Acting CEO Shirley Update – Feb 2024

Transcript:

Hello! I’m Shirley, the Acting CEO of Deaf Australia.

This is a new role for me and I have already learnt so much especially about things I had never given much thought to in the past. This new experience has kept me very busy.

I’ve been pleased to watch the Deaf Australia team work so well together over the last three weeks. We have been busy preparing a toolkit that will be released next week. Please keep your eyes out for more information about this on Facebook, Instagram and, if you are a Deaf Australia member, in your inboxes.  

We have also been planning an event for the upcoming Auslan Day. You’ll find lots of information about this on our website.

Today, I attended the ‘Deaf History Collection’ launch – more information about this event is in the next video.

Today I attended the launch of the Deaf History Collection, a very special event that was held at the University of Sydney in a space that used to be occupied by the Darlington Deaf School.

Here in a very old building that holds many stories and memories for our community ex students and community members gathered. It was not only Sydney-siders that attended but community members from across the country that came together for this special and very enjoyable launch of the Deaf History Collection website.

The website, through various media types, documents the history of the deaf community in all areas of life including advocacy, education, sport and the arts.  

Deaf Australia would like to acknowledge and thank Deaf Connect for their significant investment in the Deaf History Collection and ensuring that it is available for our community to access, enjoy and learn about our history.  At the beginning of this projects journey, Deaf Connect reached out to Deaf Australia so that we could work collaboratively on this project.

Today was the launch of a living collection of our history. Please share the website with your friends, family and work colleagues. We will continue to document our history through the Deaf History Collection website.

Once again, Deaf Australia would like to thank Deaf Connect for their commitment to the project. We would also like to thank the Deaf community members and various organisations that have contributed to the collection so far.

Lastly, Deaf Australia will soon be posting another video about collecting your feedback about the National Relay Service (NRS) to inform our advocacy work.

Thank you for watching this update.

(Filmed 16 Feb 2024)

Shirley is wearing a navy t-shirt standing in front of an old building and green bushes signing. Next to her is a light green flag that says “Deaf History Collections” in white text.

She is signing in a friendly and concise manner towards the camera.