Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently visited Furlong Park School for Deaf Children, which was awarded a $25,000 grant by our government to upgrade its ICT equipment. Furlong Park runs an early education program for three- to four-year-olds who have a permanent bilateral hearing loss, and a program for prep to year 6. Thanks to the grant, students will be able to more easily collaborate and share their work directly from their iPad to the screen. Principal Lee Bullock says the upgrade will also ensure a more inclusive environment. It will allow messages to be sent directly from the office to the screens in each class, which means that deaf and hearing staff will receive the information at the same time via the same medium.

Ms Bullock has been the principal of that school since 2017. She is fluent in Auslan, as are many of the teachers at the school. She says that learning Auslan helps the children develop a strong sense of self and the confidence to communicate.

Labor recognises the importance of Auslan and has announced an increase in funding for Auslan services to further support the employment of Australians with a disability. Labor has long championed giving people with a disability opportunities and the best of supports so they can have more autonomy in their lives—more autonomy, more independence and more choice in the resources that they receive. This was a key driver of the NDIS, and I am very proud of the support that Labor provides in this area.