NDIS has established a ‘Hearing Stream Department’ and is
seeking Deaf Australia to provide feedback to NDIS on the following topics:
Children learning Auslan;
Best Practice for early intervention including
options for mode of communication;
NDIA Access Requirements;
Pricing for Early Intervention and interpreter
supports;
Hearing and visual devices, augmentations,
products and training;
Deafblind;
Carer’s perspective.
Community Consultations:
Deaf Australia will host 3 national consultations (Perth,
Melbourne and Sydney). These consultations are in Auslan and interpreters are provided
for non-Auslan users.
Date, time and location of consultations:
Perth – 3 April at 6.30 pm at AccessPlus WA Deaf, D’ Café, 34 Dodd Street, Wembley WA
Sydney – 16 April at 6.30 at Ephpheta Centre, 4 Turner St, Punchbowl NSW
Melbourne – 3 May at 6.30 at John Pierce Centre, 25-35 High Street Road, Prahran Vic
Online Survey:
Online Survey is being conducted via Survey Monkey, which
means anyone can provide feedback. It is preferred that the person who is
providing feedback are deaf, hard of hearing, parents/ carers of deaf child/
person, interpreters and service providers for deaf community.
If you wish to provide one-to-one interview with Deaf
Australia, you can request by sending an email to [email protected] and
provide your contact details and we will get in touch with you to organise a
time. The interview will be done via video conference.
It is expected that Deaf Australia will submit its report to
NDIS by end of June 2019.
We acknowledge and respect the members of the Deaf Community in Australia, who preserve their rich heritage, culture and our language; Auslan (Australian Sign Language). We also acknowledge our custodians of Auslan, promoting awareness, equality and access through our sign language. Through Auslan, we inspire future leaders in our deaf community to continue our legacy and heritage.
The Deaf Community in Australia
has sought to gain recognition and acknowledgement for their key role in the
community for preserving, promoting and inspiring the culture, language and identities
of deaf people.
Deaf people are present in every
culture and society including Indigenous Australians who had well-developed
sign systems before the European Settlement. The first recorded deaf European-born
migrant in Australia is Elizabeth (Betty) Steel who arrived on the Second Fleet
as a convict in 1790.
Since then, there have been many
Australians, including Aboriginals and migrants, who have contributed in every
fabric of the Australian society, making Australia one of the most diverse
nations in the world.
Through deaf people, many
businesses prospered and reaped financially and economically. Through deaf
people, many services sought and lobbied by and for deaf people also benefited
the rest of the Australian community and more. Through deaf people, they have
raised awareness of the value of their community, their sense of belonging and
identity, and their quest for life, pursuing opportunities, self-determination
and appealing for a “fair-go” in the wider community and between themselves.
‘The statement acknowledges and respects the past and present members of the deaf community who have and will, in many ways, endures the legacy of the Deaf Community and marks the importance of dignity, self-worth and identity’, said Mr Todd Wright, Chairperson of Deaf Australia.
The members of the Deaf Community
formally endorsed this Deaf Acknowledgement statement at the Annual General
Meeting for Deaf Australia in 2018.
Huawei’s AI-powered app is now Auslan compatible, helping deaf and hard of hearing children and their parents to enjoy story time together.
SYDNEY, Australia — March 7, 2019
Huawei, a leader in global technology, has today announced the launch of StorySign app in Australia, which uses the power of AI to enrich story time for deaf and hard of hearing children and their parents by creating an authentic reading experience.
Officially announced last year and now available in Auslan, the sign language of Australia’s deaf community, Huawei’s StorySign app harnesses the power of AI to open the world of books to deaf children and their families. Featuring popular children’s book ‘Where’s Spot?’ and using the help of StorySign’s friendly avatar Star, the app uses AI to translate popular children’s books into perfect sign language page by page, delivering a seamless user experience.
To mark the Australian launch of Huawei’s StorySign app, Emma ‘Yellow Wiggle’ Watkins has partnered as an ambassador. As a passionate advocate for sign language and well recognised child entertainer, Emma is committed to supporting young children in the deaf community.
“Empowering deaf children is a cause close to my heart and it’s wonderful to see the power of technology used to make such a positive impact. I have found signing is a compelling way to connect with our young audience, so I’m delighted to take this connection further and be an ambassador of Huawei’s app; helping young deaf children participate in story-time.”
In Australia, around 400 children are born deaf each year*. With no written form for sign, children that are hard of hearing often struggle to connect sign language with the written word; posing reading challenges and ultimately impacting their literacy levels. The StorySign app, in conjunction with a smartphone and a physical book, delivers the best story time experience for both parent and child.
“With StorySign, Huawei is using the power of its AI and innovative technology in a meaningful way,” comments Lisa Connors, Huawei Australia Corporate Responsibility Manager. “We’re delighted to make this incredible StorySign app accessible to our local deaf community in Australia.”
Optimised for Huawei AI, features including Image Recognition and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) will create the best possible reading experience. The Image Recognition allows children to position the phone at an angle from the book and the app will still recognise the words perfectly, whilst the OCR permits the app to function with greater accuracy. The AI performance will also power the speed at which pages from the book can load in the app, meaning that children won’t be left waiting too long to find out what happens next in the story.
To raise awareness of deaf literacy, Huawei Australia continues its partnership with national charity organisation, Deaf Australia, to encourage support and donation for those affected with hard of hearing.
“The deaf community often struggles with content to address children’s literacy development needs. With the StorySign app now compatible with Auslan, Huawei is making digital tools accessible to Australian children. We are proud to continue our work with Huawei on the StorySign project as it unfolds in Australia.” said Kyle Miers, CEO of Deaf Australia.
As a sign of ongoing commitment to the StorySign initiative, Huawei is investing in local research to support a wider conversation about ensuring equality in every aspect of their lives for people in the deaf community.
StorySign is available on Android smartphones can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store. To watch the film and learn how you can help, visit www.storysign.com. Donations can be made via the StorySign campaign hub on the Huawei website, as well as through the ‘about’ section on the StorySign app. All money raised will support deaf child literacy projects in Australia, including more books for StorySign.
Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world’s population. Fifteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei’s three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables and cloud services, etc. Huawei’s global network is built on almost 30 years of expertise in the telecom industry and is dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world.
ABOUT DEAF AUSTRALIA
Deaf Australia is the deaf-led peak organisation representing deaf people in Australia. We promote the advancement of human rights and equality for deaf people by collaborating with our members and stakeholders in implementing the United Nations Conventions and the National Disability Strategy. Deaf Australia is for all deaf, hard of hearing and non-deaf people and organisations (not-for-profit, for profit or government) that use and/or accept and respect Auslan (Australian Sign Language).
