Melbourne Deaf Cricket club was formed in 1881 and sport has been a significant part of many Deaf and hard of hearing Australians’ lives ever since.
One early interstate event with Deaf people was a cricket match in Adelaide in 1919.
Now, deaf and hard of hearing Australians participate in sport at local, state, national, and international levels.
The World Deaf Golf Championships were recently held on the Gold Coast, QLD, and the Asia Pacific Deaf Basketball Championships will be held in Melbourne from 21 September. In November 2025, we will be sending an Australian team to compete at the Deaflympic Games in Japan.
Deaf Sports Australia with the help of our community, created our first major Deaf History exhibition at the Newcastle Library in Newcastle, NSW which started in October 2023, as part of the 2024 Australian Deaf Games program, until the end of March 2024.
Over 800 visitors attended this exhibition, and there was an amazing response to seeing our history celebrated and shared. Deaf Sports Australia wanted its history to continue to evolve and be available to share online. They have finally achieved it.
As part of National Week of Deaf People, the website was officially launched. View all the stories, photos and videos at https://deafsports.org.au/deaf-sport-history/
For more information, contact info@deafsports.org.au