Deaf Australia wishes to say thank you for helping to flatten the Covid-19 in the last few weeks. We are looking forward to easing the restrictions as there are fewer Covid-19 cases that are emerging.

We wish to remind you that there is potential ‘2^nd wave’ of Covid-19 and for all of us to maintain our social distance until vaccination become available. Recent work into vaccination are promising and they need to go through steps to ensure that the vaccination is safe for people.

Deaf Australia encourage members of the Deaf community to download ‘COVIDSafe’ App that will help tracking other people or to yourself should you get in touch with someone who have COVID.

It is also important that having the App does not mean you are safe; it means it offers you and the community with extra precautions to stem down the Covid-19 and to assist Health officers to quickly contact the others to control the Covid-19.

Some people are worried about privacy. It is important to know that the App only have your name, your age range and post code. Government do not have other details. All activities are stored in your phone and is stored for 21 days. After 21^st day, your activities will be deleted.

If and when you have Covid-19, the health official will ask you to upload your information from COVID-19. They will use this information to track your contacts in the 21 days to make to minimise the spread.

We need your help to flatten the Covid-19. To download the App, you can go to App Store for Android and Apple. It is free.

For more information about COVIDSafe, please visit this website: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app 

Easter 2020 – Updates

Deaf Australia submitted ‘Issues and Challenge with Telehealth Service and Medical Services for Auslan users during Coronavirus (COVID-19) to the Advisory Committee formed by Morrison Government focusing on provision of medical supports for People with Disability. You can find this document here.

The document recommends the following:

1. That the Government provide an instructional video in Auslan describing to deaf community how to use a Telehealth services, showing examples of different technologies (tablet, iPad, smartphone);
2. That the Government fund deaf people through their NDIS or My Aged Care and individuals not eligible for either programs to cover their out-of-pocket costs for required use of video interpreting services;
3. That the Government enter an agreement with reputable interpreting agencies to provide interpreting services for the telehealth service; whereby the agencies shall:
   • Be listed as primary Telehealth Interpreting Services;
   • Ensure that interpreters are appropriately qualified for these bookings; and
   • Be compensated for the service rendered. 
4. That the COVID-19 National Health Plan (factsheet) to contain listings of agreed interpreting services available for Deaf people to make informed choices of which agency to use for their Telehealth appointment;
5. In the case where a deaf person is required to be hospitalised, the hospital is responsible to source an interpreter through their current arrangement, however, interpreters must be provided with appropriate protection gear when required; 
6. If the hospital is unable to bring an interpreter onsite, then they should use a video-enabled tablet to connect with the interpreter while providing care to the deaf patient; and
7. The Department of Health to explore enhancing its remote hospital service to allow 3-way video-connections so that doctors can provide support remotely through remote interpreters with a deaf person in a medical service.

We also discussed with Department of Social Services the following topics:

• Telehealth (as above)
• Deaf children studying at home
• Seniors requiring to stay at home with little or no communication supports

We also met with World Federation of the Deaf and is joined by New Zealand and Fiji to discuss the following topics:

• Interpreter on TV
• Deaf children’s education (study at home)
• Access to medical services and
• Use of technology and devices to enable access to essential services.

World Federation of the Deaf advised that the upcoming World Federation of the Deaf International Conference held in Thailand (2021) has not been changed but will monitor the situation, as with World Federation of the Deaf Congress in South Korea in 2023.

Thank you to deaf organisations and ASLIA for contribution to the work that Deaf Australia does.

Keep safe, stay well during the Easter Weekend.

We are a diverse range of organisations from across Australia, representing the interests of people with disability, their families, carers and support persons. Collectively, we have significant, direct and growing knowledge of the impact of Coronavirus (COVID19) on people with disability in Australia.

Australians with disability represent some of the most excluded of all Australians in relation to the impacts of Coronavirus. Our needs remain largely forgotten as evidenced by the fact that people with disability are rarely if ever, mentioned in any press conference, media release or government conversation about Coronavirus. The national discourse relating to Coronavirus is inherently ableist – preferencing able-bodied people as the norm. This ableist discourse is resulting in the exclusion of people with disability in efforts to prevent the spread of and address, the impact of the Coronavirus.

We are deeply concerned by the lack of specific and targeted measures from Australian Governments to proactively protect and support people with disability, their families, carers and support persons from the impact of COVID19.

We call on all Australian Governments to take the following URGENT actions to protect the lives of Australians with disability in the context of COVID19:

To view the full Open Letter

To view the full Open Letter (Easy Read)

Supporting Disability Organisations

First Peoples Disability Network
Women with Disabilities Australia
People with Disability Australia
National Ethnic Disability Alliance
Children and Young People with Disability Australia
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
Disability Advocacy Network Australia
Deaf Australia
Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia
Deafblind Australia
Deafness Forum of Australia
Brain Injury Australia
Inclusion Australia
Blind Citizens Australia
Down Syndrome Australia
Physical Disability Australia
Every Australian Counts
Disability Resources Centre Advocacy
Ideas
Disability Justice Australia
Enhanced Lifestyles
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum
Imagine More
Advocacy Western Australia
Midland Information Debt and Legal Advocacy Service
Melbourne East Disability Advocacy
Queensland Advocacy Incorporated
Family Advocacy
Grampians Disability Advocacy
Syndromes Without A Name
Advocacy Tasmania
Southwest Advocacy Association
Victorian Rural Advocacy Network
Assert 4 All
Colac Otway Region Advocacy Service
Disability Information and Advocacy Service
Gipplsland Disability Advocacy
Community Resource Unit
AED Legal Centre
ANTaR
Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health
People with Disabilities Western Australia
Association for Children with Disability Tasmania
Association for Children with a Disability Victoria
All Means All
Queensland Collective for Inclusive Education
Southern Disability Advocacy
Rights Information and Advocacy Centre
Regional Disability Advocacy Service
Youth Disability Advocacy Service
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
Barwon Disability Resource Council
North East Citizen Advocacy
Julia Farr Youth
Leadership Plus
VALID
Women with Disabilities Victoria
Citizens Advocacy Perth West
Speakout Advocacy
Developmental Disability WA
Women with Disabilities ACT
Council for Intellectual Disability
Citizen Advocacy Sunbury
South Australian Council on Intellectual Disability
Parent to Parent Queensland
People with Disabilities ACT
Aspergers Victoria
Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of South Australia
Disability Advocacy Victoria

The NDIA announced that plans will no longer end. On the day your plan is due to expire, the NDIA will automatically extend it for 365 days. You will not need to do anything – it will happen automatically. That way there will be no gaps between plans for anyone to worry about.

Your extended plan will have the same budget and supports as your current plan.

The NDIA are trying not to have any face to face meetings at the moment (for obvious reasons). So around the time you are due for a review meeting, the NDIA will contact you to see if you are happy with your current plan. If you are, they will simply extend it for up to 24 months. No muss, no fuss.

If you don’t currently have support coordination in your plan you can now use some of your core funding to employ a support coordinator to help you. For people trying to juggle their supports at this difficult time, this might really be a help.

Specific for Deaf NDIS Participants:

• You can use your core fund to purchase an appropriate device in the CORE supports (e.g.. can be used to fund everyday items participants may need. For example, low-cost/ low-risk category one assistive technology and equipment to improve your independence and/or mobility.
• NDIA has now implemented to manage appointments effectively with the use of interpreters. Where possible, an Alert has now been added to the system to notify the staff member that the participant is an Auslan user. This has been added as an additional safeguard to ensure staff are booking interpreters for appointments where needed.

National Relay Service (NRS)

National Relay Service (NRS) will remain open as recent announced restriction DO NOT APPLY to the NRS.

The NRS is an ESSENTIAL service, providing important assistancer to people who are Deaf, hard of hearing and/or speech impairment to keep in touch – and it is VITAL at this time.

However, the NRS is not immune from the widespread impact of COVID-19. Longer than usual wait times may be experienced due to increased call activities and reduced staff numbers.

The NRS Provider, Concentrix, is already exploring ways to continue to deliver the NRS at the greatest capacity possible while protecting the health of relay officers, including delivering the service remotely.

Please be patient during this difficult time.

The NRS Helpdesk is open Monday to Friday from o8am to 6pm (AEST), excluding public holidays. You can also leave message outside these hours and a Helpdesk staff will get back to you.

• Phone : 1800 555 560
• TTY: 1 800 555 630
• Fax: 1800 555 690
• SMS: 0416 001 350
• Online: Online Form
• Email: [email protected]

To receive messages and updates about NRS, sign up to Accesshub News and Alerts

Disability Support Pension (DSP)

In yesterday’s updates (COVID-19 Updates (Centrelink)), Information about accessing additional payments do not include Disability Support Pension (DSP). I am meeting with disability organisations tonight to discuss this matter and will provide you an updates regarding this issue tomorrow.

Centrelink is currently VERY busy … some useful information to help assist you and Centrelink.

• If you have Newstart or other payments, DO NOT contact Centrelink – your extra payment will automatically arrive.
• If you are getting paid, not yet receive extra payment, please WAIT for 1 or 2 days to connect.
• If you have lost your job and need to apply payment ASAP, you can
  • Go online and try to apply through MyGov ASAP. Try again when system is busy. Government will backpay your claim, you don’t need to lodge full claim immediately, but will need later.
  • In person, go to Centrelink and please practice Social Distancing.
• Make a call to 132 850 via National Relay Service (expect queue for NRS and Centrelink).

DONT GIVE UP … Keep trying until you can lodge claim.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION RELATED TO THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK AND CONTAINMENT EFFORTS

Deaf Australia and the Australian Sign Language Interpreter Association (ASLIA) wish to stress the importance of ensuring highly skilled, NAATI certified, and conference level credentialed Auslan-English interpreters and Deaf Interpreters be employed for all media broadcast and all public emergency announcements nationwide. Text-based resources, such as captioning, do not have the same capacity to deliver the accurate information in this rapidly changing environment, and many Deaf people require information to be delivered in Auslan – a visual language.

Every person in Australia, including deaf people, have the right to access information, communication and knowledge on an equal footing as others as well as the right to receive accessible health care services.

The Australian Government is obliged to make information accessible to all citizens as per Articles 9 and 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and Article 11 which states:

State Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights laws, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.

Article 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The dissemination of the current pandemic of COVID-19 has seen the Australian Deaf community excluded in many instances. Deaf people reliant on Auslan require access to important information simultaneously with the wider community. This information is imperative for deaf people to make informed decisions and take the actions necessary to protect themselves, their families and the wider community.

Due to growing health concerns with COVID-19, Deaf Australia and ASLIA have some concerns and suggestions outlined below to support the Australian Government to ensure equitable provision of access during public addresses:

Concern 1:

Availability of interpreters – some areas throughout Australia do not have a pool of readily available, skilled and NAATI credentialled interpreters (e.g. Northern Territory, rural and remote areas).

Solution 1:

We suggest the authorities consider employing skilled interpreters and arranging the interpreter practitioner/s on a roster in a studio (or at home, due to increasing movement restrictions). This would ensure all information is interpreted via televised broadcast media and be linked in and displayed on a split screen alongside all footage (as occurs with journalists based in different locations).

Concern 2:

Social distancing policy – currently interpreters required to stand a ‘safe distance’ from individuals providing announcements means camera operators tend to zoom to the presenter only consequently the interpreter is not included in the screen during the televised/social media broadcast announcement.

Solution 2:

1. We suggest that distancing measures are put in place to ensure the safety of interpreters is considered when working at media broadcast announcements.
2. In addition, all broadcasters be instructed officially to include the interpreter in all broadcasts to the public.

Concern 3:

Positioning of interpreters on screen and broadcasting– when two cameras are used in situ, the interpreter has recently been seen superimposed on the main screen using Picture in Picture (PIP) format, however this viewing has been hampered by obstructions on screen.

Solution 3:

1. This PIP needs to be clear of any obstructions such as captioning, or information displayed on the lower portion of the screen of the broadcaster. Ideally, the interpreter be displayed using 1/3 of the screen, as happens in the UK (see image below).

• Broadcasters be instructed to take additional care to ensure that the interpreter is included in the broadcast footage and included on online digital networks (e.g. websites, social media posts and during repeated broadcasts after the actual announcement).

Given the seriousness of the current situation, we urge all governments (Commonwealth, state and territory) and broadcast media outlets to ensure that up-to-date information, importantly the public announcements regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and its containment efforts include equitable access for all Australians. This also includes reliable accurate captioning and text-based information for those who are Hard of Hearing or Deafblind.

We share the same concern for the serious risks facing everyone at this time. We hope that you also share the belief that all information should be provided in an accessible format.

Deaf Australia, ASLIA and the Australian deaf community wish for improved collaboration through mutual cooperation to combat discrimination and provide best practices for full enjoyment of the rights to information by all Australian citizens, without exception, in their everyday life and especially in emergency situations.

Hello, I am Todd Wright, Chairperson of Deaf Australia.

I wish to express on behalf of Deaf Australia our appreciation and gratitude to the members of the Deaf Community who have actively worked hard to increase awareness about emergency announcements not being fully accessible, especially for the government to be mindful that they need to provide accessible information.

Thank you for your support, and specifically the Auslan Access Media group led by Shirley Liu and other members, who took the initiative of establishing this campaign.

Deaf Australia has relied on volunteers in the past to help us achieve our objectives and we certainly hope that there will be more volunteers who will rally and work collaboratively to make positive change for our community.

Without volunteers, achieving our goals becomes harder.

We wish to acknowledge and express gratitude for those who have worked hard in a positive way. There is always some risk with our community expressing anger in the wrong way – which can cause negative impact to the campaign. When this happens, governments and other stakeholders will focus on the negativity only and will ignore this as they do not want to deal with negativity.

It is important to remain positive and empower people to advocate in the right way.

Collecting examples of when there is no interpreter shown on screen during emergency announcements are a perfect way to positively demonstrate why the issue must be addressed and why the current system is failing us. When we have sufficient evidence, we can initiate positive dialogue with the government and broadcasters to ensure that access to information can be achieved.

We must include not only television, but also the internet in our dialogue.

In the future, television will phase out, and the internet will play an important role in our access to information. Television is regulated through legislation (Broadcasting Services Act) which requires broadcasters to make contents accessible, while internet have fewer protections and legislation for accessible information which makes it harder to establish standards.

Deaf Australia will keep monitoring the internet as our key point in accessible information in the near future.

When establishing campaign groups, it is important that the groups are established in an efficient and effective way. Sometimes, campaigns require to consider what our long term goals are when we achieve a positive response which does not fully meet our expectations. This will allow us to continue with negotiations and compromising for short term improvements in accessibility and working to eventually fulfil our goals, which takes time.  

I remember when I was involved in lobbying for more access to open-captioned cinemas. We lobbied long and hard for this and at the end we were provided with a solution using Capti-view which did not meet the expectations for many deaf people. In hindsight, perhaps the deaf community should have accepted the initial offer for some open captioned cinemas to be established.

Upon reflecting past experiences, it is always good to remember to focus on positive outcomes, and to continue negotiating for better opportunities. We cannot assume or expect that they will give what we expect straight-away. We need to be resilient and keep reminding them, and never give up.

As a group, we can make a change. As an individual, it is hard to make a change.

It is important that we all work together to achieve our access, our objectives by collaborating and supporting each other.

We really appreciate your support. Thank you.

Deaf Australia has launched a ‘Deaf Bushfires Appeal’ to raise fund to provide financial assistance for deaf and hard of hearing families whose homes and property have been destroyed by this unprecedented bushfires.

The Daily Moth (an online deaf news delivered in American Sign Language (ASL)) has produced a video blog on this story. You can find this story here.

The fund will be used to provide communication supports and purchase of communication equipments if they are not eligible for other supports. This will enable the family to remain safe and in touch with their communities. Families who receives National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) should contact NDIS immediately.

We understand that communication is vital for deaf and hard of hearing people and without these supports, it would have been extremely difficult to be informed as the bushfires are currently ongoing when there is little, or no communication supports.

It is believed that there are dozen of deaf and hard of hearing families whose houses have been destroyed by the bushfires across Australia.

The target of the Deaf Bushfires Appeal is $25,000. 50% of the funding will be communication supports, 30% for communication equipment and 20% for ongoing work for Deaf Australia to lobby government to legislate the use of interpreter during emergency broadcasts. Families who are affected by the bushfires should contact Deaf Australia at [email protected].

Deaf Australia is a registered charity organisation and uses an approved fundraising donation platform (GiveNow). All donations received are tax deductible.

today to Deaf Bushfires Appeal