Friday, April 2000
For the first time, Life Ed’s popular health and wellbeing modules now include Auslan, thanks to 10-year-old Charlie, who has brought her presentation skills and lived experience to the screen.
Charlie stars alongside Healthy Harold to translate key learning moments into Auslan, helping ensure that Deaf and hard of hearing students can engage fully in the Life Ed experience – just like their peers.
“I’m so happy to be a part of this amazing project to help other kids using Auslan so they can understand the whole experience, because they deserve to know,” Charlie said.
“Auslan is very special. I like it because it’s able to give a language to people that can’t hear or are hard of hearing. I had a lot of fun helping Life Ed and working with Healthy Harold.”
Charlie, who was born deaf and uses cochlear implants, played a hands-on role in the Auslan project. She had the arduous task of perfecting Auslan scripts to accurately reflect the spoken content. Then a working group in the Deaf community analysed the language choices and reworked the wording so it would be easily understood by children.
A lengthy rehearsal period followed, and four days of filming in 2024 – resulting in 42 new video pieces now embedded across Life Ed’s modules.
Importantly, Charlie isn’t interpreting the material – she’s presenting it. Under the guidance of Auslan experts, she brings her unique voice and lived experience to the screen, making each module more authentic and relatable for Deaf students.
This project was made possible through a powerful partnership with Sign Hear, an organisation committed to bridging the gap between the Deaf and hearing communities.
Thanks to their mentorship, Charlie is now helping translate essential health and wellbeing topics – from respectful relationships to emotional regulation and online safety – into Auslan.
“What we are teaching is vital and must be accessible to every child,” said Sue Osmond, Program Delivery Manager at Life Ed Queensland.
“Our program is all about empowering young people to reach their full potential and thrive physically, socially and emotionally. That’s why it’s so important that our content reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.”
“Having Charlie proudly showcasing her Auslan skills and leading by example to her peers is a great illustration of what true inclusion looks like,” said Ms Osmond.
