National Week of Deaf People

What is it?

The National Week of Deaf People (NWDP) is a week-long national celebration of Deaf individuals and the Australian Deaf community. This includes celebrating the International Week of Deaf People (IWDP) and International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) which are initiatives of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD).

These two events are traditionally held during September and are based on the founding date of the WFD (23 September 1951). National Week of Deaf People is an opportunity for Deaf people to celebrate their communities, language, culture and history; make the public aware of their local, state and national Deaf communities; and to recognise their achievements.

This is your sign to learn Auslan

We’re aiming to create a world where Deaf people can sign anywhere. The best way to achieve this is to increase access to Auslan in all aspects of life!

Deaf Connect offers eight-week Introduction to Auslan courses to introduce basic Auslan conversational skills to participants.

Sign up for the Introduction to Auslan 1 course, if you’re entirely new to the language, or if you want a refresher and to deepen your conversational skills join us for Introduction to Auslan 2.

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Daily Themes

National Week of Deaf People Theme for 2024: Sign up for Sign Language Rights

We adopt the World Federation of the Deaf’s daily themes for the International Week of Deaf People for use throughout NWDP.

The 2024 daily themes are:

Monday, 23 September 2024 | International Day of Sign Languages: Sign Up For Sign Language Rights
Tuesday, 24 September 2024 | Inclusive Education
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 | Sign Language Advocacy
Thursday, 26 September 2024 | Building Resilient Deaf Communities
Friday, 27 September 2024 | Diversity in Deaf Communities
Saturday, 28 September 2024 | Deaf Cultural Celebrations
Sunday, 29 September 2024 | Investing in the Future of Deaf Communities

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