7. Inquiry into Access to Services and Information in Auslan

The committee's inquiry into access to services and information in Auslan will consider the disadvantage and discrimination faced by members of the ACT Deaf community due to lack of access to services and information in Auslan.

The inquiry will also consider measures to improve access to services and information in Auslan in the public and private sectors, creation of objectives and targets to measure improvements, and mechanisms to report against those indicators.

The inquiry relates to petition 33-21, which was tabled in the Assembly on 30 December 2021 with 536 signatures. Among other matters, petitioners called for the Assembly to commission an inquiry into the disadvantage and discrimination faced by Deaf people due to lack of access to services and information in Auslan. The petition is accessible on the Assembly’s website: https://epetitions.act.gov.au/ClosedEPetition.aspx?PetId=190&lIndex=-1

Helping you get involved

The committee wants to make participating in this inquiry as accessible as possible for you. If you would like to provide a submission:

• We can keep what you write confidential. Most submissions are published on the Committee’s website. However, you can ask us to consider not publishing your submission if contains information which you feel should not be made public.
• You may provide your submission in Auslan. While the Committee generally prefers written submissions, the Committee would also be happy to receive video submissions in Auslan. The Committee will arrange to have these transcribed.

If you are invited to talk to the committee in a hearing:

• We can let you talk to us in a video call. Most hearings are held in person at the Assembly building, but this can be overwhelming for some people. We can let you call in from somewhere you feel more comfortable talking to us.
• We can organise an Auslan interpreter.
• We can let you talk to us privately. Most hearings are public, recorded, and live broadcast on Video on Demand. We can let you talk to us with no one else in the room and with no live broadcast or public recording if what you want to share with us might put you or others in danger.

If you would like to talk about any of these options, please email the committee secretary at LACommitteeECI@parliament.act.gov.au or mention it when you write to the committee.

Terms of reference

Description	PDF	Word
Terms of reference	PDF (163.2 KB)	Word (93.5 KB)

Public hearings

Tuesday 25 October 2022, 11:00am - 6:00pm

The schedule of witnesses can be found here.

View current Public hearings schedule and click here to read transcripts from these hearings.

On Thursday 9 February 2023, the Chair of the Education and Community Inclusion Committee, Mr Michael Pettersson MLA, presented a summary of the report and the recommendations in the Assembly, with an Auslan interpreter. Other Committee members, Mr Johnathan Davis MLA (Deputy Chair) and Ms Lawder MLA,  also spoke to the report.

Description	PDF	Word
Report - Inquiry into access to services and information in Auslan	PDF (555.5 KB)	Word (139.0 KB)