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National Week of Deaf People

What is National Week of Deaf People?

The National Week of Deaf People (NWDP) is a week-long national celebration of Deaf individuals and the Deaf Australian community.

It is an opportunity for the Deaf to:

• Celebrate their community, language, culture and history
• Make the public aware of their local, state and national communities
• Recognise their achievements

It is also an opportunity for organisations involved with, or wishing to be involved with the Deaf community to:

• Showcase their services and/or products
• Build / maintain relationships with Deaf people
• Be recognised for giving Deaf people a fair go in their workplace
  

Type of events usually organised during the NWDP

The types of events that Deaf Australia encourages include but are not restricted to:

• Deaf Festival Day / Expo
• Information dissemination (pamphlets, posters, booklets etc)
• Workshops/Forums
• Deaf Comedy/Quiz/Theatre/Debate Nights
• Film Nights
• Open Days
• and so on …
  

NWDP Theme for 2008

Deaf Australia has chosen the following theme for 2008:

We encourage you to use the NWDP theme when considering your event for NWDP. However, it is not strictly enforced and we would like to see as many events as possible partaking in the NWDP and personal achievements recognised this year.

Brief History of National Week of Deaf People

The International Week of Deaf People (IWDP) and International Day of Deaf People (IDDP) are an initiative of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). These two events are traditionally held during September and are based on the founding date of the WFD. The WFD has advised that member countries are not bound to follow the dates set for IWDP and IDDP, but are instead free to set their own dates for national programs.

Unfortunately, due to other national events already scheduled, we are unable to hold the National Week of Deaf People (NWDP) and the National Day of Deaf People (NDDP) in September to coincide with other international celebrations.

Deaf Australia is the Australian member of the WFD and holds NWDP each year beginning on the second Saturday of October and ending the following Friday. NDDP is traditionally held each year on the second Sunday of October. This year, the relevant dates will be from the 11thP to the 17thP October for the NWDP celebration and the 12th October for the NDDP.

Planning an event?

All events need to be registered with Deaf Australia to be part of the official NWDP Program. All state based or local events held during the NWDP are organised in collaboration with Deaf Australia's state branches. This gives your event official recognition and helps Deaf Australia to promote the program in more detail.

As all events need to meet the terms of reference in order to be part of the NWDP, it is essential that they be registered with Deaf Australia.
If you need more information, please contact us at Deaf Australia or contact your state branch. Get the Event Guidelines and Register Your Event.

Important Dates

Contact Details

Please feel free to contact Andrew Wiltshire, Community Liaison and Projects Officer: visit or email him about any issues, questions or comments you would like to make about National Week of Deaf People. More contact details.

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