Families
Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is the language of Australia's Deaf community. It incorporates signs, body movements, facial expressions, mime and gesture.
Auslan has its own grammar and vocabulary that are very different to English. It can communicate a rich variety of concepts and subtle meanings.
It uses fingerspellling for words in English without signs (such as surnames).
Auslan has its roots in English, Scottish and Irish Sign Languages. It is different from American and French Sign Languages. It is a naturally-evolved language, just like English. New signs are always being created.
Auslan was officially recognised in Australia’s National Language Policy in 1987.
RIDBC researchers have developed Auslan dictionaries and the interactive Auslan website, Signbank
.
Other signed languages used in Australia include:
- Signed English, a straight conversion of English to signs
- Pidgin Signed English
