Victorian roads, as a driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian, the TAC scheme may cover your treatment and lost income regardless of who was at fault.
Superannuation TPD claims. If illness or injury has permanently stopped you working, you may have insurance cover inside your superannuation that you do not know about. This is the entitlement people most often miss entirely.
All of these are handled on a no win, no fee basis.
Our office is in the Uni Hill Town Centre in Bundoora, and we act for clients across Epping, Mill Park, South Morang, Reservoir, Preston, Thomastown and the rest of Melbourne’s north.
You are allowed to ask for a lawyer who speaks your language
Some people assume that asking is demanding, or that it will slow things down, or that it is not really available.
It is available. The Victorian Legal Services Board maintains a public register of Victorian lawyers which includes the languages they speak, precisely so that people can search on it. You are entitled to use it.
You are also entitled to change lawyers if the firm you are with is not communicating with you in a way you can follow. If you already have a claim running and you do not properly understand where it is up to, that is not a small problem. It is your claim.
Speak to Sha
If you have been injured and you would prefer to discuss it in Hindi, or you speak Urdu or Punjabi and want a lawyer who understands the context you are working in, we would be glad to hear from you.
The free claim check takes about two minutes and there is no obligation. You can also read more about appointments in Hindi and Urdu.
This article is general information. It is not legal advice about your circumstances. For guidance on your own claim, speak to a lawyer.
