Deaf Australia Awards 2023 Nomination Is Closed Now
Transcript
Hello Deaf community. My name is Debra Swann, the chair of Deaf Australia. I have an exciting announcement to make. The nominations for the 2023 Deaf Australian of the Year Award are now open.
You can nominate a person who works tirelessly, is engaged and passionate, and is truly supportive of the deaf community. The person you choose can be a volunteer or an employee; it doesn't matter. What's important is that we select someone who genuinely works for the community – someone we can acknowledge. We have two categories of awards for nominations: The Deaf Australian of the Year and the Deaf Youth of the Year Award.
More information, including the criteria, is available on our website. Please take a look to ensure the person fits the criteria. The website contains all the necessary information. There's a broad range of achievements we can consider for acknowledgment – two or three examples – imagine it's a person who is a wonderful advocate for the Deaf community. A person who really supports effective language development. A person who is involved in events, creating opportunities to be social. It could be someone who's invented new technology to make accessibility easier for deaf people. It could be somebody who's developed a program to enhance deaf people's skills.
There are lots of different examples to help you nominate someone. The deadline for nominating someone is 5th November. Once we receive the nominations we'll look them through and announce the winner on 18th November at Deaf Australia's AGM. So please have a think about who you'd like to nominate. Thank you.
Deaf Australian & Deaf Youth of the Year Award
The Deaf Australian of the Year and the Deaf Australian Youth of the Year Awards were established in the memory of Dorothy (Dot) Shaw OAM, the founding President of Deaf Australia.
Dorothy was a tireless worker for Deaf rights in Australia and was honoured by the Australian Government for her achievements with an Order of Australia Medal in 1989.
The Awards are given once a year, and open to any Deaf person living anywhere in Australia, in recognition of their dedication, services and contributions (either paid or voluntary) to the Australian Deaf Community.
The Deaf Australian of the Year Award is for anyone aged 25 and over.
The Deaf Youth of the Year Award is for anyone person aged under 25 years.
Deaf Community Volunteer Award
The Deaf Community Volunteer Award was established in 2018 in the memory of Ann Darwin, who played a significant role in Deaf Australia.
The Award is specifically for a Deaf person who has volunteered in the past year. The Darwin family is honoured to choose the person for the board’s consideration.
Ann Darwin was the longest serving Board Director, serving 21 years, and led Deaf Australia as President under two separate terms. She has also been involved with Deaf Victoria and also led this organisation as President for many years. Ann also volunteered in many different Deaf community organisations and clubs that fostered a sense of community, belonging, support, and leadership.
In 2006, Ann was awarded an Honorary Life Membership for dedication to Deaf Australia and to the Deaf Community.
The Deaf Community Volunteer Award is Ann Darwin’s legacy.
Deaf Australia Awards 2022 Announcement
Do you want to know who received the award for the Deaf Australian of the Year, Deaf Youth of the Year and Community Volunteer of the Year?
