Pierre Gorman Award
The Pierre Gorman Award, valued up to $25,000, inspires Victorian public libraries to enhance services and improve experiences for people with disabilities, with a focus on removing barriers to equal participation.
Award funds have previously supported a range of activities, including:
- Reading programs for adults with learning disabilities
- A library-specific accessibility training program for staff, developed in partnership with Arts Access Victoria
- Improvements to physical library environments for people with autism and other neurodivergent needs.
Proposals should demonstrate a commitment to engaging with disabled communities as partners and experts in their own experiences.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to involve people with disabilities in the development and evaluation of their concepts, with a view to making their proposals accessible, relevant and inspiring to disabled communities.
Proposals that collaborate with local organisations to provide innovative responses to community needs are highly desirable.
Applications for the Pierre Gorman Award will open in early 2026.
About Pierre Gorman
Dr Pierre Gorman, CBE, was born in 1924. He studied at the University of Melbourne, and in 1960 became the first profoundly deaf person to graduate with a doctorate from Cambridge University.
Pierre was recognised for his devotion to improving services for the hearing and speech impaired. Continuing the work of Sir Richard Paget, he devised the Paget Gorman Sign System, and he developed the library at London's Royal National Institute for the Deaf into a leading resource on all aspects of speech and hearing.
Upon returning to Australia, Pierre led the Policy Investigation Project of the Victorian School for Deaf Children. He received an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Melbourne in 2000, and he died on his birthday in 2006.
Read about the recent recipients of the Pierre Gorman Award and their projects.