Brisbane to showcase Australia’s leading role in Deaf Education

Australia’s proud history and strong role in providing education to the deaf will take centre stage at the 23rd International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) to be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) in 2020.

Brisbane and BCEC have won the right to host what is regarded as the oldest consistently held conference in the field of education, with the first conference held in Paris in 1878, attended by just 28 delegates from 6 countries.

ICED 2020 will bring up to 1,000 delegates to Brisbane, generating $2.5 million in economic benefit to the city during just four days in July 2020.

This is only the second time in the long history of the Congress, that it will be held in Australia.

The team at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre worked closely with the local host organisation, the Queensland Branch of the Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf (AATD) to develop the successful bid for the congress which is anticipated will attract delegates from a broad range of related fields and professions from Europe and the United States and with specific focus on the Asia Pacific Region.

Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane Marketing provided strong support to secure the conference for Brisbane.

Australia is highly regarded in the field of deaf education with extensive research into one of the greatest challenges – outcomes of early identification of hearing impaired children.

President of the Queensland Branch of AATD and Congress Co-Chair, Bronwyn Green with fellow Co-Chair and Queensland Branch Vice President, Joy MacDougall attended the 2015 Congress in Athens where Brisbane was announced as the host city for ICED 2020. She said securing the event for Brisbane would provide a valuable opportunity for knowledge sharing with the local sector community through access to world experts and distinguished international speakers from relevant scientific areas.

“Hosting the Congress in Brisbane provides a unique opportunity to showcase Australia’s strengths in the field. Australia has a long history of providing education to the deaf and is home to internationally recognised experts across a range of disciplines including education, audiology and medicine.”

A strong scientific program will be developed with input from an International Scientific Committee which will cover a broad range of topics including auditory-oral and bilingual-bicultural approaches, language and literacy, working with deaf and hard of hearing students in mainstream settings, early intervention and issues relating to deafness and mental health.

Australia’s leadership, innovation and ability to change and evolve in response to new technology and research along with the presence of a variety of experts in the field makes Brisbane an ideal location for hosting the International Congress of the Education of the Deaf (ICED 2020).

BCEC General Manager, Bob O’Keeffe said the benefits of hosting conferences such as ICED in Brisbane were far reaching. “Conferences are a key vehicle in showcasing Australia’s expertise to the world and generating new collaborations between researchers here and overseas. BCEC take a leadership role in partnering with Australian organisations to secure these conferences for the greater good of our communities.

Brisbane Convention Bureau General Manager Rob Nelson said securing ICED once again demonstrated Brisbane’s ability to attract major conferences through a team approach.

“Attracting ICED shows how Brisbane’s venues, hotels and institutions work together to provide an integrated and seamless approach for business event planners thinking of staging a conference in our city,” he said.

“ICED will also reinforce Brisbane’s reputation on the global stage as an innovation and research centre for the life sciences sector.”

Brisbane’s bid to host the 23rd International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) in 2020 was supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of its commitment to grow overnight visitor expenditure and showcase Brisbane as a leading business, study and leisure destination.