Piece of art by Shawn Phua. Hand drawing of several images on a coloured yellow background.

NOTE: Auslan means Australian Sign Language.

In the top left corner, ‘2021’ is written in black Texta. Each number has a blue syringe going vertically through it. Below this are 2 simply drawn faces in blue with letters below them. The face on the left has a red smile and has hair spiked towards the right. Below the face are 5 small hands placed horizontally, in different colours. They respectively have the letters R I D B C which means Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. The face on the right has a red frown, several streams of tears falling from the eyes and has hair spiked towards the left. Below the face are three circles placed horizontally, each with red outlines and a red cross through the middle. The circles respectively show the letters T P S which means Thomas Pattison School. Below these faces are 3 icons. The first, on the far left are 2 separated blue hands, drawn with the thumbs sticking up. Between the hands is a blue ear. The next icon, to the right, are 2 black hands drawn with thumbs and pointer fingers joining to make a circle, with the rest of the fingers sticking out. one hand is flipped vertically to be the opposite of the other. The hands are in a position used to mean ‘interpreters’. To the right of this is a yellow circle with the word ‘Auslan’ written in it. The circle is held at the top by 2 beige hands, and there is an arrow either side of the circle pointing down around the side of the circle. In the bottom left corner of the whole image is a circle. It has a red outline with a large red cross in the middle. The middle of the circle is purple. Inside the circle is also the letter I, then a black heart, and below that NDIS. This is to mean ‘I love the NDIS’ with the red cross going through it. On the right of this icon are 2 hands in black. One is pointed with fingers upwards and the other with fingers to the left. The ink is pooling around these hands. To the right of that icon is a large black question mark. Below all of this at the bottom left, is ’Shawn Phua 2021’ written in black capital text.

In the top middle is an oblong purple shape with smaller lines with a round top coming from the left and right sides. Written in the middle of the shape is ‘Auslan’. Below this, placed horizontally are 6 pink dollar signs, each with red wings. Below this are several small icons. There is a curvy green line going horizontally, with one green dot either side of its tip. Below this is a simple drawing in black and teal of a hearing aid. To the right is two green hands each with a scribbled black semi-circle above them. Below the hands are green question marks, one being placed backwards. Below all of this is several black dots, in the Braille placement of the word ‘Auslan’. to the right of this is a simply drawn face which is frowning. Below this in the bottom middle third are the letters I A drawn with distinct details. There is a large black question mark on the left of the letters and a large black exclamation mark on the right of the letters. The “I” has a black top horizontal line, a green triangle as the middle vertical line, a small brown square below this triangle, and a black bottom horizontal line. The A has a black outline of the letter A in capital, with a black horizontal line across the bottom. The top triangle of the A is filled with green, as well as a green parallelogram slotted below the A’s middle horizontal line. There is a small brown square above the A’s bottom horizontal black line. Below these icons at the very bottom middle of the drawing is writing. It says ‘Yugambeh Country’ in black capital letters. Slightly to the right of this is a small image of a blue sun which is smiling.

In the top right corner is a face. The face has black hair coming down the right side. The face wears a blue hearing ad on the left year, wears blue square glasses and is wearing a mask. The mask has green lining and is transparent over the mouth, where the face’s lips and teeth can be seen smiling. Below this face is another face. This one has orange hair coming down to the right side and in a fringe. This face has pink eyebrows, purple round glasses and a pink hearing aid on its left ear. This face is wearing an opaque blue mask covering their mouth. Below both of these faces in the bottom right corner is a box drawn in a slightly darker yellow than the background. This square is filled with a brown coloured circle face. The face has pink features, and has its eyes looking upwards with eyelashes out, a nose in the middle, and its mouth in a circle shape. It looks shocked. Surrounding this face in the yellow box is a number of small green question marks and exclamation marks.

Image 1

In the bottom middle third are the letters I A drawn with distinct details. There is a large black question mark on the left of the letters and a large black exclamation mark on the right of the letters. The “I” has a black top horizontal line, a green triangle as the middle vertical line, a small brown square below this triangle, and a black bottom horizontal line. The A has a black outline of the letter A in capital, with a black horizontal line across the bottom. The top triangle of the A is filled with green, as well as a green parallelogram slotted below the A’s middle horizontal line. There is a small brown square above the A’s bottom horizontal black line.

Image 2

In the top right corner is a face. The face has black hair coming down the right side. The face wears a blue hearing ad on the left year, wears blue square glasses and is wearing a mask. The mask has green lining and is transparent over the mouth, where the face’s lips and teeth can be seen smiling. Below this face is another face. This one has orange hair coming down to the right side and in a fringe. This face has pink eyebrows, purple round glasses and a pink hearing aid on its left ear. This face is wearing an opaque blue mask covering their mouth.

Image 3

In the bottom right corner is a box drawn in a slightly darker yellow than the background. This square is filled with a brown coloured circle face. The face has pink features, and has its eyes looking upwards with eyelashes out, a nose in the middle, and its mouth in a circle shape. It looks shocked. Surrounding this face in the yellow box is a number of small green question marks and exclamation marks.

Image 4

There are 3 icons at the top. The first, on the far left are 2 separated blue hands, drawn with the thumbs sticking up. Between the hands is a blue ear. The next icon, to the right, are 2 black hands drawn with thumbs and pointer fingers joining to make a circle, with the rest of the fingers sticking out. one hand is flipped vertically to be the opposite of the other. The hands are in a position used to mean ‘interpreters’. To the right of this is a yellow circle with the word ‘Auslan’ written in it. The circle is held at the top by 2 beige hands, and there is an arrow either side of the circle pointing down around the side of the circle. In the bottom left corner of the whole image is a circle. It has a red outline with a large red cross in the middle. The middle of the circle is purple. Inside the circle is also the letter I, then a black heart, and below that NDIS. This is to mean ‘I love the NDIS’ with the red cross going through it. On the right of this icon are 2 hands in black. One is pointed with fingers upwards and the other with fingers to the left. The ink is pooling around these hands. To the right of that icon is a large black question mark.

Image 5

In the top left corner, ‘2021’ is written in black Texta. Each number has a blue syringe going vertically through it. Below this are 2 simply drawn faces in blue with letters below them. The face on the left has a red smile and has hair spiked towards the right. Below the face are 5 small hands placed horizontally, in different colours. They respectively have the letters R I D B C. It means Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. The face on the right has a red frown, several streams of tears falling from the eyes and has hair spiked towards the left. Below the face are three circles placed horizontally, each with red outlines and a red cross through the middle. The circles respectively show the letters T P S. It means “Thomas Pattison School”.

In the top middle is an oblong purple shape with smaller lines with a round top coming from the left and right sides. Written in the middle of the shape is ‘Auslan’. Below this, placed horizontally are 6 pink dollar signs, each with red wings. Below this are several small icons. There is a curvy green line going horizontally, with one green dot either side of its tip. Below this is a simple drawing in black and teal of a hearing aid. To the right is two green hands each with a scribbled black semi-circle above them. Below the hands are green question marks, one being placed backwards. Below all of this is several black dots, in the Braille placement of the word ‘Auslan’. to the right of this is a simply drawn face which is frowning.

Note: This work was made prior to the announcement that the NDIS will no longer proceed with Independent Assessments.

Image 1: “? IA !” Independent Assessments: Numerous NDIS Participants’ support groups and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Communities are concerned with the federal Government’s proposed plan to implement mandatory independent assessments because these such assessors do not have suitable qualifications and lived experience to understand then assess NDIS participants in an improper approach. NDIS Participants are apprehensive of the NDIA “robo-planning” process.

Image 2: COVID-19 masks: Comparison of mandatory, standard COVID-19 masks versus clear masks for easy lip-reading and/or facial expressions for visual cues of emotions or thoughts, tones/intonation and contexts. Deaf people have communication struggles from this challenge.

Image 3: Confusion of NDIS Participants and Disability Grassroots groups towards proposed changes to NDIS/NDIA and NDIS Access to funded supports and equipment devices.

Image 4: NDIS decision-makers and NDIA staff are not Deaf-friendly/Disability-friendly and it is a major barrier that most of these politicians and employees are not Deaf/Disability aware. Concepts of Deafhood, Deaf Culture, Natural Sign Languages, Signed Communication Tools/Methods and Hearing Loss were explored by impacts and changes to the NDIS process.

Image 5: Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) and Thomas Pattison School (TPS) issues in the Deaf community with NextSense rebranding from RIBDC and TPS. It was an unexpectedly surprise announcement to the brand change meaning that the Deaf community and various stakeholders were not widely consulted without an Auslan version of the spoken announcement. Deaf people were concerned that NextSense organisation wiped over 100 years of Deaf history and first New South Wales’ Deaf institution in 1860 by a Deaf man, Thomas Pattison; the business tried to enter the huge NDIS market to target NDIS Participants aged 0 to 65 through their diversified service provisions. The new brand logo and its name omitted the Disability label. These decisions on the name and logo changes were made by hearing non-signing professionals and business corporates at the NextSense who did not have connections to the Deaf community according to multiple sources on social media sites and an Australian blog website for Deaf/Hard of Hearing (HOH) writers. This resulted in a loss of the Deaf community connection identity and ceased respect for its founder because the new Deaf school name no longer have the name of TPS anymore (NextSense’s Inclusive Schooling stream: Sign Bilingual program K-6 [Kindergarten to Year 6]). There is a Braille word for “Auslan” shown onto the artwork. Various sources: Deaf/HOH associates and diverse Deaf Community Allies.