In the middle of Australia's bushfire crisis, some faces have become familiar.

Key points: Sean Sweeney comes from a long line of family members who are deaf and has worked as an interpreter since 2000

Sean Sweeney comes from a long line of family members who are deaf and has worked as an interpreter since 2000 Auslan interpreters are relied on heavily during emergencies, like Australia's bushfire crisis

Auslan interpreters are relied on heavily during emergencies, like Australia's bushfire crisis Advocates say news organisations frequently crop interpreters out of shot which can put the deaf community in danger

RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons is one those. Another, standing to his right with a long salt-and-pepper beard, is Auslan interpreter Sean Sweeney.

Mr Sweeney belongs to a small group of interpreters who have been working for months to ensure the deaf community can access up-to-date emergency information.

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"I'm the first one in 100 years of my family that's 'of hearing'," he said.

"My great-grandparents are deaf, my grandparents are deaf, my mum and dad are deaf, and the list goes on.

"My aunties, uncles, cousins, second cousins — they're all deaf."

While Auslan, or Australian sign language, was Mr Sweeney's first language, he did not interpret as a vocation until his mid-30s.

"When I was a kid I'd run away from any interpreting situation because I didn't really understand how it worked," he said.

"To be able to sign socially is easy, but to be able to interpret is quite difficult."

But in 2000, after a redundancy and what he described as "a midlife crisis", he turned to interpreting.

Two decades on, he has become a face we recognise and trust on our television screens.

How does interpreting work?

Standing next to politicians and emergency leaders, Mr Sweeney said his role was not to translate the information but to interpret the meaning of whatever was being conveyed.

"We don't interpret word for word," he said.

"We're delivering the meaning and the intent and the tone of the speaker. That's our job."

By doing this, interpreters are exposed to raw emotion.

"I have moments when I'm interpreting Shane Fitzsimmons," Mr Sweeney said.

"He choked up a little bit when he announced one of the firefighters had passed away and I had to really compose myself and not choke up as well because I take on the emotion of the speaker. Because I have to.

"It can be hard but it's really important work. Interpreting saves lives."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 51 seconds 51 s Hadley Johnson demonstrates basic Auslan signs useful for emergencies ( Supplied: Hadley Johnson )

'TV not doing an ideal job'

Deaf advocate and founder of Auslan Media Access, Shirley Liu, said while the community appreciated the work of interpreters, news organisations often cropped Auslan interpreters out of shot in favour of highlighting the key speaker.

"The media channels, the TV channels, I have to say are not doing an ideal job," Ms Liu said.

"We need to ensure that the Auslan interpreters are shown because if they're cut out of the footage it means deaf people miss out."

News channels frequently cut interpreters out. ( Supplied: Shirley Liu )

This causes even more problems for deaf children or migrants who may not understand English.

Even if news organisations supplement the lack of an interpreter by using captions, Ms Liu said accuracy could be unreliable.

"Last October or November there were fires happening in Kempsey but the captioner heard it as Campsie … near the city of Sydney, as opposed to the north coast. So that can cause issues.

"We really need to ensure that Auslan interpreters are provided at all times on all news bulletins and also press conferences.

"Information that's significant to the general Australian community is of interest to the deaf community."