Susie (Suzanne) Ovens

Amateur footage of the Miss Auckland Deaf Beauty Queen Contest held at the Auckland Deaf Centre 1990.

The Auckland Deaf Society Netball team celebrates their 25th Jubilee in April, 2000.

The New Zealand Sign Language Teacher's Association Hui in October 2018 was a great weekend of professional development for those that teach, and want to teach NZSL.

A farewell party is thrown for John and Laura Hunt at the Auckland Deaf Society, prior to their move to Melbourne. The farewell was attended by over 100 members of the Auckland Deaf community.

The Sign Singers perform the song 'I Hear Your Hand' for the Stars on Sunday programme.

New Zealand sends 30 athletes to the 15th World Games for the Deaf in Los Angeles, with footage of the opening ceremony. The flagbearer for New Zealand was John Ooteman, with Susie Ovens carrying the kiwi mascot. The Gallaudet Dance Company also put on a performance. Footage shows a fly by with a sign saying ‘WELCOME WORLD GAMES FOR THE DEAF’.

The grit! The determination! The hours of practice! Finally it’s game day for the first Deaf Netball New Zealand versus Australia in Manawatu. Watch highlights of the gameplay followed by expert post-match analysis and limbo shenanigans at MDS. Good times.

In the early 1990s, due to a breakthrough in technology, cochlear implants were starting to become the norm. The Deaf community worldwide viewed cochlear implants as a device that disregarded the need for access to sign language. Others considered such devices a miracle. In 1993, ‘60 Minutes’ investigated this controversial topic in New Zealand.

The Sign Singers perform 'Harmony' broadcast on Stars on Sunday in February 1983. They are introduced in sign language, in one of the first examples of a non-Deaf person signing on prime time television.

Jane Dent reports on the National Sports Convention for the Deaf held in Auckland during Labour Weekend in 1984. The footage screened on the 6:30pm news on Saturday 20 October 1984.