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Membership

As at 26 May 2010, the Deafness Forum of Australia had 68 association (organisation) members and 161 individual members. It also regularly consults with all other known organisations operating in the deafness sector that are not amongst its membership, so that it is adequately equipped to effectively represent the interests of its entire constituency.

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Benefits of membership

  • Quarterly newsletters and regular email information
  • Deafness Forum is your means of making your views known to government
  • The opportunity to work co-operatively with other individuals/associations on issues of mutual concern
  • Access to:
    • literature
    • resources
    • services
    • information
    • statistics
  • Be kept up to date on:
    • issues
    • events
    • trends

General provisions

All membership applications, and especially the class of membership applied for, must be approved by the Board. Members, both individual and associations, are entitled to one (1) vote. Associations are required to nominate one person to be their voting representative.

 

Membership Structure

There are four classes of membership in Deafness Forum: Consumers, Consumer Associations, Service Providers, and Service Provider Associations.

A. Consumer means an adult who is Deaf or has a hearing impairment or has a chronic ear disorder; or a parent of such a person.

Chronic Ear Disorder refers to such disorders of the ear as tinnitus, Meniere’s Disease, Acoustic Neuroma, hyperacusis and recruitment. People with some such ear disorders may also have a hearing impairment.

Deaf refers to people who see themselves as members of the Auslan-using Deaf community by virtue of its language (Auslan) and culture.

Hearing Impairment refers to a hearing loss. People with a hearing impairment (or who are hard of hearing) may communicate orally (sometimes described as ‘oral deaf’) or may use a sign language or other communication methods.

All Consumers are entitled to describe themselves using whatever terminologies they prefer, and are asked to do so at the time of joining and each time they renewing membership.

B. Consumer Association means an incorporated organisation of, or for, consumers (as defined above).

C. Service Provider means an adult who provides services that promote the well being of people who are consumers (as defined above). Examples are audiologists, audiometrists, teachers of the deaf, stenocaptioners, Auslan interpreters, and ENT specialists. Service Providers also include various other occupations that provide services to consumers who are Deaf, have a hearing impairment or have a chronic disorder of the ear.

Any Consumer who is also a Service Provider may only join as a Consumer.

D. Service Provider Association means an incorporated organisation, which has (as its principal purpose) the provision of services that promote the wellbeing of consumers (as defined above).

Any Consumer Association that is also a Service Provider Association may only join as a Consumer Association.

 

Current association members

You can see from our association members that we are able to provide a strong and representative voice for the entire deafness sector. In addition, we have many individual members (not listed here). As at 31/3/09 our consumer and association members included:  

  • ACT Deafness Resource Centre
  • Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing (Vic)
  • AI Media
  • Audiological Society of Australia
  • Aussie Deaf Kids
  • Australian DeafBlind Council
  • Australian Communication Exchange
  • Australian Hearing
  • Australian Tinnitus Association (NSW)
  • Australian Tinnitus Association (Victoria)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Brisbane)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Central Coast)
  • Better Hearing Australia (National)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Sydney)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Sunshine Coast)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Vic)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Wagga)
  • Broken Hill and District Hearing Resource Centre 
  • Caboolture State High School 
  • CanDo Group Charities
  • Captioning Studio
  • Caption It
  • CICADA Queensland
  • Cochlear 
  • Deaf Access Grampians
  • Deaf-Blind Association (NSW)
  • Deaf Children Australia
  • Deaf Society NSW
  • Deafness Council of NSW
  • Deafness Council WA
  • Deafness Foundation (Victoria)
  • DEAFNT
  • Ephpheta Centre
  • GPT Audio Visual
  • Group Technologies Australia
  • Hear and Say 
  • Hear for you 
  • Hearing Solutions
  • Hills SVL
  • Interacoustics 
  • John Pierce Centre
  • Let Us Hear
  • Media Access Australia
  • Meniere's Australia
  • Methodist Ladies College (Vic)
  • National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf
  • National Relay Service
  • Oticon Australia Pty Ltd
  • Parent Council for Deaf Education
  • Parents of Hearing Impaired Children Federation of Victoria
  • Parents of Hearing Impaired Children South Australia
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital
  • Printacall
  • Quota International of Moss Vale
  • Royal Insitute for Deaf and Blind Children
  • Sensory Impairment Program - Catholic Education Office
  • Shepherd Centre
  • SHHH Australia
  • Siemens Hearing Instruments
  • Signs Ministries Pty Ltd  
  • St Albans East Primary School
  • St Dominic's Centre for Hearing Impaired Children
  • Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre
  • TAJ Productions
  • VicDeaf
  • Victorian Deaf Education Network
  • WA Foundation for Deaf Children
  • Word of Mouth Technology