Annual Review

Over the past year, we have been guided by our mission to build community capacity and influence social change. We created space for Deaf community engagement and experiences, aiming to celebrate the rich culture, language and heritage of our community.  

One of the major achievements of 2023 was Deaf Festival Sydney, which once again emerged as the largest celebration of our Deaf culture in Australia. The festival welcomed over 2,500 attendees from across the nation, serving as a platform for community members, advocates, and allies to unite through performances, stalls, and interactive experiences. Our Deaf ecosystem is truly thriving. However, Sydney wasn’t the only Deaf Festival in 2023. Deaf Connect supported, and was present at, other key events including the Brisbane Deaf Festival, the Melbourne Flow Festival, the Adelaide Christmas Community Picnic, and the WA Deaf Community Markets. We continue to create local partnerships – such as with the Adelaide Fringe Festival, providing a more Auslan accessible month of comedy to the Adelaide Deaf community, with 150 festival volunteers receiving Deafness Awareness Training and Introduction to Auslan classes. 

FY23/24 was another successful year of investment in grants and sponsorships, and we are proud to have provided $300,000 to support recipients to host regular gatherings and significant community events. This included the 2024 Australian Deaf Games in Newcastle, an exhibition by Deaf artist Gonketa in Victoria, and the 125th Anniversary of the South Australian Deaf Women’s Group. Our grants are also for individuals who are seeking particulars goals. For more information about our Grants and Sponsorship Program, please refer to the website. 

With the key to sharing our language and culture the National Week of Deaf People, saw us launch a nationwide campaign titled ‘This Is Your Sign,’ which encouraged social change by inviting members of the public to learn Auslan. The campaign delivered 19 billboards across Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, the Northern Territory, Perth, and Sydney. The campaign was displayed on the sides of buses and at bus shelters in Canberra, lit up the Story Bridge in Brisbane, and through our partnership with Brisbane City Council, was signposted at prominent roads with printed banners. 

This time was also utilised as an opportunity to engage Deaf youth with prominent political leaders. In collaboration with Deaf Australia, we organised a young representative from each state and territory to attend Parliament House for a Parliamentary Breakfast and speak directly with the former Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten along with other parliamentary members throughout this event.  

Early in 2024, we delivered on our promise to build opportunities for the community which saw 5 Deaf young people sponsored to embark on a three-week immersion program at Gallaudet University, broadening their experiences and empowering them to become the future leaders of tomorrow.  

Strategic planning to guide our organisation into the future was a core element of 2024, demonstrated by the launch of the Community Advisory Group (CAG). The group will engage, consult and provide feedback to Deaf Connect on areas such as Deaf Space, and Deaf Connect’s new Strategic Plan, titled ‘Towards 2030.’ 

On the global stage, our mission to ensure the development of Deaf leadership continued with the hosting of a Deaf Leadership Workshop, in collaboration with Gallaudet University, at the World Federation of the Deaf in Jeju, South Korea. The event brought together 50 participants from around the world, fostering international connections and empowering future Deaf leaders. We also collaborated with the Australian Institute of Company Directors to deliver Governance Foundations training to 16 Deaf leaders, enhancing their capacity to lead within the community. 

Educational reform to uphold equal opportunities and access for deaf students remained a core priority for the impact team. Through the Leonie Jackson Memorial Fund, we provided $127,000 in funding to the Australian Sign Language Interpreters and Translators Association (ASLITA) to explore the experiences of deaf students in mainstream education. 

Finally, February 2024 saw the launch of the Deaf History Collections – creating Australia’s largest archive of Deaf cultural heritage. The website marked the digitisation of over 350 artefacts, preserving years of community stories and records for generations to come. This website was launched in style with 120 members of the Deaf community coming together in celebration at the University of Sydney.