This collection of chapters has outlined some of the main issues in community translation. From migrant and refugee populations requiring translated information on public services in Australia, to incarcerated migrants in Spain who need both written and oral communication facilitators, or native South Africans who are now able to receive institutional information in their local languages after decades of Apartheid and marginalisation, the situations depicted and the problems discussed pose a number of serious questions, not only for community translators, but also for translation scholars, policymakers, public services and tertiary education providers.

Community translation is by definition a written language service that enables members of the community – usually disempowered minority language speakers – to have access to information and social participation. As such, it would be expected that community translation should be recognised and operationalised as ‘a basic human right that every individual should enjoy’, as European Union Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou asserts (cited in Brooke Townsley’s chapter). As the same politician adds, ‘in the multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual Europe of tomorrow, translation will play a fundamental role in ensuring peace and prosperity’. In Europe as elsewhere, ensuring the right to information and communication, especially in multilingual situations where there are significant socio-economic gaps, is key to social justice, social cohesion and mutual understanding.

However, as is clear from some of the contributions in this book, the level of recognition of community translation as a societal obligation towards disempowered language groups is not at its best. Budgetary constraints are often cited to justify lack of optimal translation services or a low volume of multilingual resources available to speakers of non-mainstream languages. Community translation in some cases is also caught up in broader debates about national unity, multiculturalism, integration and social cohesion. Unfavourable attitudes towards migrants, refugees, local ethnic minorities or marginalised majorities (e.g. South Africa) are then framed either in an economic or patriotic discourse.