DEAF AUSTRALIA

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:43): Deaf Australia, then called the Australian Association of the Deaf, was established in 1986 to work at the national level in collaboration with its state branches. Deaf Australia is the leading national peak body managed by deaf people, and it represents, promotes, preserves and informs the development of the Australian deaf community, its language and cultural heritage. It provides an information and advocacy service for deaf people who use Auslan, which is Australian sign language.

The vision of Deaf Australia is to have a society in which deaf people are accepted, respected and included in the Australian community. Deaf Australia provides information and advice to government, industry, service organisations and the community on a range of issues and conducts information and development activities for the deaf community.

The Shut Out report, as it was called, produced by the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council and released in August, paints a depressing picture of discrimination against those suffering from deafness and other disabilities. The central conclusion of the report is a powerful indictment of our system of dealing with disability in this country. I will read a portion of the report into the Hansard record, if I may, because of the important points it makes. It states:

Many of the large institutions that housed generations of people with disabilities—out of sight and out of mind—are now closed. Australians with disabilities are now largely free to live in the community. Once shut in, many people with disabilities now find themselves shut out. People with disabilities may be present in our community but too few are actually part of it. Many live desperate and lonely lives of exclusion and isolation. The institutions that once housed them may be closed but the inequity remains. Where once they were physically segregated, many Australians with disabilities now find themselves socially, culturally and politically isolated. They are ignored, invisible and silent. They struggle to be noticed, they struggle to be seen, they struggle to have their voices heard.

This is particularly true in the deaf community. I note that Deaf Australia President, Kyle Miers, has responded to the report by calling for extensive changes to disability policy across the nation. In particular, the association has called for recognition of deaf people's right to use the Auslan system and to be recognised as being bilingual in English and Auslan.

Family First agrees with Deaf Australia that it is time to stop this nonsense (as the association calls it) about Auslan being bad for deaf people, and to start listening to the advice from within the deaf community on what is needed to give deaf people a fair go and to ensure that those in the deaf community are included more fully as valued workers and citizens, and are provided with appropriate resources.

Deaf Australia's second national conference is being held in Hobart tomorrow. I want to express my best and, on behalf of Family First, assure them that they will continue to have the support of our party in parliament on any issues or legislation that concerns them.