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The axe has fallen
I think I said that the last time I mentioned my dear departed workplace. Now it really has fallen into the abyss.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-05/viq-solutions-australia-court-transcription-winding-down/106763466
It looks like they tried to sell it, after the company tanked back in March and they called in the receivers. No takers, so now the entire justice system in Australia is flailing, because VIQ, previously Auscript, was BIG and now the courts don't have anyone doing most of their transcribing. The Federal Court says it's trying to put something in place itself, but the transcribers haven't heard anything from them. So, good luck with that, FC, you always were the most boring court in the business. Think big companies doing shonky deals, that's what shows up in the FC. Wait a minute, VIQ, you resembled that remark!
Part of me still feels involved, because after years in that job, one develops a sense of responsibility for the courts and wants to see them taken care of properly, getting the vital information they need to run cases. That feeling persisted through several owners of the company, all wanting to make money out of transcriptions. Which you actually can't do. It's an essential service, not a moneymaker.
I was so freaked out by the time I was made redundant at the end of 2024 that it has taken me many months to get over it. The latest owners brought in a voice to text program [cough - AI!] which we were forced to learn. I was not great at it and I guess I couldn't change enough with the job, hence they got rid of me. I never felt any regret for being retired, which I decided to do because I had had way past enough and was past 60 years old. Yes, I might have been able to get another job, but clearly not in this industry, which I worked in for 32 years.
This way, I live on the superannuation [which will work properly the moment the orange horror is an ex-president and/or the freaking Middle East war stops] I do what my mother needs, am available nearby etc, and I don't go any more crazy.
The image in the icon isn't very clear. That's a skull wearing headphones, sitting on a transcriber's desk in front of their computer screen :-) That was set up when somebody did Halloween decorations and then they just left it there.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-05/viq-solutions-australia-court-transcription-winding-down/106763466
It looks like they tried to sell it, after the company tanked back in March and they called in the receivers. No takers, so now the entire justice system in Australia is flailing, because VIQ, previously Auscript, was BIG and now the courts don't have anyone doing most of their transcribing. The Federal Court says it's trying to put something in place itself, but the transcribers haven't heard anything from them. So, good luck with that, FC, you always were the most boring court in the business. Think big companies doing shonky deals, that's what shows up in the FC. Wait a minute, VIQ, you resembled that remark!
Part of me still feels involved, because after years in that job, one develops a sense of responsibility for the courts and wants to see them taken care of properly, getting the vital information they need to run cases. That feeling persisted through several owners of the company, all wanting to make money out of transcriptions. Which you actually can't do. It's an essential service, not a moneymaker.
I was so freaked out by the time I was made redundant at the end of 2024 that it has taken me many months to get over it. The latest owners brought in a voice to text program [cough - AI!] which we were forced to learn. I was not great at it and I guess I couldn't change enough with the job, hence they got rid of me. I never felt any regret for being retired, which I decided to do because I had had way past enough and was past 60 years old. Yes, I might have been able to get another job, but clearly not in this industry, which I worked in for 32 years.
This way, I live on the superannuation [which will work properly the moment the orange horror is an ex-president and/or the freaking Middle East war stops] I do what my mother needs, am available nearby etc, and I don't go any more crazy.
The image in the icon isn't very clear. That's a skull wearing headphones, sitting on a transcriber's desk in front of their computer screen :-) That was set up when somebody did Halloween decorations and then they just left it there.
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I'd ask how the hell the courts are working without transcribers but apparently they're not??? How does the court system allow that to happen? Baffles me for sure
and you're not alone waiting for The Blessed Blood Clot to do it's thing and get rid of the orange horror!
love the icon LOL
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As we know, common sense isn't! Of course, I'm not in the loop now, so I don't know what may be happening behind the scenes. Hell, if anyone from the Federal Court or whoever asked me to do the work directly for them, I probably would.
Yeah, I'm afraid it's personal now between me and the Orange Horror, since his war plans messed with my income! It really has. I was on the phone to my superannuation fund recently on another matter and after we finished, the lady asks if there's anything more I need. "Yes, I'd like my superannuation to go back to what it was before Trump declared war on Iran!" "Funny," she says, "my last caller said that!"
The fund, of course, can do nothing except say, "There, there, hang in there."
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It's not my concern any more, of course, but it's hard to see this. What did for them in the end was outsourcing PRIVATE recordings to a transcription mob in India [cheaper pay?]. These recordings were apparently leaked. Pure greed, and not wanting to pay the skilled types here [coughs] a fair wage.
I've got your 10 pages, will get to that probably this weekend.
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Well, crap. Here's hoping someone with access to budget is a competent individual, and that there are records somewhere of who was working in transcription before the AI bullshit was brought in. I respect that this is a vain hope, but I'm still hoping it.