It's a different linguistic landscape now.

Mr Adams welcomed the release to NSW schools of the first Auslan syllabus for primary and secondary students.

He said Auslan is fully accepted in education right across NSW and that is a very exciting journey.

"I think it is going to benefit a huge amount of children," Mr Adams said.

Mr Adams works as a teacher of the deaf with the Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Macksville and Nambucca team.

He was consulted by the NSW Education Standards Authority as part of the Auslan syllabus development.

"I think it [Auslan syllabus] will have a very positive impact for deaf and hard of hearing children," Mr Adams said.

"Deaf and hard of hearing children really need to have that challenge and that access to a language model, and have different options to be able to make choices and decisions," he said.

For the first time, NSW students will be able to formally learn Auslan as their first language or an additional language through the new syllabus from 2026.

The syllabus was developed in consultation with the deaf community, teachers, students and parents.

Assistant principal hearing support Kerry Kranitis said the new syllabus is a fantastic opportunity.

She has seen the many benefits of incorporating Auslan in a school situation.

Mr Adams agrees about the benefits, saying education is about knowledge.

"It is about giving children the knowledge, and developing language skills, rather than just focusing on spoken and hearing languages," he said.

"If you have visual language, it expands your brain straight away, so your communication improves, and it is more of a natural way to communicate.

"I think there are many students that will benefit, to be honest."

The Auslan kindergarten to Year 10 syllabus has four focus areas - interacting in Auslan, understanding texts in Auslan, creating texts in Auslan and the role of language, culture and identity.

It aims to empower students to become effective communicators in Auslan through developing linguistic competence and cultural understanding.

Auslan is an optional course and decisions about teaching the syllabus will be made by schools and education sectors in consultation with the deaf community.

Minister for Education Prue Carr said she is delighted to see the Auslan syllabus being released to NSW schools.

"NSW offers one of the most comprehensive school languages curriculum in the world and I am committed to exploring how we can make that even better, in a way that is accessible for all students," she said.

Teachers will have up to a year in extra time to plan and prepare before the Auslan syllabus is taught in classrooms at the beginning of 2026, as part of the state government's decision to extend the curriculum reform delivery timeline.

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