Thursday, 13 November 2025

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (19:13): (2105) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education in the other place. The Victorian Education Excellence Awards recognise work and achievements of over 41 government education workers, including teachers, principals, business managers and other education support staff across the state. The winner of the outstanding secondary teacher category was Mr Robert Harrow from the Victorian College for the Deaf. Mr Harrow was instrumental in the creation of accessible vocational pathways by adapting VET certificates for delivery in Australian Sign Language, leading to students at the Victorian College for the Deaf enrolling in the Victorian Certificate of Education for the first time in 15 years. Alongside this incredible achievement, he also developed the first deaf-led Auslan translation of the attitudes to school survey, allowing deaf students across Victoria to be able to provide feedback.

The Victorian College for the Deaf is both Victoria’s oldest school for deaf education and the only one of its kind, with 52 students enrolled in 2024 between foundation and year 12 from across Melbourne, regional and rural Victoria and interstate. Located in the electorate of Prahran in my constituency of Southern Metropolitan Region, it is a pleasure to represent and advocate for such an integral institution such as the Victorian College for the Deaf. The action that I seek from the minister is an update on how our government is supporting both specialist schools, such as the Victorian College for the Deaf, and government schools in the Southern Metropolitan Region to support students with disabilities.