Australian-first: Life Ed features 10-year-old Auslan presenter
Wednesday, 29 Jan 2025
In an Australian-first, 10-year-old Charlie is the first ever child Auslan presenter to feature in an Australian education program.
She has been filming alongside iconic mascot, Healthy Harold to translate key education experiences in Auslan to make the Life Ed health prevention program more accessible to Deaf children, like herself.
I’m so happy to be a part of this amazing project to help other kids using Auslan so they can understand the whole experience, because they deserve to know.
Auslan is very special. I like it because it’s able to give a language to people that can’t hear or are hard of hearing. I had a lot of fun helping Life Ed and working with Healthy Harold.
Auslan is very special. I like it because it’s able to give a language to people that can’t hear or are hard of hearing. I had a lot of fun helping Life Ed and working with Healthy Harold.
Life Ed has partnered with Sign Hear on this project, an organisation dedicated to bridging the gap between the Deaf and hearing communities. Thanks to their support and mentorship, Charlie is using her Auslan presentation skills to provide translations to help Life Ed empower Deaf children on the key topics impacting young people today, like social and emotional wellbeing, respectful relationships, online safety and physical health.
“Education has the power to lift people up, but this is only possible when it is accessible. That’s why we’re proud to be working with Charlie and Sign Hear on this important project,” said Russell D’Costa, CEO at Life Ed Australia.
“At the core of our Education work, we believe that all young Australians should see themselves in the Life Ed program. Having Charlie proudly showcasing her Auslan skills and leading by example to her peers is a great example of this. We’re so grateful to her for helping us to connect with the Deaf community and educate the hearing community on the power of inclusivity.”
The Life Ed team continue to work with young people, teachers, communities and peak bodies to ensure content is accessible and inclusive across all modules and material. This work has included embedding closed captions within all of our middle and upper primary modules, featuring an inclusive range of young Australians in our content, and consulting with people with lived experience as we develop material.
“Sign Hear are extremely thrilled to be part of this unique project. Seeing a young Deaf person like Charlie involved gives hope and joy to many Deaf and hard of hearing children by providing representation in educational programs. Charlie is a heart-warming role model and I hope to see more initiatives like this in the future,” explained Sharon Xabregas, Founder of Sign Hear.
A BIG thank you to Charlie, her family, Sharon and the Sign Hear team, Brad Born from 101 Degrees, as well as members of the Deaf Collaboration Working Group for this project including:
- Alana Bradley-Smith
- Meghan Burn
- Amanda Barber
