Culture and communication

This International Day of Sign Languages, which coincides with the National Week of Deaf People, join us for a conversation with experts from the fields of Deaf culture, Indigenous Culture and linguistics—both spoken and signed.

The International Day of Sign Languages is a unique opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all Deaf people and sign language users. Indigenous sign language is the oldest sign language in the world; in this special online event our expert guests will discuss the ways we can showcase this rich history, while examining the intersection with Auslan and the use of sign as language in Aboriginal Culture.

Joining us for this conversation is Jody Barney and Dr Jennifer Green. Jody is a proud Birri-Gubba/Urangan Aboriginal & South-Sea Islander Deaf woman, a Deaf Indigenous Community consultant and esteemed community leader with over 30 years of experience working with communities of First Nations peoples with disabilities. Jennifer Green is a linguist and Research Fellow in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne, with over 40 years of experience collaborating with Indigenous peoples in Central and Northern Australia on projects that document spoken and signed languages, cultural history and visual arts.

As part of this online presentation, we’ll also meet author and educator April Campbell Pengart, an Anmatyerr woman who specialises in teaching language and culture at Ti Tree School in the Northern Territory.