Saturday 13 April 2024 marks Auslan Day, an annual day of celebration for the Australian Deaf Community that marks the publication of the first Auslan dictionary by Professor Trevor Johnston in 1989.
The publication of the Auslan dictionary gave the Australian Deaf Community a name for their language for the first time and identified a linguistic framework that described Auslan's rich visual-gestural grammar and lexicon.
Following the publication of the Auslan Dictionary, Auslan was recognised as a community language in Australia in 1991.
VDEI acknowledges the significance of Auslan Day and the vital role Auslan plays in the lives of Deaf young people and adults throughout Australia.
For more information, see Deaf Australia's Auslan Day message
