Deaf Art Science Festival

Forum Speakers

• More details about Leyla Craig

  Leyla Craig

  Leyla Craig is deaf and has over ten years of experience in disaster risk reduction, contributing to local and international projects that improve disaster inclusion for deaf people. In 2025, she was awarded the Earth Scholar Programme, working with a BSL Science Team at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to link science education and disasters for deaf and hard of hearing students in the Scottish Highlands. Leyla works in Community Risk Reduction at Fire and Rescue NSW and recently completed her PhD at the University of Sydney, where her research focused on Deaf organisations, social capital, and disaster access.

• More details about Chris Hardman AFSM

  Chris Hardman AFSM

  Chris Hardman is the Lead Executive Director, Forest and Fire Operations Division (FFOD), and the Chief Fire Officer, Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic). Chris is responsible for ensuring delivery of state forest management operations, and fire management operations on public land, leading the Forest and Fire Operations Division. Chris is also the lead for FFMVic’s command and control arrangements for fire and emergency response, along with fuel management operations. His division works across the department, with FFMVic partners, and with other fire and emergency management agencies to support the operational implementation. Chris’ knowledge of land management operations is complemented by his significant experience in fire and emergency management. Chris is one of Victoria’s State Response Controllers and a Level 3 Incident Controller – with experience as an Incident Controller from the 2010 floods, 2009 Black Saturday fires, and 2006 and 2003 fires. Chris was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for his distinguished service in 2024.

• More details about Peter Busch

  Peter Busch

  Peter Busch is a Deaf community leader, third-generation farmer, metal artist, and long-serving volunteer firefighter from Gippsland, Victoria. A Life Member of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Peter will celebrate 50 years of service with the CFA in November. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated that Deaf people can make significant contributions to frontline emergency response. Peter has been a strong advocate for improving accessibility and safety in firefighting, promoting visual identification for Deaf firefighters and raising awareness of Deaf inclusion within emergency services. An active member of the Australian Deaf community, Peter uses both Auslan and spoken English and is passionate about strengthening communication, inclusion, and community resilience.

• More details about Ida Callaghan

  Ida Callaghan

  Ida Callaghan is a Deaf educator, lecturer, and Subject Coordinator of Auslan with more than 24 years of experience in adult education. Holding a Masters in Education, Ida is passionate about advancing Auslan, Deaf culture, and Deaf-led teaching practices. Her work focuses on creating engaging learning environments that centre Deaf perspectives, linguistic authenticity, and cultural understanding. Ida works with training packages, mentors emerging educators, and advocates for greater recognition of Auslan and Deaf knowledge within education and the wider community. She is committed to empowering learners, strengthening connections between Deaf and hearing communities, and fostering inclusive, respectful communication through education.

• More details about Simon Andersson

  Simon Andersson

  Simon Andersson is a Deaf person whose professional background is in financial risk mathematics. He has a keen interest in climate change and its impacts on the world, including costing of strategies to either reduce carbon emissions or mitigate the impacts of climate change, as well as the distribution of impacts around the world. As a Deaf person, he is keen to ensure that knowledge about climate change is accessible for the Deaf community.