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Deaf History: Oceania

Deaf people have a long-standing history in the Oceania region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia. Although little is known about Polynesian Deaf history, in Australia and New Zealand, Deaf histories are well documented.

Australia

In Australia, the information regarding the deaf, including their social emancipation through the establishment of Deaf schools and institutions, can be traced back as early as 1800. The first school for the Deaf was opened in Australia by Frederick John Rose at his rented home in Victoria in 1860. In the same year, the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children was established by Thomas Pattison from Scotland. Subsequently, in 1866, F. J. Rose opened the Windsor Stamey Victorian Deaf and Dumb institution so that the growing educational aspirations of an ever-increasing deaf population could be accommodated. In 1874, William Townsend, using his political powers, raised funding to open a school for the Deaf in the region of South Australia as he recognized the need for proper education of this population. Accordingly, he founded the South Australian School for the Deaf. In the following year, a girl’s institute, Waratah Deaf and Dumb Institute, was opened. Among the famed teachers of this institute was Ireland-based Sister Gabriel Hogan; the first student was Catherine Sullivan. The deaf girls received a Catholic education from this school.

In the meantime, the Australian government officially recognized Auslan (the Australian sign language) as a language. Such initiative significantly transformed the way Deaf education was carried out in the country since it provided the approval of using Auslan in any classroom. The credibility of the Auslan language gained prominence with the publication of the first Auslan dictionary. The sole intention of this dictionary publication by Trevor Johnston was to increase the knowledge of the general public about the Deaf community and Auslan. In 1887, the Royal Society for the Blind and Deaf was founded in Tasmania. The official establishment of the society took place in 1897. The establishment of the Queensland Adult Deaf and Dumb Mission took place in the year 1903. A meeting referred to as “Their Vision October 1913” was organized in the Sydney town hall, and attendees agreed for the need of an organization to take care of the moral, intellectual, spiritual, and basic needs of the Deaf community. In mid-2004, a partnership was formed between the Queensland Deaf Society and the Deaf Children Australia for the purpose of developing business care that could strengthen the two organizations’ relationships.

Auslan History

Sign language was brought to Australia for the first time by the Catholic Church as a formal mode of educational language. The language as it was brought was based on Irish sign language (one handed). This period could be detailed with the aid of Sr. Philonema Thomas who was associated with the Deaf school Waratah and Castle Hill School in New South Wales. It is needless to mention the influential role of Catholic brothers and sisters in Deaf education and initiating the period of signing language for the Deaf community in the country. A number of books have documented their efforts in the upbringing of this language. It should be mentioned that the use of signed English was not involved in the Catholic schools. A number of books have covered the evolution of the sign language in Australia. The earliest possible book published in this regard was in 1943.

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