Deaf Australia is saddened to learn about the passing of advocate, supporter and deaf community member Karen McQuigg.

One of Karen’s strongest passions was captioning access. She was involved with the establishment of a cinema access working group that advocated for captioning access in cinemas throughout Australia, and also had a role in advocating regarding the controversial CaptiView technology.
Karen was one of the very few members of the Deaf Community who would write personal submissions to various government inquiries, most recently the Deregulation Bill on Captioning.
When the Government announced that Deaf Australia would be defunded under their new funding structure, Karen immediately put up her hand to help and support us to discuss and explore various ways Deaf Australia could campaign to raise funds and remain viable for the interests of deaf and hard of hearing people.
In the coming months and years, some of Deaf Australia’s campaigns will include Karen’s contribution and Deaf Australia is proud to carry her legacy in creating social justice and equity for deaf and hard of hearing people.
On behalf of Deaf Australia, the board and the deaf/ hard of hearing members, we convey our sincere condolences to Karen McQuigg’s family and friends.

Deaf Australia supports the joint statement prepared by the National Ethnics with Disability Alliance (NEDA) on the Detention of People with Disabilities.

You can read the joint statement here: http://www.neda.org.au/index.php/latest/184-joint-statement
Deaf Australia appreciates the collaboration with NEDA to ensure the statement includes the rights to effective communication to diverse language and communication supports, including sign language, in official interactions for refugees to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis as others through all forms of communication of their choice.
The joint statement calls for legislative change to end the detention of all people with disabilities and their families, following the release of the Australian Human Rights Commissioner’s National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention.
As at July 2014, there were 28 children in detention who were assessed with disabilities. These children had spent 11 months in detention on average and were aged between two and 17 years old.
One of these children is deaf. This child’s parents are also deaf and they use sign language to communicate. During the detention, it appears that sign language interpreters have not been engaged by the Australian Government to communicate with the child or the family. Deaf Australia believes this breaches a basic human right – the right to access effective communication, including the use of sign language.
Without access to effective communication support, the detention places this family and their child at increased risk and more vulnerable to the dangers posed in the detention environment.
Deaf Australia is calling for the Australian Federal Government to ensure that deaf families (including deaf children) who use sign language are given access to sign language interpreters so that they can access information and support in their own language and have the same access to facilities, services, and immigration information and processes as other detainees.
Furthermore, Deaf Australia is requesting the Australian Federal Government to move any and all deaf families and detainees to community detention while their cases are being reviewed, to ensure their safety and reduce the extra risk that being deaf in a detention centre poses to these families.

Additional notice:

From 1 July 2015, Deaf Australia will become an unfunded national peak organisation representing deaf and hard of hearing people. It is important that Deaf Australia remains in a position to actively provide specialist advice and advocacy services; otherwise the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people will remain unaddressed.

The deaf community is outraged by the actions of Northern Territory Minister for Disability Services, John Elferink, who pretended to use sign language as part of his ridicule of the Deputy Leader of the Northern Territory Opposition Gerry McCarthy during a debate yesterday.

The incident happened during an exchange when a special committee was debating changes to local government legislation. Minister Elferink mockingly used made up hand signals when Mr McCarthy asked the Minister for Local Government Bess Price to move closer to the microphone as he wears hearing aids and couldn’t hear her first comment.
“This is disgraceful and offensive. I’d expect this sort of behaviour from a group of louts at the pub, but certainly not from the Minister for Disability Services in a public arena,” said Mr Kyle Miers, Chief Executive of Deaf Australia.
“Its shocking that the Minister for Disability Services has so little respect for the deep connection that the deaf community has with their language and primary communication mode,” says Mr Miers, “and it is also very worrying that the Minister would prefer to mock a person with a hearing loss rather than ensure access for him.”
The position of Minister for Disability Services requires understanding of and empathy for people with disability, as well as their values and communities.
Despite his subsequent apology, Deaf Australia believes that Minister John Elferink has clearly shown his lack of understanding and respect for the deaf community and is asking for him to resign from this portfolio so it can be given to a Minister who is more suited to the role.
Relevant media:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-25/nt-disability-services-minister-appears-to-mock-hearing-aids/6348006

Deaf Australia was excited to partner up with Deafness Forum, this week, to interview Young Australian of the Year 2015 winner Drisana Levitzke-Gray about her award, her life, and her views on deaf advocacy and the community.

Can you describe how you felt, right at the moment when it was announced that you won?  What happened after the presentation?

There are no words to adequately sum up the feeling at that exact moment when they announced me as the recipient of the Young Australian of the Year Award. It was mixture of happiness, excitement, shock and an overwhelming sense of honour. Once we received our awards, we were rushed out back towards the Parliament House where there was a flurry of activity, with media and print journalists waiting to take photos and conduct interviews. I did an interview with Sky News, then a radio interview with ABC. After about two hours, all the award recipients managed to return to family and friends where we could share our excitement with our loved ones, who had lots to say to us!

There must have been many amazing people you met at the Australia Day awards ceremony, did you have a chance to share with them Auslan and promote the national language of the Australian Deaf community?

I did indeed meet a number of lovely people during the Australia Day awards ceremony and throughout the course of the weekend. We had an official morning tea with Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and dinner with the Governor General as part of the functions over the weekend and I was able to get to know some of the impressive nominees a little better – it was an amazing group of people drawn from different walks of life and experience, all contributing to change for the better in Australia.
I managed to teach some well-known people a bit of Auslan, including Adam Goodes, AFL player for Sydney Swans (and previous Australian of the Year); Deborra-Lee Furness, adoption advocate, actress and wife of Hugh Jackman; Dr Tim Soutphommasane, Race Discrimination Commissioner, and so on. There was never a moment when I wasn’t promoting and sharing our very wonderful and beautiful language, Auslan, with all the guests and finalists of the Australia Day Awards.

How busy were you after winning the awards?  Australian’s saw you on television a few times?  Did you have to travel to each studio or were you able to be interviewed from one location?  Did they provide any interpreters to ensure that your message gets across to their audience?

Extremely busy! I could never have anticipated exactly how busy I was to become. I was given media advice and tips from the Australia Day Council representative whilst at the Awards about the fact that things were going to take off, and that I have a right to say no to some projects/requests. There is no funding attached to the award at all, so it’s not that I receive any bursary to cover my costs to take on additional work or to travel etc – it’s all done voluntarily unless an organisation offers a fee or to cover travel etc. It wasn’t till the first week had passed that I started to worry, “oh my gosh, is this what the rest of the year will be like?!” in terms of how busy it was and just how much attention the awards had drawn. Very exciting in terms of raising the profile of Auslan and of the Deaf community, but also a little overwhelming for a 21 year old juggling part time work and studies and living in Western Australia (not ideal for travelling to the east coast!).
The morning after the Awards, all the award recipients had about 5 interviews with different media companies (7, 9, 10, ABC, Sky News) from 5am to 8am. So I was up at about 4am to drive over to the Parliament House where all the studios were – these are studios specifically for news regarding the parliament and government. I had 3 interpreters with me that whole weekend so everything worked out just fine and the interpreters did a great job ensuring my message came across.
For the other interviews since the awards weekend (magazines, newspapers, Sunrise etc), I requested the studios organise and cover the cost of compatible interpreters, and that has all worked out well so far. They all instantly recognised the importance of having a suitably skilled Auslan interpreter if they wanted to interview me, and access to date has not been an issue. I’ve had a couple of trips since to the east coast for awards-related commitments and media obligations, but I have also done some of my interviews from Perth.

What was the best moment for you in winning the Young Australian of the Year?

The recognition, publicity and the media/Australia’s interest and attention regarding Auslan and the Deaf community. It’s a long time since we had a national platform of this nature to use and to promote our beautiful language as well as to raise the profile and status of the Deaf community. The whole Awards weekend and presentation was an amazing experience personally, but nothing can beat the fact that this was really a win for the wider Deaf community in terms of raising awareness of the concept of “Deaf gain” not “hearing loss”, and conveying the message to wider society that it’s OK to be Deaf!

What message do you hope to promote as Young Australian of the Year in 2015?

I am promoting the beauty of Auslan, how it is a language that belongs to Australia, and is used by a community of people that can be considered a linguistic minority. While promoting and encouraging Australians to celebrate and embrace Auslan, I want to also highlight the harsh truth that Deaf children suffer when they are denied their right to have full access to a language where they can communicate and express themselves completely. Linguistic impoverishment in the early years for Deaf children when deprived of access to a visual language may lead to them experiencing mental health issues, isolation, and low self-esteem, not to mention poor educational outcomes, under-employment and unemployment.
We must take action to improve access to Auslan for Deaf children in infancy, support hearing families in their efforts to learn it, expect educational institutions to embrace Auslan as a viable first language for Deaf children, and promote it as a valuable second language for LOTE (Language other than English) teaching in schools to hearing children too, to encourage a more accessible and accepting society in general. Auslan as a LOTE programs in schools also allow Deaf children to formally study Auslan in the same way hearing children study English. In addition, we need more funding for research on Auslan, and a greater investment in resources and opportunities to learn Auslan (teacher training, materials etc). Deaf people should also be able to access messages and information in the wider community in Auslan, via for example, Auslan interpreted broadcasts of emergency updates during times of crisis, or Auslan translations being available on websites, particularly for government services/agencies etc.

What things have you learnt from this experience that we could benefit from to create positive exposure for Deaf and hard of hearing Australians, and their families?

We all need to work together for the common good, the greater cause. We need the government to take responsibility for the well-being of our Deaf children. We need constant positive exposure about Auslan, and about the Deaf community. We need many more Deaf role models out there, meeting the parents of newly diagnosed babies and families of Deaf children, so they know that their child too can aspire to be whatever they dream to be.
We need reliable funding for programs such as the Auslan for families, a project which is already developed and run by the WA Deaf Society but does not have recurrent funding from the government. Such a program should become national, and available for every family to access. Parents can access Better Start government funding of $12,000 per child, yet only half of that sum can be used for parents to access Auslan programs. The full amount however is able to be used by parents for “therapy” services, including speech therapy, if they so wish. Why does the allocation discriminate against access to Auslan programs? We need to change the attitude and mentality of the government and of Australian society and to remove the stigma associated with using sign language. To do this, we all need to work together – united we stand, divided we fall.

From your experience as a Young Australian of the Year to date, what do you think are the top three issues affecting the deaf and hard of hearing community today?

My response is skewed to an extent based on my particular platform and there are many other issues I could have raised, however my key concerns are:-

1. The right of Deaf children to have access to Auslan from birth (in the home, in school etc).
2. Appropriate and recurrent funding is required for Deaf service providers and organisations.
3. Access to emergency broadcasts on TV via Auslan (whether natural disasters or man made such as the Sydney Siege) and Auslan translations on relevant websites.

The Board of Deaf Australia wish to advise the members and friends of Deaf Australia of three important pieces of information.

1. The Federal Government’s decision to de-fund Deaf Australia:

As many of you may be aware, the Commonwealth Government has decided to stop funding Deaf Australia as a national funded peak organisation.
This will affect Deaf Australia’s capacity to continue to advocate for deaf people on a national level with government and business. From 1 March 2015, Deaf Australia will no longer have a direct voice to the Australian government.
This is extremely disappointing because we have advocated for the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people to equal opportunities and access in areas of employment, early intervention and education, justice, services and more for many years.
This advocacy role will now be take over by broad-based organisations that focus on women, children, migrants Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islanders and people with disabilities.
We believe these organisations will not be effective in working for deaf people because they do not have a good understanding of the specific needs of the deaf community.
We believe deaf people need and deserve an organisation that is run by deaf people and for deaf people, so we will continue to advocate for future funding to make sure that we can go back to working hard for your rights and access.
Important note: 

• Deaf Australia will NOT close. Deaf Australia will return to pre-1992 where the organisation is fully voluntary. 
• Deaf Australia’s Auslan Shop WILL continue as normal. 
• Head Office in Brisbane will be closed (Sign On Employment Service will continue). 
• Deaf Australia will undertake campaign strategies (more information will be forthcoming). 

2. Membership Schedules and Fees:

In accordance with Deaf Australia’s Constitution, we are required to provide 28 days notice to members advising of Membership Schedules and Fees.
[minimal_icon style=”download” url=”https://deafaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Membership-Schedules-and-Fees-Feb-2015-v.51.pdf” target=”_blank” lightbox_content=”” lightbox_description=””]Download the Membership Schedules and Fees for your information.[/minimal_icon] We will start implementing the new structure on 14 March 2015.
You will notice there are 3 Schedules:

• Schedule A – Individual Members
• Schedule B – Corporate Members
• Schedule C – Deaf Friendly

At the recent Annual General Meeting in November 2014, the members of Deaf Australia approved the amendments to Deaf Australia’s Constitution.
Registration and renewal of membership (in any schedule) will be online and is payable through our secure PayPal system. We will send out a notification once this is up and running.

3. Information Session:

Deaf Victoria (with support of Vicdeaf) has organised an Information Session about changes to the membership structure and funding model on 13 March 2015 at 7pm – 9pm at Vicdeaf. This information session will be live-streamed online for anyone in Australia to view the presentation and it will be recorded for people to view at a later time. The Information Session will have interactive SMS so you can share your thoughts, comments or ask questions.
At this information session, we will provide members, friends and interested individuals information about Deaf Australia’s current activities, as well as clarify the new membership schedules and fees and the Deaf Friendly Initiative.
We will distribute more information as soon as it is available from Deaf Victoria.
Lastly, Deaf Australia appreciates your ongoing support over the years. We want to say a huge thank you to all our members, supporters and staff over the years who have all worked so hard to improve access and human rights for deaf people. This is the time we need to show strong unity in the deaf community to overcome the challenges we are facing, because we all want the same thing; to maximise opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people in Australia and make your lives fairer and better.
We look forward to continuing to work with you and for you.

Deaf Australia and other leading disability peak organisations have condemned Assistant Minister for Social Services, Minister Fifield’s Friday media release, entitled ‘New voice for all Australians with Disability’, announcing the Federal Government’s decision to replace effective disability-led advocacy services with five new organisations that focus on demographic data, such as women, children and ethnic background.

‘By focusing on peripheral issues, such as gender, and ignoring the vital need for specialist disability knowledge, the Government has fundamentally missed the point,’ explains Deaf Australia President Mr Todd Wright.
‘This is incredibly concerning for us,’ said Mr Wright, ‘because it seems to indicate that the government thinks that the primary disability someone can have is being labeled as a woman or a child. For a deaf person, gender, race, cultural background or population group is not the issue; communication access to range of services and interpreters is the issue, and this level of advocacy cannot be handled by a generalist organisation who does not understand or appreciate the complex issues facing deaf and hard of hearing people.’
The Abbott Government’s ‘reforms’ to the disability advocacy sector will not only harm people with disability, but are also in direct contradiction to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which Australia is a signatory.
Minister Fifield stated that the new alliance would represent “all people with disability” and noted alignment with a social model of disability and the UNCRPD.
This statement is divisive and misleading. Whilst Deaf Australia welcomes funding to the five organisations for people with disability, none of these organisations is able to appropriately represent deaf and hard of hearing people. The UNCRPD makes it clear that people with disability should freely choose their own representatives – it is the not the role of any government to dictate to people with disability who should represent them.
‘This decision is a clear message that the Abbott Government does not want deaf people to have a voice and be represented, and is not interested in fulfilling their obligations to deaf and disabled people under Article 4.3 of the UNCRPD,’ says Deaf Australia Chief Executive Kyle Miers. ‘This “new way” is a backward step’.
In the wake of young deaf advocate Drisana Levitzke-Gray honoured as Young Australian of the Year last week, Disability peak organisations across the country are speaking out against the outrageous changes to vital advocacy services two days before Christmas. Many organisations that give a voice to people who are marginalised and/or disabled were completely de-funded late last year in favour of cross-disability groups.
The Government’s decision will lead to cuts to essential supports to 200,000 people with disability from March 2015, with $1.5 million stripped from ten organisations run by people with disability. Organisations who will be forced to shut their doors or significantly reduce services include; Deaf Australia, Blind Citizens Australia, Brain Injury Australia and National Council on Intellectual Disability.
‘Deaf Australia has worked for over 28 years to advocate for deaf people and improve services and conditions for the deaf and hard of hearing community,’ says Mr Wright, ‘We have achieved so much, but we still have far to go to get the same rights for Deaf and hard of hearing people that other people already enjoy.’
Additionally, many of the issues facing deaf and hard of hearing people are non-NDIS issues, such as early intervention and education, employment, access to interpreting, captioning, emergency services and more.
An example of why generalist services cannot properly represent such a wide range of disability needs is the Australian Communication Consumer Actions Network (ACCAN). In 2007, Deaf Australia’s communications grant was defunded to establishing ACCAN; a cross-consumer communications advocacy group that is supposed to include disability. To date, ACCAN has yet to advocate the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people effectively.
ACCAN’s recent campaign to remove surcharges for consumers calling 1800 numbers through mobile phone was successful. However, for deaf and hard of hearing people who rely on the National Relay Service, these calls require data usage. It is ridiculous for Deaf people to be forced to pay for “included call value” on their mobile phone plans that they will never be able to use, but are still restricted by unfair data charges. This is an issue that Deaf Australia should be funded to advocate on.
The introduction of Video Relay Service and text messaging service in the National Relay Service was direct result of Deaf Australia’s earlier campaigns, which we continued despite the lack of funding, with ACCAN only playing a supplementary role.
The Abbott Government’s reform agenda is unpopular and affects all Australians. The massive swing against the LNP in the recent Queensland elections and against Abbott from within his own party shows that people are unhappy with harsh and unfair Liberal Party policies and want a government that protects and supports all Australians, not just the privileged few.

Deaf Australia is very proud to congratulate WA deaf woman Drisana Levitzke-Gray on being named Young Australian of the Year for 2015 at the awards ceremony in Canberra yesterday.

Ms Levitzke-Gray, an Ambassador of Deaf Australia, was also announced as the winner of 2015 Western Australian Young Australian of the year late last year for her advocacy work.
‘We are so proud that Drisana has been recognised for the work she has done towards raising awareness about Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and realising human rights of deaf people’, says Todd Wright, President of Deaf Australia. ‘It is our sincere hope that Drisana will be the first of many deaf people receiving this award, and that this will add to her work in inspiring more deaf youth to achieve successes in their own lives also.’
The Australian of the Year Award website describes Ms Levitzke-Gray as a campaigner who is dedicated to helping other deaf people and advocating their human rights. The fifth generation in her family to be born deaf, she was born into a family with deaf parents, a deaf brother and a deaf extended family, and uses Auslan as her first language. She promotes the deaf community as one without borders and one of rich language, culture, history and traditions.
After being selected to attend the Frontrunners international deaf youth leadership course in 2012 and 2013, Drisana worked with communities in Europe and Samoa to expand leadership capacity and human rights understanding of deaf youth. In 2014, Drisana became the first deaf Auslan user to fulfil her civic duty as a juror. Drisana is the embodiment of the concept of ‘deaf gain’, not ‘hearing loss’, inspiring the deaf community, encouraging others to accept diversity and promoting a positive image of deafness which says loudly and proudly: “it is OK to be deaf”.
‘Drisana is an amazing advocate and an inspiration, but she shouldn’t have to be. She should be able to pursue her goals and dreams in the same way any young Australian does without having to constantly advocate and fight for her rights,’ says Kyle Miers, Chief Executive of Deaf Australia, ‘We still have a long way to go to achieve the same rights for Deaf and hard of hearing people in Australia that other people already enjoy.’
‘Drisana’s success and the spotlight it puts on deaf achievements, as well as the inequalities deaf people experience every day, is even more important at this time,’ he says ‘Considering the backward step the Federal Government has taken in the advocacy sector with the defunding of Deaf Australia and other peak advocacy groups just before Christmas.’
Deaf Australia congratulates all of the winners and finalists of the Australian of the Years Awards 2015.

The Board and Staff of Deaf Australia wish you a happy and festive season.

Our sincere thanks to members of the deaf community, volunteers, service providers, families of deaf children, professionals and governments in supporting the work of Deaf Australia this year.
We look forward continuing to work with members and stakeholders in 2015.
Deaf Australia is also delighted to announce that next year we will be introducing a new system for combining Deaf Australia membership with a unique system to recognise businesses and organisations that are accessible and ‘friendly’ to the deaf community; the Deaf Friendly scheme.

The Deaf Friendly Scheme

Deaf people will also be able to use our new Deaf Friendly Business Directory as a simple way to find businesses and organisations that employ staff who are deaf or have Auslan skills.
When the Scheme rolls out in 2015, Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing people with Auslan skills will be able to use their Deaf Australia membership to assist their business or employer to get accreditation with the Deaf Friendly scheme: a deaf tick of approval that can be used Australia-wide!
Another bonus is that the money raised from the program will go straight into making sure Deaf Australia is able to keep advocating and working to benefit the lives of Deaf people across Australia.
[button url=”https://deafaustralia.org.au/the-deaf-friendly-scheme” class=”button” size=”large” color=”green-2″ target=”_self” lightbox_content=”” lightbox_description=””] For more information about the Deaf Friendly scheme, click here  [/button] Be safe and be well. See you in 2015!
Todd, John, Ida, Danni, Ann, Kyle, Rachel, Rebecca, Tony, Amber and Felicity.

Yesterday, Deaf Australia celebrated all people who live with disability, as well as celebrating their families and carers. Deaf Australia takes particular interest in deaf and hard of hearing people and these communities in Australia and thanks them for their contribution to the wider Australian community.

The deaf community is a rich and diverse one, and for many, Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is their primary language and the language that they express themselves most freely with. The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls for recognition and promotion of the use of sign language.
Deaf people throughout Australia still experience inequality and discrimination in their everyday lives as services and supports are minimal and there is still a public perception that deaf people are a burden simply because they use sign language.

Access to information is crucial for everyone, including deaf people.

Deaf people are currently experiencing overt and passive discrimination in many ways, such as:

• limited access to communication support in TAFE
• Deaf people are still unable to serve as a members of a jury
• there is deregulation of captioning services on TV
• cuts to Auslan courses from TAFE
• limited access to emergency announcements in Auslan.

Until equality and full inclusion is achieved, we continue to work with various stakeholders and governments to advocate and lobby on behalf of all Deaf people. Current risk of defunding Deaf Australia and other disability organisations as national peak organisations will severely damage the cause for full inclusion for people with disabilities and directly affect deaf and disabled people in their everyday lives.

Deaf Australia would like to acknowledge the following particular people and organisations that have achieved success in 2014:

• Bruce Muller (SA) – obtained Queen’s honour – OAM.
• Anthony Hastings (NSW) – Deaf Australian of the Year (Deaf Australia)
• Jordanna Smith (NSW) – Emerging Leader (National Disability Award)
• Drisana Levitzke-Gray (WA) – winner of WA Young Australian of the Year.
• Colin Allen (NSW) – Nominee to Presidency of the World Federation of the Deaf
• Communication Republic – Fair Go Award (Deaf Australia)
• Vicdeaf and Victoria Emergency Services – Inclusion award (National Disability Award)

Congratulations to the deaf community nominees and winners at the 2014 National Disability Awards! The nominees this year were all very impressive, and it is always great to be able to feel proud that the amazing work of deaf people and organisations is being recognised on a national platform. Read for more information and pictures from the awards event …