You’re helping provide bright and positive futures
The Deaf Lottery's early childhood early intervention program Hear for Kids puts families first, wherever they live and whatever their needs. Throughout the uncertainty of COVID-19, they continued delivering comprehensive support for children and those who love them to achieve their communication goals through virtual sessions, flexible scheduling and a variety of support programs.
Renee from Atherton in regional Queensland discovered Hear for Kids in 2011, after struggling to find suitable support for her son Kienan. She knew straight away she was making the right decision.
“When we were looking at options, it just didn’t gel with me that many places we tried would just tell kids to talk, without considering how the child wanted to naturally express themselves,” says Renee.
“We chose Hear for Kids because they allowed Kienan to communicate in the way he naturally did, and build on that.”
Your support of the Deaf Lottery helps us continue to reach more families and create bright and positive futures for Deaf and hard of hearing children.
Today, Kienan’s three-year-old sister Ashlynn also participates in the program, along with seven-year-old brother Elysian. Elysian has a diagnosis of autism and has benefited greatly from working alongside his siblings and the Hear for Kids team.
“Having all three kids in the same service is great, because they’ve really gotten to know my family,” Renee says. “For Elysian, learning to communicate through sign language has greatly helped his speech delay, and allowed him to really come out of his shell."
Thank you for creating bright and positive futures.
Did you know that 1 in 6 Australians live with some form of hearing loss?
Deaf Connect is the largest provider of support services to the Deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing community in Australia, committed to empowering Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and families, ensuring they are connected and assisting them to achieve their goals.
Deaf Connect is focused on our commitment to community, leadership, innovation and culture. Supported by Deaf Lottery, we aim to:
- Work with individuals and the community to understand and meet their needs.
- Drive improvements and new opportunities aligned with our Mission and enhancing our sustainability.
- Develop our influence and position to enhance the capacity of the Deaf community.
- Enable organisational capability, capacity and readiness.
Your support makes a difference
Deaf Lottery is the fundraising program Deaf Connect, Australia’s largest whole-of-life service provider for Deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind Australians.
With a combined 200-year history, Deaf Services and the Deaf Society rebranded to become Deaf Connect in late 2021.
The Deaf Connect brand was developed for the Deaf community, by the Deaf community and reflective of all Deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing Australians, as well as the families and allies who support them – including you.
Deaf Connect is the largest provider of whole-of-life support to Deaf Australians with offices across the country and staff in every State and territory. Our new brand recognises the scope of the support we provide and reflects the individuality of those that use our services – and support our cause.
Deaf Connect continues to deliver for the community through early childhood intervention and therapy, information and advocacy, life skills development, accredited Auslan courses, aged care, and as a registered service provider under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and an approved provider of home care for seniors.
Your support allows us to continue to grow, innovate and deliver a greater range of services and programs where they are needed most.
Deaf Connect works with all Australians to create a more inclusive, accessible and equitable community through information, advocacy and education.
In 2021, thanks to the ongoing support of Deaf Lottery, Deaf Connect was able to achieve the following:
- Responded to 11,393 general information enquiries
- Provided 47,126 hours of support through the work of our support workers
- Hosted 212 group activities with over 1300 people attending
- 881 students completed accredited training in Auslan
- Delivered 37,255 hours of interpreting, including providing interpreters for over 1,000 COVID-19 press conferences
- Delivered 340 hours weekly individual supports to our Deaf Seniors
- Delivered early intervention services to 374 children