Tony Blackett - General Manager Deaf Aotearoa.

Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand is a national association with a major focus on leadership and service delivery. They have 12 Offices located throughout New Zealand and one outreach Centre. Each Office follows the goals of the Deaf Aotearoa, providing services to the Deaf Community, in its own unique way.
Core services include interpreters to facilitate communication between deaf and hearing people; needs interviews for those needing assistance to make changes in their lives, followed up with service co-ordination to develop a service plan to meet identified needs; along with vocational training programmes and employment support.

There are over 200,000 adults in New Zealand with some level of hearing impairment, and it is estimated that between 2,500 – 7,000 people identify as deaf. Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand provides services to about 2,500 deaf New Zealanders.

Every Deaf community in New Zealand has its own Deaf Club or Deaf Society where people meet regularly for social and sporting activities and where strong social and cultural links are maintained. With a strong tradition of story-telling and jokes, often passed on from generation to generation, these venues play a critical role in ensuring a vibrant deaf community culture.

Technology is particularly important in the daily lives of the deaf. Be it a flashing light in a house to announce a caller at the door; a baby crying in another room; an incoming fax; a call on a telephone typewriter device (TTY); or texting via a mobile phone.

Given the importance of technology by the deaf community it is not surprising that the national office places a high value on IT, having recently completed a range of work on their IT platform to create a working environment that provides good access to information and communication technologies but which minimises maintenance and support costs.

Who are they?
Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand. Tangata Turi.
(Formally Deaf Association of NZ)
www.deaf.org.nz
Where are they?
National Office – Avondale Auckland, New Zealand

What do they do?
Committed to providing quality services to all deaf people in New Zealand.

What did they receive?
SQL Server 2008, ISA Server Standard, Office Share Point Server, Office Professional Plus 2007

 The Outcome?
“We now have a network that is the equal of large budget large scale organisations.” 

Tony Blackett

General Manager