National Week of Deaf People 2016 (15 – 23 October 2016)

With Auslan, I am Equal
Each year, starting on 3^rd weekend of October, Deaf Australia and the deaf community in Australia celebrate National Week of Deaf People (NWDP).
Deaf Australia will be launching the NWDP at the National Auslan Conference in Melbourne and there will be heaps of activities organised by various organisations, clubs and individual throughout the week. If you wish to register your event/ activities, please register here.
Throughout the week, Deaf Australia will be posting key messages on our Facebook/ Twitter to raise awareness of the NWDP. You can help by re-posting Facebook messages and re-tweeting our messages.
We will be focusing on

• Birth Rights: deaf children to access and acquire Auslan as their first language;
• Deaf Identity: deaf people are a cultural and linguistic minority who use Auslan as their primary language;
• Accessibility: deaf people need access to public information and services through Auslan;
• Equal Language: recognising Auslan as an equal language as other spoken/ written languages;
• Equal Employment Opportunity: removing the barriers where hearing is a requirement and to promote greater inclusion and opportunities for deaf people to realise their dreams;
• Bilingual Education: accepting the need for bilingual education for deaf children (Auslan and English), and for teachers and interpreters to be fully accessible;
• Equal Participation: deaf people to be able to fully participate in the personal, public and political areas along with everyone else; and
• Lifelong Learning: access to education, training and ongoing professional development is the key to gaining and retaining a job and to be able to make a living. 

The theme is an adaption of the theme for the World Federation of the Deaf International Week of Deaf People, which is ‘With Sign Language, I am Equal’, beginning today.
You can help by joining the campaign by organising or being involved with NWDP activities in your local area. We have included the NWDP Info Kit 2016 for your use as a resource. This toolkit can be used by anyone in Australia to help promote awareness of Deaf people and Auslan.
With Auslan, I am Equal.
[minimal_icon style=”download” url=”https://deafaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/National-Week-of-Deaf-People-info-kit-final.pdf” target=”_self” lightbox_content=”” lightbox_description=””]Download the NWDP 2016 Toolkit here.[/minimal_icon]