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Media ArticleSignPost Nominated for Four Antenna AwardsMedia Release - 8 May 2007Deaf Australia is delighted with the announcement that SignPost, our Deaf TV program broadcast on Community TV in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide has been nominated for four (4) Antenna Awards, the national Community TV awards.SignPost is a magazine style program that covers a variety of stories relating to the Deaf community and its culture and is presented in the language of the Australian Deaf Community – Auslan. The program is also open captioned and has voice overs, ensuring access for all Australians. The program has been nominated for an award in the following four categories:
"This is an outstanding achievement for a new initiative by volunteers who very generously give their time and talent to Deaf Australia. We are incredibly proud of and grateful to our SignPost team," said Deaf Australia President Kyle Miers. "This should serve as a timely reminder that the Deaf community has shown it has the skills, talent and initiative to produce entertaining and informative television programs. It is now time for the national broadcasters to live up to their charters and empower this vibrant section of the Australian community to tell their stories and add to the expression of Australian culture in the media, in all its forms," said Executive Producer of SignPost, Andy Carmichael. SignPost is produced by Deaf Australia's National Deaf TV Sub-committee (NDTV), which is a team of dedicated Deaf and hearing people who volunteer their time and expertise to Deaf Australia. In 2006 the SignPost team received valuable support when Australian Communication Exchange donated filming and editing equipment for their use. The first episode of SignPost was broadcast on TV Sydney (TVS - a community TV channel) in April 2006 and since then 7 episodes have been broadcast, including SignPost Extra which showcased a documentary about the New Zealand Sign Language Bill passed in 2006. The aim of NDTV is to have regular Deaf TV programming on national television in Auslan (Australian Sign Language), with captions and voice-overs to make it accessible for everyone. Sign Language has been in Australia since the time of the early British settlers, yet there is still no major free to air TV program in Auslan for Deaf Australians, their families and friends, and other interested people. There are at least 16,000 Deaf Australians whose primary language is Auslan. These people have family members and friends who also use Auslan, thereby increasing the number of people who use this language. Deaf Australians and their hearing family members identify themselves as members of a cultural and linguistic minority group known as the Australian Deaf community. Australia has one of the most diverse populations in the world. TV programs produced in Australia should reflect this diversity in order to inform, educate and entertain. The spectrum of program in Australia should include those made by Deaf people.
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