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Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) is the united voice of blind and vision-impaired Australians. Our mission is to achieve equity and equality by our empowerment, by promoting positive community attitudes, and by striving for high quality and accessible services which meet our needs.
What’s new at BCA?
Marion cinema delivers the goods for blind movie-goers
Read our media release welcoming the introduction of audio description at Events Cinema Marion in SA!
Foxtel IQ leaves behind blind consumers
Read our media release regarding the inaccessibility of Foxtel IQ for people who are blind or vision impaired.
Blind Citizens News - December edition NEW!
Read all the ins and outs in the December edition of Blind Citizens News. To read past editions, click here!
Blind Citizens Australia 2011 National Convention
Blind Citizens Australia's National Convention which was held in Adelaide on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October 2011 has come and gone. Listen to audio recordings of the National Convention!
Available are our Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2010/2011. You can also have a look at the convention program (program with logos or program without logos) of our very successful Convention.
Parent News - November edition
The November edition (two columns or single column for screen readers) of Parent News has now been released. To read past editions, click here!
Draft BCA Employment Policy Suite available for comment!
Comments are now welcome on our draft Employment Policy Suite. The draft Employment Policy Suite includes six parts which focus on
Further work is being done to refine these policies so send in your feedback to our National Policy Officer Jessica Zammit at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Establishment of a Queensland Central branch
Do you live in Central Qld? Are you interested in becoming more actively involved with Blind Citizens Australia at a local level?
Telephone meetings have now been scheduled for the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm. Regional branches offer a local perspective and understanding of resources and services available, peer support, a friendly voice and regular contact with other living with vision loss. For more information and to access the conference code, please contact the Blind Citizens Australia National Office on 1800 033 660.
Access to Telecommunications Inquiry
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) recently undertook an inquiry into access to telecommunications for people with disabiliy, older Australians and people experiencing illness. Our submission focused on issues including access to equipment including internet considerations now and into the future, information access including access to directory information and contracts and proof of identification amongst many others. Read this here.
NSW - Review into Person Centred Approaches
The NSW state government, through the Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care is currently investigating options for reform to disability services in New South Wales. The key objective of the Person Centred Approaches scheme is to create a disability service system that places people with a disability at the centre of decision-making about the supports and services they use. Our submission on the Person Centred Approaches scheme seeks to convey the key priorities for people who are blind and vision impaired; including adequate and timely access to adaptive technology.
VIC - Taxi Industry Inquiry
The Victorian Taxi Inquiry aims to undertake a comprehensive investigation into all aspects of the taxi and hire car industry and recommend a set of reforms to the government focused on achieving better outcomes for the travelling public, including passengers with disabilities. Read our submission or a condensed list of our recommendations.
Education Update
Disability Standards for Education 2005
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 - http://www.ddaedustandards.info/ - are Standards developed under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to eliminate disability discrimination in all education settings. Blind Citizens Australia do not believe that these Standards have lead to real changes in practice. Parents and students are often at breaking point, with consistent issues with accessible formats and adequate support for students to reach their potential.
Read our full submission or a condensed list of our recommendations.
We are pleased with the Federal Government’s budget announcement of $200 million to provide extra support for students with disability in all Australian schools. This funding aims to deliver more services, more equipment including audio and visual technology, in class support and allow for an adapted curriculum to meet the needs of students. Read the May 10 announcement here.
DEEWR school funding review
BCA made a submission to their review, calling for, amongst other things, increased transparency in how student funding is spent, rectifying inconsistencies in eligibility for funding and providing far more discretion to students and families as to how students funding is spent. Read our submission here.
Our Education Policy can be accessed here.
Media Access Campaign
A second communique has been released by the cinema industry, disability sector and FaHCSIA. This communique outlines the progress which has been made by the Accessible Cinemas Advisory Group (ACAG) to improve access to captioning and audio description in cinemas. Read this communique here. The first communiqué (January 2011) can be accessed here.
As a member of the Accessible Cinemas Advisory Group (ACAG), Blind Citizens Australia will continue to work with the cinema chains to ensure that audio description will make it to our cinemas by the 2014 deadline.
Audio description on TV
In the Media Access Report released by Minister Stephen Conroy late last year, it was announced that ABC 1 would host a trial of audio description in the latter half of 2011 which would pave the way for further work to ensure that Australians who are blind or vision impaired can access AD in their home in the very near future. This committment was subject to funding. Unfortunately no funding was allocated to this trial in the Federal Budget. Whilst we are disappointed with this result, Blind Citizens Australia will continue to work with the disability sector and the Department to ensure that the trial of audio description on ABC1 remains on the political agenda.
Audio description in cinemas
There are a number of independent cinemas around Australia which are currently providing audio description. To find out where your nearest cinema is and to view session times, visit http://www.yourlocalcinema.com.au/find-out-session-times
Our media release about audio description in cinemas released in July 2010 can be accessed here.
Audio description on DVDs
For a list of up to date DVDs which contain audio description, visit the Media Access Australia Audio Described DVD website No audio description on a DVD? Help increase the availability of audio description by making a complaint to the Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA).
All things audio description!
It’s Our Turn Now is our regular newsletter which provides updates on all things that relate to AD. Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3 and an edition released in October are available for download.
You can also visit www.audiodescription.com.au which is hosted by Media Access Australia, which has lots of information about AD.
Victorian Blind Cricket Association information
VBCA Schools Blind Cricket Program |
