The first national curriculum for Auslan, the language of the deaf community in Australia, will soon be rolled out in schools across Australia, in a move being described as a "huge step for equality".

Key points: National Auslan curriculum to be rolled out in Australian schools

National Auslan curriculum to be rolled out in Australian schools Follows years of lobbying by parents for a formal curriculum

Follows years of lobbying by parents for a formal curriculum Move hailed as a 'huge step for equality'

Since it was officially recognised as a language by the Federal Government in 1987, the use of Auslan for deaf children in Australian schools has been largely inconsistent, with teachers forced to rely on a general framework for languages such as Japanese and French.

For years parents have been lobbying for a formal curriculum to be implemented in schools and following ministerial endorsement, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) officially published the first curriculum in Auslan on Monday.

"That's a fantastic achievement for us, it's an opportunity for the signing community to have a curriculum in schools, an opportunity for young deaf students to learn about that," ACARA chief executive Rob Randall said.

Dr Breda Carty, from the Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) Renwick Centre, was involved in writing the curriculum.

She described the introduction of the new guidelines as a "wonderful development".

"Certainly for the Australian deaf community, it's significant, it's a huge step for equality, it's a wonderful feeling that our language is now included in the school curriculum," she said.

The curriculum will also give hearing students the opportunity to learn Auslan, allowing them to communicate with their deaf peers.

Rima Akanj, 16, who attends the RIDBC Thomas Pattison School in Sydney, said it would significantly improve the social skills of deaf students.

"In hearing world there are few deaf people scattered around and a lot of hearing people having conversations, and deaf people have no idea what's going on because it's a spoken language and deaf people don't have the access," she said.

"They feel a bit of a deficit with that, so they feel less confident, maybe a bit depressed, so when there's Auslan being used everywhere deaf people are more confident, they're more involved, they feel they have equal access."

Deaf students previously punished for using sign language

Dr Carty said the introduction of a curriculum was especially momentous given deaf people were cruelly tormented for using sign language in years past.

"For so many years, for a very long time, deaf people and their sign language was marginalised — sometimes forbidden — at school, and so for older deaf people you hear many stories about how their hands were tied behind their back, they had to sit on their hands, and they were punished for using sign language at school," she said.

Dr Carty pointed to a quote published in the curriculum's overview from the late Nola Colefax OAM, a deaf elder who referenced her struggles at school.

"When I was a school student, we were punished for using our sign language. I remember writing 100 times: 'I must not sign'," Ms Colefax wrote.

"It makes me so happy to see that young people today are encouraged to learn Auslan, and to be proud of it."

Curriculum will overhaul teaching of Auslan in schools

Louise de Beuzeville, a teacher and Auslan Coordinator at the RIDBC Thomas Pattison School, said the introduction of the curriculum would overhaul the teaching of Auslan in schools.

Louise de Beuzeville says the new curriculum will overhaul the teaching of Auslan. ( ABC News: Stephanie Dalzell )

"Currently in this school, what we've had to do is prepare everything from scratch… we've slotted it in under the English curriculum," she said.

"What this curriculum does is gives us a scope and sequence for Auslan… it's important for any language to have a curriculum for that language, but it's particularly important in a language that is so different."

Parent Cath Loveday said the changes would help her child feel less isolated.

Her 9-year-old son Dwayne attends a mainstream school in Townsville, and is currently only able to fully communicate with his interpreter.

"It's going to make a huge equal access to language for everybody involved. We see the benefits far outweighing any other language that is currently being taught in schools," she said.

"If there are young people coming through who are learning Auslan now and go through high school and become employed in the community, he'll start seeing those people, they'll start recognising him and it will start to grow that language and community support for him.

"That's what it's about, not being isolated, and about him really being immersed in his community."