Early lessons from dad led to career choice and award

COLLIE born and bred Leanne Potter, nee Palmer, received a Public Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours list last Thursday, for her work for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

She worked with the Department of Education and key stakeholders to ensure deaf children and young people could attend mainstream education with the assistance of an AUSLAN interpreter. Her choice of career was inspired by her late father, John Palmer, who was deaf.

Leanne attended Wilson Park Primary

School, and had spent two years at Collie Senior High School when her father died.

She went to Loreta Convent to complete her high school education, and undertook primary school teaching after her high school graduation.

“We used to ‘finger-talk’ to Dad,” Leanne said.

“He told me once that he had been in the Collie Club, having a beer at the bar.

“A group of young men stood behind him, calling out to him offering to buy him a beer.

“They knew he could not hear them, and thought it was a great joke.

“He became aware something was happening, but did not respond. Instead, he came home and told me about it, saying it was no way to behave.

“He was teaching me a lesson in life, about how to behave towards others.

“He was a very intelligent, wise man.”

Leanne took the lesson to heart, and dedicated her life to improving the lot of deaf children in the WA education system.

After gaining a Diploma of Education, she added a Bachelor degree in sociology from Curtin, a Diploma of Interpreting AUSLAN, and B.Ed in Deaf Education from Edith Cowan University, followed by a Master of Education from Melbourne University.

She became principal of the Shenton College Deaf Education Centre, was an AUSLAN interpreter for 29 years and a Board member of the WA Deaf Society.

One of those to benefit from time in the Shenton College Deaf Education Centre was Collie Senior High School student Mahalia Payze who spent time there late last year.

Along the way, Leanne also served five and a half years as a councillor on the City of Subiaco.

Awarded a Public Service Medal in this year’s Australia Day Honours List for outstanding public service through commitment to social justice and advocacy for the inclusion of AUSLAN in mainstream education, her citation reads:

“Ms Leanne Potter is a cherished edu- cator and social justice advocate giving a voice to those that are underrepresented, whether it be women in the workplace, children with low socio- economic backgrounds and notably those who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“As an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing community, one of her greatest achievements was integrating AUSLAN into mainstream education. She worked collaboratively with the Department of Education and key stakeholders to ensure deaf children and young people could attend mainstream education with the assistance of an AUSLAN interpreter. She also advocated for the inclusion of the AUSLAN Australian Tertiary Admission Rank course into the Western Australian Curriculum. As Principal for Shenton College Deaf Education Centre until 2021 she worked with Shenton College’s principal to be the first school in Western Australia to offer this course.

“During her time in deaf education, she developed teachers’ expertise to educate deaf and hard of hearing students, significantly increasing the number of AUSLAN interpreters with qualifications working in schools across the state. She managed the oversight of educational interpreters across Western Australia and established the Access and Equity division at the School of Special Educational Needs (formerly Western Australian Institute for Deaf Education).”

Leanne is now a Growth Coach, and lives in Subiaco.