Eighteen Deaf and hard-of-hearing young people aged 12 to 17 have gathered at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (ANSTO) Lucas Heights campus for a four-day Deaf Youth Science Camp, running from 12 to 16 August 2026. The camp is run in Auslan, the sign language of the Australian Deaf community, and is aimed at giving participants direct, accessible experience of science and careers in STEM.
Access, role models and research infrastructure
The camp is hosted by ANSTO as part of National Science Week and is organised in partnership with Deaf Youth Australia. All activities have been designed for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, regardless of their preferred mode of communication, with many participants using Auslan as their first language.
Organisers emphasised two linked aims: to provide full access to science education in Auslan and to expose young people to Deaf STEM professionals as role models. ANSTO Deaf Science Educator and software engineer David Parker explained the importance of visible career pathways for Deaf students:
“Deaf engineers, scientists and IT specialists will share their lived experiences… We want them to know all things are possible, to give them insights, career advice and hopefully, inspiration.”
ANSTO said many Deaf children currently miss out on science lessons delivered in their own language because Auslan is not widely available in schools. The camp therefore combines practical, hands-on science with opportunities to meet Deaf adults working in science, engineering and information technology.
Hands-on activities and visits
Planned activities at the camp include:
- building and launching model rockets;
- exploring the chemistry and physics of fire;
- examining dinosaur fossils;
- visits to the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, which supports research using neutrons; and
- tours of OPAL, Australia’s multipurpose research reactor, which supports health, industry and environmental research.
Participants, their families and the public were also invited to Auslan-interpreted community tours and a careers question-and-answer panel with Deaf STEM professionals on the final day of the camp.
Why this matters
The camp addresses two persistent barriers to Deaf participation in science: limited access to instruction in a first language (Auslan) and a scarcity of Deaf role models in STEM careers. ANSTO’s initiative therefore targets both immediate educational access and longer-term career inspiration.
ANSTO described OPAL as its on-site research reactor and the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering as the nation’s centre for neutron science — facilities that provide “world-class” infrastructure for research across health, industry, the environment and innovation. Bringing Deaf young people into that environment is a practical step towards making advanced research settings more inclusive.
Event details at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Host | ANSTO (in partnership with Deaf Youth Australia) |
| Dates | 12–16 August 2026 |
| Participants | 18 Deaf and hard-of-hearing young people, aged 12–17 |
| Language | Auslan-led activities; designed for all communication modes |
| Key facilities visited | Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering; OPAL research reactor |
The camp is the second annual Deaf Youth Science Camp at Lucas Heights. ANSTO Deaf Science Educators Christopher Makin and David Parker, together with ANSTO’s Education Manager and Camp Coordinator Dr Bridget [surname not provided in source], were named as interview contacts for the programme.
For science editors and educators, the event offers a useful model for inclusive outreach: pairing accessible, language-appropriate teaching with exposure to high-level research facilities and Deaf professionals. Such approaches make both the content and the career possibilities in STEM more tangible to young Deaf people who might otherwise encounter repeated barriers to participation.
