National Week of Deaf People 21-27 September 2026

This year’s theme, Declaring Deaf People’s Human Rights, marks 75 years of the World Federation of the Deaf and 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

NWDP includes International Week of Deaf People, and the International Day of Sign Languages, celebrating the linguistic and cultural identity of Deaf people and sign language users around the world.

National Week of Deaf People focuses on topics including sign language rights, inclusive education, Deaf culture and other important milestones in the Deaf community.

Across Australia, Deaf people use NWDP to celebrate and promote their local Deaf communities and highlight the importance of recognising Auslan as a linguistic human right.

Auslan is one of more than 300 different sign languages used around the world. Read more about the history of Auslan.

In Victoria, the Department of Education supports Auslan learning across early childhood and school settings. Auslan is one of the most popular languages offered in schools and is taught in more than 330 government schools.

Many government-funded preschool programs also offer Auslan for up to three hours a week. The program is delivered by early childhood teachers fluent in Auslan, working alongside preschool teachers.

Read more about the department’s Early Childhood Language Program.