Site Search
Main Links
Calendar
Consult our new user-friendly Events calendar now!
Support AAD
You can help by your
Online Forums
Get involved in our online discussion forums.
Why not share your views and opinions with other people?
Directory
Find out where to go for services, products, classes...
Download
There are several PDF documents in this site. Get Adobe Reader to view them.
We recommend the new Mozilla Firefox browser. It works best in this site.
|
Welcome to Deaf Australia
Latest News
- Congratulations to the 2009 winners of our awards
- Deaf Australian of the Year – Barry Darwin, Vic
- Deaf Australian Youth of the Year – Katrina Lancaster, NSW
- Fair Go Award - Michael R Jones on behalf of Westpac (Concord West, NSW)
- Posted on 17 November 2009
- Deaf Australia calls for a fair go for Deaf people and others with disabilities
- Deaf Australia has called for extensive changes to disability policy in Australia following the release on Wednesday of a report that details the shocking exclusion of people with a disability from the Australian way of life.
- Posted on 7 August 2009
- 2009 Dorothy Shaw Young Writers Competition
- The 2009 Dorothy Shaw Young Writers Competition is now open. The competition is for Deaf and hard of hearing children aged 6 - 18. There are four categories and prizes are given for the best three stories in each category – junior, upper primary, senior and young adult.
-
- The first prize winner in each category also wins a voucher from The Auslan Shop for their school. An information sheet and entry form is available.
-
- The theme for entries in the competition follows the Children's Book Week theme. This year the theme is "Book Safari".
-
- Entries close at 5.00pm on Friday 14th August 2009. Winners will be announced during the National Week of Deaf People, 10th - 16th October 2009.
-
- For more information, please contact Gaye Lyons on gaye.lyons@deafau.org.au
- Posted on 26 May 2009
- National Consultation on Human Rights
- A national consultation about human rights in Australia is currently happening. Deaf Australia has sent out an information package for Deaf people, to help our members to understand what the consultation is about and how they can send in a submission. We urge everyone to send in something – your personal stories are important for this consultation. Tell the consultation what has happened to you and what you need so that you can live well in Australia – they want to hear it.
-
- The information package is available for download in PDF (61kB).
-
- Or you can find out more information from www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au Submissions close on 15th June.
- Posted on 26 May 2009
- Deaf Australia's National Week of Deaf People 2009
- Deaf Australia is pleased to announce the theme for this year’s National Week of Deaf People (NWDP) will be: "Year of Reconciliation: Bringing us all Together".
-
- Our NWDP theme is usually derived from the United Nations who has declared 2009 the Year of Reconciliation. This year's NWDP will be from the Saturday 10th to the Friday 16th October 2009 and the Sunday 11th October for the National Day of Deaf People.
-
- The Event Guidelines and Registration Forms are now available.
- Posted on 13 February 2009
- Deaf Australia's Vision 2020
- Deaf Australia's new Vision 2020 is based on the Vision 2020 developed by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) for their work in the international Deaf community.
- Posted on 13 February 2009
- Deaf Australia’s Strategic Plan 2008-2013
- Deaf Australia's Strategic Plan for 2008 – 2013 has been approved by the Board and is available here.
- Posted on 13 February 2009
- Deaf Australia updates our Vision and Mission Statements
- Deaf Australia has just updated our Vision and Mission Statements and the new version is available here.
- Posted on 31 January 2009
- Deaf Australia Outlook Archives
- Deaf Australia is pleased to announce that all previous Outlooks dating back to February 2004 are now available on our website and we will continue to update the archives with previous issues that are available on the website three months after publication.
- Posted on 31 January 2009
- Deaf Australia to provide Auslan classes for Queensland schools
- Deaf Australia is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed with the Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA) appointing Deaf Australia Inc. to provide Auslan classes for Queensland school communities.
- Posted on 6 November 2008
- Deaf Australia welcomes Australia’s ratification of UN Disabilities Convention
- Deaf Australia is delighted with today's announcement that the Australian Government has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
- Posted on 18 July 2008
- Captioned films in local cinemas welcome news
- Deaf Australia is delighted with today’s announcement by the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, that funding will be made available to assist 12 cinemas across the nation to screen films that are captioned and have audio description.
- Posted on 25 June 2008
- Complaints about lack of television captioning
- Deaf people are fed up with the lack of captioning on television programs and they are doing something about it. They are sending complaints to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).
- Posted on 10 June 2008
What is Auslan?
Auslan IS the language used by the Deaf community of Australia.
Auslan is abbreviated as Australian Sign Language. It is the uniquely visual language widely used in the Australian Deaf community.
Auslan conveys meaning through the use of handshapes, movement and location in space in conjunction with facial expressions and the use of fingerspelling.
It has its own vocabulary and grammar and does not correspond to English - spoken or signed. [ More ]
Auslan Endorsement System
Many materials are being published that claim to use and/or teach Auslan, many by people who are not native users of the language, and some of these materials use Auslan incorrectly.
This is cause for concern to Deaf Australia. Deaf Australia has now developed the Auslan Endorsement System, which tests materials and if they meet the criteria, they will be endorsed by Deaf Australia.
The Auslan Shop
The Auslan Shop sells materials in Auslan and about Auslan, Deaf culture, Deaf history, interpreting, education, etc.
All Auslan materials for sale are approved first by Deaf Australia's Auslan Endorsement System. If you buy it in Auslan from The Auslan Shop you can be sure it is Auslan!
World Federation of the Deaf
WFD was established in 1951 in Rome, Italy.
 WFD is an international, non-governmental central organisation of national associations of Deaf people, with a current membership of associations in 127 countries worldwide.
Associate members, international members and individual members also make up WFD’s membership base.
Deaf Australia is the Australian member of the WFD.
top |
 |
