President’s Overview

Karen Knight

It is with much pleasure and pride that I introduce the 26^th Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) for the year ended 30 June 2001. It has once again been an extremely busy and productive year for the organisation. As this report will demonstrate, BCA remains committed to and continues to work diligently on our key activities of individual advocacy, systemic advocacy, peer support, information dissemination and advice to Government and the community.

The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the World Blind Union Fifth General Assembly held in Melbourne last November. The Project Team and staff from the partner blindness agencies worked tirelessly for over twelve months to organise ten days of activities ranging from the Second World blind Women’s Forum, a management symposium, the General Assembly, an extensive technology expo and a number of social events. The dedication of the project team and volunteers was truly amazing and for those of us fortunate enough to attend the Assembly, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Feedback from members who listened to proceedings of the Assembly via the Internet or through highlights on RPH stations were also captivated by the experience. Learning about advances in technology and increasing our knowledge of the experiences of blind and vision impaired people in other countries was extraordinary. Perhaps another generation of blind and vision impaired people will be able to experience a similar opportunity when the World Blind Union comes to Australia at some time in the future.

The year was financially stable for BCA. We concluded the year with a surplus of $37,566.00 The past twelve months have seen significant changes to the organisation’s financial reporting practices and the organisation’s finances are now fully computerised. We continue to work hard in the area of fundraising. Our national lottery continues to be profitable and we are grateful to our members for their continued financial support. We received support from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments and a number of blindness agencies once again supported BCA financially this year. We value our positive working relationships with the agencies and trust that there will be further opportunities to work collaboratively in the future. We also thank other supporters including Telstra, Commonwealth Bank and Ozemail.

BCA has also undertaken some significant work in individual advocacy this year. An action was lodged against a public utility regarding access to braille bills. BCA and the respondent were pleased to negotiate a successful resolution to the case. The outcome of this case is significant and relevant to blind and vision impaired people who wish to access utility bills such as gas and electricity in their preferred format. Four members of BCA have lodged discrimination actions against banks regarding the inaccessibility of automatic teller machines and in some cases, their websites. These cases are ongoing, but we look forward to some positive outcomes from these cases for all blind and vision impaired people.

Due to funding uncertainty, the position of National Policy Officer remained vacant until March this year. Since then, Collette O’Neill has led this work. The National Policy and Development Council (NPDC) took a decision to devote energy and resources to the areas of access and transport, welfare reform (including a research study on the costs of blindness), membership and development and overseas projects. A detailed discussion of the work of the NPDC can be found elsewhere in the Annual Report. I would like to pay particular tribute here to the work of Ivan Peterson in the area of access. Ivan has represented the interests and issues of blind and vision impaired people on various Standards Australia committees for some time now and he has been willing to share his knowledge and expertise with Collette in her endeavour to understand the complexities and technicalities of access issues.

BCA has also been involved in cross-disability projects. BCA continues to auspice the TEDICORE project and our consultant for this project is Gunela Astbrink. After three years, this project has some important and tangible outcomes for blind and vision impaired people and I urge you to read Gunela’s report about TEDICORE later in this Annual Report. At the time of writing, BCA has not received confirmation or otherwise of a further twelve months funding for the project. Nevertheless, we are hopeful that funding for this important project will be forthcoming. The other major investment of time for the Executive Officer and some board members this year has been the Government’s desire to establish a peak body of disability peaks. The organisation is known as the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations. A considerable amount of time has been devoted to meeting with other disability peaks to design and establish this new organisation. BCA has a place on the Board of Directors and Robert Altamore is our representative. Special thanks to Robert for his tireless work to assist the Federation in the development of their constitution.

On behalf of the Board and members of BCA, I would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to our dedicated staff team led by Executive Officer, Maryanne Diamond. The staff are working as a cohesive team and I have been encouraged by the increased spirit of co-operation and collaboration during the year. I would also like to especially thank my fellow Directors for their support during the year. For me, personally, the year has not been easy. With the birth of my first child and a prolonged period of illness for mother and child, I was not able to meet all of my presidential commitments. Board members were always willing to step in on my behalf, often at short notice. For this, I am very grateful. Vice President Peter Johnson did an outstanding job in this regard, being called upon at short notice to do radio interviews, chair meetings and respond to members’ concerns.

This Convention also sees the conclusion of David Blyth’s co-option to the Board. David’s experience and extensive knowledge of the organisation and its work since the beginning has been invaluable in assisting in many of our deliberations. Thank you, David. Your contribution has been greatly appreciated and I know you will always be one of the organisation’s greatest supporters. Above all, however, I would like to thank my husband Brian for his support and tolerance throughout the year.

I wish to especially thank Maryanne Diamond without whose friendship and constant support, I could not have met all the challenges that the role of President has brought over the past year. I greatly value our close working relationship, particularly the ability to talk through issues openly and frankly.

To all members, thank you for the privilege of leading BCA. I have enjoyed it immensely. The coming year holds some new and exciting challenges including the introduction of an Information and Advocacy service in NSW. By working together, we can ensure that BCA has a bright and secure future and that we can change what it means to be blind.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S SUMMARY

Maryanne Diamond

Introduction

Once again, BCA, had a very busy year ending in a healthy financial position. Two areas which a great deal of our time and resources were directed was in the contribution to the hosting of the Fifth General Assembly of the World Blind Union (WBU) and developing administration policies and procedures as well as automating all aspects of our finances.

National Office

During the last year both Aileen McFadzean and Cheryl Gration returned from maternity leave, Grant Webster and Alise Wonson resigned to pursue new employment ventures, with Cate Litchen beginning a new career of motherhood with the birth of her first son during May. We are very pleased to have Collette O’Neill join us during March to fill the position of National Policy Officer. Allison Lynch, who had been employed on the WBU project, joined our administration team in February.

The staff in the National Office, at August 31 are:

Maryanne Diamond Executive Officer;

Aileen McFadzean National Advocacy Officer;

Collette O’Neill National Policy Officer;

Helen Freris Victorian Advocacy and Information Officer; Cheryl Gration Administration & Executive Support;

Rosalyn Bates Administration & Executive Support;

Robert Mascitti Administration & Information Technology;

Allison Lynch Administration & Finance Support

Commencing in January, BCA took over management of the national lottery, which had been managed by Kerry Simpson over the previous two years. Megan Power joined us during May to assist with this and will continue two days each week in this role. We have four staff members located in Bathurst as telemarketers who work closely with Megan and with the creation of a database of supporters having been established, we have great hopes for a greater return in this significant fund raising opportunity for BCA.

I am very pleased to report that the current staff provide a friendly, welcoming first point of contact for those who visit the office in person or by phone. They also are dedicated and work co-operatively making the office a pleasant place to work.

One of the long-term objectives set by the Board is to establish a staffed office in each State. Plans are in place to establish and staff an office in Sydney housed at the Association of Blind Citizens NSW and we look forward to being able to provide a greater level of support to people living in NSW. The Western Australian Branch has a part time staffed office and Tasmania currently has a project grant for one year.

The five key activities undertaken by BCA to achieve our objectives are unchanged. They are: individual advocacy, systemic advocacy, information dissemination, peer support and consultation. These services are provided to members as well as all blind and vision impaired Australians. Examples of advocacy undertaken during this year include: dealings with Centrelink, employment, migration, access to information, and provision of bills and statements in accessible formats. We anticipate and work towards many of the individual cases resulting in change that is of benefit to all blind and vision impaired people.

During this period BCA was invited to join the Centrelink Customer Reference Committee. A great deal of effort and work had been done over a number of years to achieve this without success. This provides an opportunity to input into policy development and meet and work with the highest level of staff in Centrelink on issues important to our members. Aileen McFadzean has taken on the role as BCA’s representative on this committee.

Federation of Disability Consumer Organisations

In the later part of 2000, Family and Community Services (FaCS) undertook a review of the funded Peak Disability Organisations. In January 2001, Minister Newmann announced that the Government would provide funds to establish a Federation of Disability Consumers. At the same time, disability organisations previously funded were notified of on-going funding. For BCA, this funding was slightly reduced to that of the previous three years. All of the eight Peak Disability Organisations were required to work to establish this federation and to be a member.

A working group was established consisting of representatives of the eight organisations with Sue Eagen and Lou Ann Lind as the co-convenors. A great deal of work has been done with the anticipated date of operation being September 1, 2001.

We hope and feel confident that through such a federation issues that all Australians have in common, no matter what their disability, will have a strong and loud voice to Government and the community. Each of the Peaks, of course, will continue to represent and speak on behalf of their membership.

BCA has links with a number of external organisations and representatives on many committees and working parties to ensure the needs and views of blind and vision impaired people are represented. A complete list of these appear later in this report along with the names of our representatives. BCA is an organisational member of ACROD, Australian Blindness Forum (ABF), South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment (SPEVI), Australian New Zealand Blindness Agencies (ANZBA) and joined as a corresponding member of Vision 2020 Australia.

Membership

Over the past year, there has once again been steady growth in Membership, with over 176 new members joining. There are currently 52 Junior members, 282 Associate members and 2,523 Full members. The two branches established during 2000, Tasmania and Young Blind Citizens, worked hard to gain members and undertake new and varying activities. There has been some interest expressed in the establishment of a branch in the New Castle region of NSW.

We continue to communicate with members and the blindness field through a variety of alternative format methods.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who support BCA in the National Office and at the branch level providing their expertise covering a range of tasks, from labelling envelopes, formatting braille, copying newsletters, answering telephones, sending out raffle tickets, copying cassettes, developing submissions etc. Your efforts and time commitment is much appreciated.

Projects

BCA has undertaken a range of projects over a number of years, some specific to blindness and others across disability. During this year three major projects have been hosted by BCA: TEDICORE,

E-Commerce stage 2 and the Fifth General Assembly of the WBU.

Telecommunications and Disability

The Telecommunications and Disability (TEDICORE) project has been managed by BCA over the last three years with Gunela Astbrink employed as the Policy Officer. The project is to advance and represent the interests of telecommunications consumers, with disabilities and to promote equity and accessibility. On June 30, 2001 the current round of funding for the project finished. BCA submitted an application to continue the work for another year, however, at the time of preparing this report, BCA is unaware of the outcome of this application. Although the project has been on going, funding is approved and provided one year at a time. This makes it very difficult for all involved. A report from Gunela Astbrink on the outcomes for blind and vision impaired over the last three years can be found later in this Report.

E-Commerce

This project was funded by the AccessAbilities Program within DCITA and was the second project BCA hosted in this area with Tim Noonan leading both of these projects. The project is to make electronic commerce more accessible to people who are blind, vision impaired or who have other disabilities. The project finished on June 30 with no further funding under this program for such work, however, the developments in this area and the expertise of Tim in this field makes us feel very confident that opportunities will be created and sought to keep abreast of this important area and its impact on blind and vision impaired people.

Fifth General Assembly of the WBU

During November 2000, Melbourne welcomed more than 850 people from 135 countries to a full and informative two week program. The 2^nd World Blind Women’s Forum and Management Symposium preceded the assembly. A technology exhibition giving a unique opportunity to meet with world leaders in the field of assistive technology and information services ran during the Assembly. The Assembly ran for five days and there were many social activities during this time. This provided a tremendous opportunity for Australian blind and vision impaired people to meet, learn from and share experiences with people from all corners of the world.

Euclid Herie was farewelled as President of the WBU and our own David Blyth moved on as Immediate Past President after 16 years on international work. Both David Blyth and Pedro Zurrito, retiring Secretary General of 14 years, were presented with the Louis Braille Medal, the highest honour presented to people by the blind of the world.

The event was something that may present once in our lifetimes and after the hard work and passing of time, we can be proud and look upon this as a wonderful experience and a fantastic success.

Finances

Details of all finances and project reports, prepared by a number of Directors and staff members, are contained in this report and I urge you all to read these at your leisure.

We highly appreciate the support from our members through our Appeal to Members and Pre-Authorised Credit Card (PACC) program, also the increase in donations from the general public and the national lottery is a continuing success. We also thank all the blindness agencies and other organisations for their continuing support.

In February, Hugh Jeffrey passed away. Hugh was a founding member of BCA and a constant friend and supporter to us. To ensure the long term existence of BCA, both Hugh and David Blyth established the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation in order to build a financial base so that BCA could continue into the future not dependant on funding from Government or any organisations. This foundation continues with a steady building of capital and both David Blyth and Michael Simpson are Directors of this Foundation. We are extremely grateful to Hugh and it can be assured that he will be remembered by blind and vision impaired Australians.

Awards

presentation of awards to people who have made an outstanding contribution to Blind Citizens Australia and to improving the quality of life for blind people in general.

The BCA David Blyth Award was presented to June Ashmore: "In appreciation of her exceptional service to blind people through her inspirational personal achievements, her leadership, peer support and friendly nature, and her longstanding commitment to blindness agencies worldwide."

Certificates of Appreciation are awarded to people who have made a major contribution to Blind Citizens Australia. Last year, Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to Kerri Simpson and Diana Braun both from New South Wales. Kerri received her award "In appreciation of her commitment and support of Blind Citizens Australia at the local Sydney Branch level, in support of the immediate past President and the Board and for her outstanding effort in the establishment of a successful National Lottery Program for the organisation". Diana received her certificate "In appreciation of her leadership of Blind Citizens Australia's National Women's Branch as President and committee member since its inception and for her commitment to fostering the participation of women of all ages from different parts of Australia and internationally.

Conclusion

Under the strong leadership of Karen Knight, our National President, we have worked hard to encourage blind and vision impaired Australians to be part of BCA and the work undertaken. We have made great progress in the development of processes and protocols in place to make BCA an open and welcoming organisation.

I would like to particularly acknowledge and thank Karen Knight for her contribution during this year particularly at times when it was very difficult when both her and her baby were very ill.

Thank you to the Staff, Board members, NPDC members, Branches and all associated with BCA, without you, we could not achieve anything.

I am pleased to commend this Annual Report for the year 2000-2001 of BCA to you.

IndIvidual Advocacy

Aileen McFadzean

I formally returned from maternity leave in February this year after giving birth to my gorgeous (and enormous - 10 lbs ) baby girl, Freya.

My focus over the past six months has been to try to advance areas of strategic relevance as well as continue to be responsive to specific requests for support by members and non members. This is often an artificial distinction as even highly personal cases often highlight general injustices.

Discrimination law, as really Australia's only civil rights mechanism, continues to be the major tool we utilise to try to achieve change for people who are blind or vision impaired.

In the last year, as in other years, there has been much work done in relation to access to goods and services. Much of this work has concerned access to information. BCA has advocated in conjunction with an extremely active member to significantly increase the number of utilities which provide billing information in braille. BCA believed it was important to build on the Maguire v. SOCOG case to look at other types of information which some people might regard as more generally important. The utility cases were about giving blind people greater independence in relation to paying bills, promoting braille as a primary literacy tool and giving blind people access to the full range of information which comes on a bill.

Another growth area in terms of our advocacy is in relation to Internet access. As more and more businesses and government services make information available online, it is essential that there is widespread compliance with the W3C Guidelines on Website Accessibility. We have been involved with a number of cases in this area over the past year and we expect this to increase. We have

recently lodged complaints against a number of banks in relation to inaccessible online services.

The accessibility of banking services as a priority area is also reflected in complaints we have lodged against the 5 largest banks in relation to inaccessible Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). Financial independence of people who are blind or vision impaired is of key importance to BCA and these complaints are lodged at a time when we believe access solutions are technically feasible. A number of banks have responded positively to date and we are quietly optimistic of positive outcomes.

Employment discrimination continues to be a significant component of our disability discrimination advocacy. Sometimes callers want advice only and at other times they require significant advocacy support.

The past six months has only given rise to one case of discrimination in the area of education. This complaint concerned the failure of an educational institution to provide course materials on line and at the same time as other students received their course materials. This complaint has been successfully negotiated.

BCA continues to advocate on behalf of people denied permanent residency in Australia on the grounds that they fail to meet the health rules requirement. Basically, anyone attempting to emigrate who is blind or has a significant visual impairment will generally be rejected regardless of their personal circumstances such as employment prospects, education and whether they are married to an Australian resident. BCA has met with Minister Philip Ruddock and attempted to have the health rules applied in a more rational manner. This area remains one of our largest areas of support requests.

Although BCA has not previously been involved to any large extent with the issue of violence against people who are blind or vision impaired, late last year we received a request to support a woman in relation to a sexual harassment complaint. BCA took on this case because it was evident that the woman's blindness was a factor in her being stalked and attacked. This matter has just recently concluded.

Of course apart from discrimination, the other key area of BCA's individual advocacy support is in the area of social security. Over this past year we have given out significant advice to members and non-members as well as provided support when a decision of Centrelink requires an appeal. BCA has successfully managed to have payments reinstated.

Our advocacy in this area has been made easier by my recent appointment to the Centrelink Disability Customer Service Reference Committee. This has enabled me to raise with senior staff issues relating to the administration of the DSP (Blind). Currently I am negotiating with Centrelink over the flood of income and asset review forms received by customers as well as the apparent means testing of Family Tax Benefit Part A. Plaguing Centrelink has been made easier by access to senior staffs' direct telephone numbers and email addresses and I am pleased to say that these staff seem genuine in their desire to improve levels of service for customers. Without doubt, however, we would love to have greater input into policy development rather than more process related matters. Fortunately, policy and process frequently overlap and our presence on the Reference Group gives us access to Department of Family and Community Sevices staff.

In terms of our general advice service this last six months has witnessed an increase in the number of requests we have received for advice relating to medical negligence and consumer related complaints. We continue to respond to all queries in which blindness or vision impairment are a relevant factor.

National Policy

Collette O’Neill

Introduction

I commenced the National Policy Officer position in March 2001. The position had been unfilled for the preceding months.

In my role I work for broad changes to social and economic policy that will improve access and equity for people who are blind or vision impaired. I do this by building on BCA policy, by providing support to the National Policy Development Council and by addressing key issues as they arise.

Blindness: Can we count the costs?

My highest priority during 2000-2001 was a research project looking at the non-optional costs of blindness, that is, the extra costs people who are blind or vision impaired incur on a day to day basis because of their disability. The Board proposed the research last year as part of BCA’s response to the McClure review of the income support system commissioned by the Federal Government. The research project builds on research conducted in 1988 by the then National Federation of Blind Citizens Australia.

The research project consists of three stages: focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and diary keeping. We have conducted six focus groups across Australia (Sydney, Toowoomba, Perth and Melbourne). Because the research is ongoing, it’s not possible to provide a detailed summary of the results so far. In general however, focus group participants have identified a wide range of areas in which they pay greater costs than do sighted people and have described significant opportunity costs they have faced. The research will be completed in the coming year.

Access Issues

The other key area I worked on was access to buildings. BCA has been actively involved in the development of the draft DDA Standard on Access to Buildings and the amendment of the Building Code of Australia to bring it into line with the DDA. A pivotal task has been consulting with members to identify changes and innovations that, if introduced, would assist people who are blind or vision impaired to independently negotiate public buildings. This work will continue in the coming year as the draft Standard is refined.

I have also assisted David Blyth to represent the interests of BCA members in Standards Australia committees.

General Advocacy

With other BCA staff I have lobbied the Government, Opposition and Democrats on various issues including:

• the urgent need for improved employment assistance for people with disabilities;
• the need for a more transparent immigration assessment process;
• the need for a mechanism to enforce the disability service standards;
• the inadequate provision of Federal Government information in accessible formats; and,
• the inadequate design and content of Centrelink forms, particularly the employment assistance assessment form.

I also lobbied the Federal Government on issues arising from the 2001-2002 Budget.

In preparation for the 2001 Federal Election, I worked with the Welfare Reform Committee to provide to members the various political parties’ positions on issues of importance to people who are blind or vision impaired.

Victorian Service

Helen Freris

Introduction

The Victorian Information and Advocacy project has continued this year, in accordance with an agreement with the Department of Human Services. Once again, staff of this department have been most supportive of BCA’s work in Victoria, and have offered valuable support to ensure that our organisation is well-able to play its part in the State Disability Plan, the Victorian Government’s review and overhaul of services to Victorians with disabilities.

The Victorian Co-ordinating Committee have worked hard this year to identify priorities and set directions for the information and advocacy project. Led by Leighton Boyd, the committee’s Chair, the group have this year identified the long-standing issues of physical access, public transport, access to information and services, and support to rural Victorians as priorities for the year. Their work has been much appreciated.

Communications

Parent News

Parent News has continued to grow in popularity, with a mailing list representing families and educators in Victoria and interstate. It continues to feature a wide variety of articles of interest to children and families, covering subjects such as education, recreation and upcoming events within the fields of blindness and beyond. This year, in order to broaden its focus, items not specific to blindness but of interest to families have been included. Notable items have included:

• Information regarding the Victorian State Budget;

• An introduction to holiday programs run by Local Government; and

• A profile of a report on children’s reading habits in Victoria.

A warm thank you to those who have contributed articles, or generously given their permission for information to be copied in to the publication. I look forward to producing Parent News next year, and hope it meets the information needs of children and families in the year to come.

Soundabout

Victoria has always maintained a high standard of production and quality in our SoundAbout audio magazine, thanks to the hard work and commitment of our members involved in presenting, copying and mailing out each issue. This year, Victoria is part of a national working group planning the trial of a national SoundAbout magazine, incorporating both national content, and material prepared by each State. The Victorian format of the magazine will remain relatively unchanged, but will now incorporate content relevant to blind and vision-impaired people Australia-wide.

Public Transport

Our membership of the Victorian Government’s Public Transport Advisory Committee enables us to stay in touch with current developments in public transport, and work to bring about accessibility for travellers who are blind or vision-impaired. We have had contact and the opportunity to participate with key players and projects in Victoria, such as input into the development of DDA compliant bus shelters through Vic-Roads; and an initiative of Yarra Trams to build a prototype of an accessible tram stop.

Feedback and suggestions from Victorian members on the issue of public transport are easily gained. Members feedback has led to ideas for projects which we hope will make our journeys using public transport easier in the next financial year. A few of these projects are summarised below:

Public Transport Directory

At the time of writing, work is almost complete on a directory of contact information for public transport providers and services in Victoria. This initiative will encourage and empower Victorians to begin to advocate for themselves with transport providers.

M40 Taxi Subsidy Project

Concerns have been raised by our members about the lack of real value of the M40 taxi subsidy, given taxi fare rises. Work is currently underway to lobby the Victorian Minister for transport for an increase in the rate of subsidy, and for the subsidy to be indexed in line with fare increases.

Local Government

We continue to work with Local Government in Victoria, with varying degrees of co-operation on the part of Councils.

Blind Citizens Australia has worked closely with Melbourne City Council in an advisory capacity, due to our representation on the Council’s Disability Advisory Committee. We have been able to advise on appropriate business practices for city retailers for greater accessibility in the Central Business District. Thanks to our members, we have been able to monitor and give feedback to Council about pedestrian access within the City of Melbourne. Council’s major initiative for this year has been the preparation of the Council’s Disability Strategy for 2001-2004. Several BCA members attended public consultations and completed surveys in order to express their views of the best way to create an inclusive city, in terms of its environment, services and political processes. This was supplemented by our participation in the analysis of the draft strategy via the Disability Advisory Committee.

Forums and Presentations

An important part of the Information and Advocacy Project in Victoria is the contact between us and our members through forums and other presentations to community groups. This year it was decided to hold forums in regional locations, as we believe blind and vision-impaired people in rural areas have less opportunity to have contact with our services and have a right to express their needs for accessible and flexible services. Our intention is to foster networking and peer support among blind and vision-impaired people, blindness-specific and local community services, and so break down the potential isolation associated with living far from Victoria’s main service centres.

To date, three forums are being planned for Albury, Horsham and Morwell. We hope local vision-impaired residents will attend, and give us a clearer picture of issues relevant to their areas.

We have also taken opportunities to make presentations to already-existing groups of vision-impaired people within the community. Notably, presentations have been made to a low vision support group, and a peer mentoring groups auspiced by one of Victoria’s blindness agencies. At both presentations, the role and services of BCA were described, and the concept of self- and peer-advocacy was introduced and discussed. Perhaps more importantly, group participants were encouraged to share their ideas and concerns about issues they encountered as vision-impaired residents of their local communities.

Volunteers

Due to the location of our office, BCA members in Victoria have the opportunity for contact with us through branches, participation in forums and feedback sessions as well as having direct contact with the office. Early in the financial year, we set ourselves the task of recruiting office volunteers from the Victorian membership as well as the wider community. Our volunteer numbers have increased markedly, and it is thanks to the efforts and commitment of these volunteers that we are able to carry out many of our core tasks. Volunteers now assist us with all mail-outs from the National Office, recording and copying of audio information, and other vital tasks such as photocopying and answering telephones. Many of our members who assist us with voluntary work have also had the opportunity to become involved in our advocacy work, especially in the area of pedestrian safety and branch development. It is with much gratitude that we extend thanks to all our volunteers for their commitment to BCA and their part in the provision of information and other services to the general membership. In particular, the volunteers who assisted us at the BCA stand at the Fifth General Assembly of the World Blind Union deserve special thanks.

Victorian Members’ Survey

In late 2000, we were fortunate to have the services of a student on placement for her welfare practice course. She worked closely with us to develop and begin to administer a telephone survey for Victorian members. The purpose of this survey was to make contact with all our members to find out their priorities for the organisation, and their feedback on how well we were meeting their needs for information, peer support and advocacy.

Other useful information such as address changes could also be collected. Several members of BCA have expressed interest in assisting us with the enormous task of surveying our Victorian members, and training is currently being conducted in order to enable them to continue the surveying process. We hope that the survey data will give us a more accurate picture of the profile and needs of our membership in Victoria so that information and advocacy services can be more effectively planned.

BCA Convention

BCA has always provided some form of sponsorship to enable members to attend their first BCA Convention. This year, in line with our commitment to facilitating access to the organisation by people living in regional areas, the Victorian Information and Advocacy Project will sponsor two such BCA members to attend Convention in Sydney. Applicants for this project will be invited to submit applications indicating their interest in future involvement with BCA. In turn, they will be able to experience at first hand the workings of the organisations, and benefit from the Convention content and informal peer networking which are a feature of Convention. It is hoped that this project will strengthen the links between BCA and individuals and communities in regional Victoria.

Individual Information and advocacy

Blind Citizens Australia receives numerous calls from Victorian members, requesting information and referral and short-term advocacy on a wide range of issues. Requests for information mostly centre around locating appropriate blindness-specific and community services to which the caller can be referred. The bulk of these relate to information and advice about entitlements and access to benefits for public transport and taxis. We also provide information to anyone in the general community who wishes to provide appropriate services to people who are blind or vision-impaired.

Requests for short-term advocacy are also wide-ranging in their focus. Again, the common themes of access to the pedestrian environment and to public transport services and entitlements predominate, but we also receive requests for advocacy with blindness agencies and education services on behalf of members.

Appreciation

We thank the members of the Victorian Co-ordinating Committee, led by Leighton Boyd, for their advice and voluntary contributions during the year. We also thank our Soundabout team: Stephen Jolley (on-air magazine host), Dale Simpson (audio production) and Kylie Partington (cassette sorting and copying). They continue to do a great job, without fuss or bother, and SoundAbout Victoria maintains its high standard and continues to receive positive feedback from members and staff of blindness agencies.

TEDICORE

Background

TEDICORE (Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation) has been in operation for the past three years as a project funded by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Over that time, Blind Citizens Australia has sought funding on an annual basis for a continuation of the project. Funding has also been sought for the financial year 2001-2002 and currently the Department is considering this proposal.

TEDICORE objectives are:

(a) Provide a forum for the discussion of telecommunications matters that are of common interest to telecommunications consumers with a disability;

(b) Represent disabled consumer interests in the development of government and industry policy in relation to telecommunications;

(c) Focus the attention of consumer bodies, the public, government and industry on telecommunications issues affecting disabled consumers.

While Blind Citizens Australia is the peak disability body hosting and auspicing the project, TEDICORE has always had a mandate to represent all disability groups to achieve better access to and equity in telecommunications. The advantage of TEDICORE activities is that it has the resources and ability to advocate on general telecommunications issues which will benefit many people with different disabilities in a way that would not necessarily be done by any one disability body only representing its own constituents. In many ways, there is a direct flow-on benefit to blind and vision impaired people.

It is important to note that much advocacy work of this nature takes considerable time and extends over at least a year and often longer as working groups are formed, reports sent to industry and regulatory bodies for discussion and decisions delayed for a number of reasons.

Another more intangible outcome of TEDICORE is that it provides an opportunity to maintain the high profile of Blind Citizens Australia in a wide variety of government, industry and community-based organisations. It is a way for Blind Citizens Australia to maintain its profile amongst other peak disability bodies.

As the TEDICORE Policy Advisor, I consult directly with members of the Project Advisory Board comprising representatives from Blind Citizens Australia, Australian Association of the Deaf, Deafness Forum, Women with Disabilities Australia, Communications Aid Users Society and Physical Disability Council of Australia. The Project Advisory Board is chaired by the President of Blind Citizens Australia and thus there is a clear relationship between Blind Citizens Australia, the Project Advisory Board and the TEDICORE Policy Advisor. This creates a useful flow of information about common issues of concern.

This report will highlight some examples of TEDICORE activities and their outcomes for blind and vision impaired people.

Examples of outcomes

Telstra products and services

The long-term working relationship between Blind Citizens Australia and Telstra has assisted in achieving many positive outcomes and TEDICORE has reinforced this relationship. I previously worked with Blind Citizens Australia in completing the Telstra-funded project "Everybody’s Business: Consumer Information Access for People who are Blind or Vision Impaired" specifically made recommendations for improved Telstra products and services. Members of Blind Citizens Australia lobbied for a number of these and TEDICORE supported this work. Examples are:

0. Braille bill

0. Big print bill

0. Yellow Pages Connect

Telstra’s Centre for Accessibility

Telstra has established a Centre for Accessibility based within the Human Factors Group of the Telstra Research Laboratories. This offers a central point of support for Telstra staff in developing accessible online services, especially web-based services. The Centre has already received many requests for information from various parts of the corporation.

An impetus to the creation of the Telstra Centre for Accessibility was the TEDICORE representations over the previous year regarding the issues of universal design. In particular, the organisation of a seminar on universal design by TEDICORE for Telstra staff raised a great deal of awareness about web accessibility, legislation and terminal design.

As the Centre concentrates on web-based services, it means that Telstra’s web site, online billing facilities and other related online services will become more accessible.

Accessible E-Commerce Forum

The Accessible E-Commerce Forum has been established as a launchpad of initiatives and a high level information exchange between members of the Forum. This Forum comprises representatives from industry associations such as the Australian Bankers’ Association, Credit Union Services Corporation, Australian Retailers’ Association, Internet Industry Association, Australian Information Industry Association, corporations such as IBM and Telstra together with community organisations such as Blind Citizens Australia, Physical Disability Council of Australia and Council on the Ageing. The Forum is chaired by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).

An important initiative is the development of an Industry Action Plan by the Australian Bankers’ Association which has been lodged with HREOC. This has been a key outcome in relation to the Forum and it is expected that industry standards will be developed in the second half of 2001.

The Forum arose as a result of the HREOC Inquiry into e-commerce through representations by TEDICORE in 1999 to the Attorney-General which assisted in the setting up of the Inquiry. The Inquiry generated 34 public submissions, a HREOC issues paper, a working paper on web accessibility issues and two consultancy reports on the accessibility of automatic teller machines as well as the establishment of the Accessible E-Commerce Forum. The results of the HREOC Inquiry and the work of the Australian Bankers’ Association will lead to improved access to e-commerce facilities such as eftpos, automatic teller machines and online billing in Australia. While the process is time-consuming, positive results are expected in future with the continuing work of Tim Noonan in this area.

Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) Guidelines for Including the Needs of People with Disabilities in the Development of Codes and Standards

These Guidelines, which have been written by myself with extensive feedback from PAB and ACIF Disability Advisory Body members, are intended to support ACIF Reference Panels and Working Committees in their work when developing Codes and Standards. The Guidelines relate specifically to issues which have already been raised by representatives of disability organisations and TEDICORE during the development of ACIF draft Codes and Standards. The Guidelines, which have been done as an initiative of the ACIF Disability Advisory Body and taken one year to finalise, are currently out for comment with the ACIF Reference Panels and will then be presented to the ACIF Board for approval as an official ACIF document. These Guidelines will highlight a number of accessibility issues which ACIF Working Committees need to consider when developing Codes and Standards and should streamline the process of ensuring that accessibility is included at the outset. Many of the points in the ACIF guidelines relate to the provision of information material in alternative formats such as Braille, large print and audio.

Australian Telecommunications Industry Association Disability-Industry (ATIA) Partnership

This body was set up as an initiative of TEDICORE and comprises representatives from telecommunications manufacturers and suppliers and disability organisations. Key initiatives are the development of a web site and online database by ATIA which will list products which meet the soon-to-be registered Disability Standard as well as other fixed, cordless and mobile phone products which meet accessibility criteria. These accessibility criteria have been developed by Rob Garrett of the Regency Park Centre and myself. The criteria are based on existing international guidelines and recommendations by the Consumers’ Telecommunications Network. The process has taken over one year and was stalled during the time the TEDICORE Policy Advisor was not employed. Once completed, the web site and database will be unique internationally and will hopefully reflect an ongoing communication between industry and consumers to achieve better access to telecommunications.

A number of the features listed in the accessibility criteria relate to improved access for blind and vision impaired people. These features include the size of the text in the instruction manual, the availability of the manual in alternative formats, that a distinct sound should be heard when pressing keys, the contrast ratios between keys, key labels and the handset, that display units should have alternate outputs and tactile indicators. In addition, the web site and online database will be designed in compliance with W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Disability Equipment Program

People with disabilities are concerned that their particular equipment reqirements potentially limit their choice of carriage service provider. Currently, Telstra, as the Universal Service Provider, has a Disability Equipment Program but there are limited options for equipment supply by other service providers.

With the pilot projects of regional Universal Service Providers, there is a requirement on these carriage service providers to provide disability equipment. In other words, the issue of the provision of equipment to people with disabilities has broadened significantly.

TEDICORE has written a Discussion Paper on the future of disability equipment provision and included a set of key principles to consider if there are to be changes in future. This paper, together with a Discussion Paper from the Australian Communication Exchange, will be used as a basis for an ACIF forum in August, 2001 where key stakeholders will be invited to participate in finding avenues forward.

Cooperative Research Centre on Smart Internet Technology

The Centre has funding of $22 million for seven years and is a consortium of eight universities and industry partners such as Telstra and Motorola. It is distinguished by placing the user in the centre of the design process. A Planning Forum focussed on the user environment and a majority of the partners attended together with a limited number of invited participants including TEDICORE. I was able to ensure that people with disabilities were taken into account in the research program and it is now one of the three major user segments.

This Centre will have considerable impact on new Internet-based products and services such as Smart Personal Assistants which should be designed with accessible features suited to people who are blind or vision impaired due to the Centre’s focus on people with disabilities.

E-Commerce

Tim Noonan

Introduction

From January 2000 to the present, and with funding from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Blind Citizens Australia has continued its work in the area of making electronic commerce more accessible to people who are blind, vision impaired or who have other disabilities. I was engaged by Blind Citizens Australia to conduct the majority of this work.

This was a second round of funding, which focused on broad awareness-raising, standardisation and promoting accessibility of online technologies to Government and industry. The first round of funding focused on identifying the many barriers as well as some of the opportunities associated with E-Commerce for people with disabilities.

Electronic commerce (usually shortened to E-Commerce) is a very broad term and includes common-place activities such as use of Automatic Teller Machines, telephone banking, use of the internet to find, order and pay for goods and services, use of the internet or the telephone to access financial information, the emerging area of smart cards, and much more.

Some of the highlights from the project include:

• several accessibility forums have been run for BCA members and others in different states;
• numerous presentations have been given on the area of E-Commerce accessibility at leading national technology and disability conferences including WBU General Assembly and Round Table;
• Detailed understanding of ATM access issues for BCA clients and others was obtained, leading to a prototype accessible voice-enabled ATM being on display at the World Blind Union General Assembly;
• BCA has had some involvement on W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines working group, which is drafting the next version of its guidelines for web authors;
• BCA is strongly represented on the Human Rights Commission’s Accessible E-Commerce Forum, a group made up of Government, Industry and Consumer peak bodies;
• As the principle researcher for this project, I was invited as an expert guest by ABC Radio on several occasions to discuss accessibility, E-Commerce and disability issues, including a quite extensive interview and open line discussion;

Partnering

An important component of this project was to work in concert with the Human Rights Commission to maximise work of both groups in making E-Commerce more accessible, and to effect positive change.

As part of this and the prior BCA E-Commerce project, a range of informative reports were prepared by BCA and detailed discussions were held between BCA and the Human Rights Commission. BCA’s input has arguably strongly influenced both the thinking and recommendations of the Human Rights Commission in its goals of helping Government and Industry to improve the accessibility of their technology and online services.

Standards Efforts

Probably the most exciting tangible outcome of this involvement with HREOC and the Accessible E-Commerce Forum has been the recent lodging by the Australian Bankers’ Association of its Disability Action Plan. This plan as its main focus involves developing four banking industry standards which will ensure accessibility to electronic banking technologies such as automatic teller machines, EFTPOS terminals, Internet banking and Phone banking.

Although the BCA project and funding has just about now come to its end, I have recently been engaged by the Australian Bankers’ Association as an E-Commerce accessibility expert and will be responsible for much of the work in drafting the four industry standards described above and bringing the project to fruition. My primary involvement in these standards efforts will ensure that the extremely complex issues of technology accessibility for people who are blind and vision impaired will be well understood and appropriately addressed in the work of the Australian Banker’s Association.

WORLD BLIND UNION

John Simpson

As Event Organiser for the WBU Fifth General Assembly I am pleased to present this brief overview of the "WBU Project", which incorporated the organisation and hosting of the WBU General Assembly, Second World Blind Women's Forum and a range of associated activities.

The information below is extracted from the Project Report which was published by Blind Citizens Australia on behalf of the Australian Host Group in June of this year. Copies of the Project Report are available from BCA on request.

From November 15 to 25, 2000 more than 850 participants from 135 countries visited Melbourne for the World Blind Union's Fifth General Assembly and associated events:

• 350 blind women and their associates from 110 countries attended the Second World Blind Women's Forum;
• 650 Delegates, Observers, Guides and others attended the WBU General Assembly;
• 45 organisations from 15 countries, involving more than 120 people, participated in VISTA 21C, the international exhibition of technology and services.

The Calendar for Australia's hosting of the World Blind Union included the conduct of 41 events and activities over eleven days. These included:

• 2^nd World Blind Women's Forum, Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 November;
• WBU 5th General Assembly, Monday 20 to Friday 24 November;

• Vista 21C an Exhibition of Technology and Services, Sunday 19 to Thursday 23 November;
• International Management Seminar, Thursday 16 and Friday 17 November;
• Home Hosting Evening, where international attendees were invited to dinner in the homes of blind people and project supporters, held on Friday Evening, 17 November;
• A Parade through the streets of Melbourne and Dinner in a city park at the conclusion of the World Blind Women's Forum, Saturday evening November 18.
• Australiana Night, held at Melbourne's Maritime Museum, Tuesday evening, November 22;
• a series of Hotel Get-togethers, to welcome our international guests and provide them with information about the Event, accommodation and other facilities;

• and, the Final Banquet to farewell participants in the WBU General Assembly.

Meetings and other functions were held in a total of nineteen separate venues, within the Melbourne Town Hall, at the Athenaeum Theatre next door and across the central city area.

The project was planned and hosted as a co-operative venture between six major blindness organisations.

• Blind Citizens Australia, (BCA);
• Guide Dogs Association of NSW & ACT;
• Guide Dogs Association of Victoria;
• Royal Blind Society;
• Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind;
• Vision Australia Foundation.

Blind Citizens Australia accepted Project Management and contractual responsibility on behalf of the Australian Host Group. A separate project bank account was established with signatories drawn from the Host Executive and BCA took formal responsibility for the employment of project staff and all other commercial arrangements.

As part of their commitment the five Blindness Service Agencies that participated in the project contributed a total of $200,000 as core funding. These funds were provided to the Host Executive well in advance of the Event and thus facilitated the early planning and funding development aspects of the project.

Beyond this the Melbourne based Partner Organisations were particularly generous in their support of the project:

• senior management personnel were made available to take up direct Executive and Portfolio Management responsibilities for the duration of the project;
• more than 450 staff members from Vision Australia, RVIB, the Guide Dogs Association of Victoria and BCA participated in preparations for the Event or were made available for WBU duty during the operational phase of the Project.
• RVIB provided office accommodation and associated services for the staff team for a nine month period from June 2000;
• Vision Australia Foundation established a "WBU Office" within its Human Resources Department from where it undertook the immense task of recruiting, training and management of project volunteers;
• both RVIB and Vision Australia made available computer equipment, furniture, motor vehicles and the other facilities necessary to establish and maintain the project support facilities needed at the Melbourne Town Hall;
• NILS, the National Library and Information Service, operated jointly by RVIB and RBS, undertook the production of all alternative format materials;
• and the Guide Dogs Association of Victoria provided support for those attendees who were accompanied by a Guide Dog. This included the establishment and staffing of a Guide Dog Care Facility in a carpark close to the Town Hall.

More than 1350 people were directly involved with the planning and conduct of the project, including:

• staff from the Partner Organisations;
• volunteers from those organisations and from the wider community;
• and the representatives of various external suppliers of goods and services.

The management team for the operational phase of the project involved 45 people. It is very pleasing to note that 15 of these were blind or vision impaired.

More than half a million Australian Dollars was raised within Australia to support the organisation and hosting of the Event. This does not include the thousands of dollars worth of in-kind support provided from the Partner Organisations and from commercial and community supporters.

The project received direct grants of $120,000 from the Commonwealth and $100,000 from the Victorian Government. Both grants were provided to fund specific aspects of the project related to the extraordinary costs of catering for the information and access requirements of attendees who were blind or vision impaired.

The City of Melbourne provided a grant of $20,000 as an offset to the usage costs for the Melbourne Town Hall.

A further $750,000 was provided by WBU and a number of International Aid Organisations to support the attendance of 160 participants from developing countries.

Of the 850 people who attended the WBU General Assembly and/or the World Blind Women's Forum, more than 50% were blind or had a substantial vision impairment.

Although the WBU actively encourages Delegates and Observers to be accompanied by Guides from their own country, by offering free registration (and in some cases travel subsidy support), many of our international attendees and the majority of Australian participants were unaccompanied and required at least some assistance during their stay.

This situation was further complicated as many of our guests came from developing countries and had little experience of life in a large western style city such as Melbourne.

The provision of Delegate Support Services was one of the largest organisational tasks within our planning and management of the WBU Event. Mrs Jennifer Gibbons, General Manager Human Resources with the Vision Australia Foundation accepted responsibility for this area with a management team of fifteen, drawn from across the Partner Organisations.

More than 300 volunteers were involved each day with Delegate support activities over the 17 day period from Sunday 12 to Tuesday 28 November 2000. Support services were provided in the following areas:

• Airport Liaison;
• Transport;
• Hotel Support;
• Conference Venue Support;
• Guide Dog Support;
• First Aid and Personal Care;
• Interpreters;
• Exhibition Guides.

As part of its early planning the Australian Host Group determined that:

• An effective city-wide communication system would be essential to ensure the full participation of all conference attendees and to ensure continuity of information and co-ordination across the various conference venues and hotels:
• As the WBU is the peak policy forum for blind people and those involved with the provision of blindness related services from around the world, it was very important that the content of its General Assembly and Blind Women's Forum, and the results of its deliberations, be readily available to the broader population of blind people and their associates.

The Conference proceedings and other Event news was available to blind people and their associates around the world:

• WBU-FM operated 24 hours per day for 12 days as a Special Events Radio Service serving the central Melbourne area;
• 33 hours of conference and related material was broadcast across Australia through the Radio for the Print Handicapped Network;
• Around 210 hours of conference and related material was broadcast via the Internet, simultaneously in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Following the conclusion of the Event an arrangement was made for the Royal Blind Society of NSW to host an on-going website that would provide continuing access to the proceeding of the World Blind Women's Forum and General Assembly in each of the four conference languages. This material continues to be available at www.wbuga.org through the ongoing support of the Royal Blind Society.

Conference material was produced in 13 different language/formats, including:

• 4250 braille master pages;
• 176,000 braille copy pages;
• 1600 audio cassettes;

• 350 computer disks.

In concluding this Report I wish to thank the Officers of the WBU and the Members of the Australian Host Executive and Host Group for the co-operation, advice and support that they offered me throughout the project.

The Host Group provided direction and leadership for more than 1100 volunteers and other project personnel. I take this opportunity to record my gratitude and appreciation for the enthusiasm and dedication that these people brought to our hosting of the 850 blind people and their associates who visited Melbourne from all parts of the world.

I also wish to record my personal thanks and admiration to the project staff team for the commitment and dedication that was the hallmark of their contribution to the project.

Karen Knight

As a result of the changes to BCA’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, the National Policy and Development Council (NPDC) was established. The NPDC consists of Board members, a representative from each state/territory provided that state/territory has over 50 full members and an organisational members’ representative. A member of the National Women’s Branch committee has also been co-opted to the Council. The role of this group is to develop policy for the organisation and provide feedback on key development directions for BCA. The membership in addition to the Board of Directors (whose names are listed elsewhere in this report) are:

Pat Stillman – Queensland

Pam Fayers – New South Wales

Mark Muscat – Victoria

Vanessa Ransley – Tasmania

Kim Hand – South Australia

Keith Hayes – Western Australia

Peter Ryan – Organisational members’ Representative

Fiona Woods – National Women’s Branch representative

During the past year, this group has met face to face on two occasions and once by telephone as a large group. At its first meeting, the group set four priorities for the year – membership and development, transport and access, welfare reform and international projects. The Council then proceeded to work in small committees to achieve some outcomes in these priority areas. Short reports outlining the work of the Membership and Develoment, Transport and Access and Welfare Reform subcommittees follow.

Membership & Development

Leighton Boyd

The membership of this Working Group comprises:

Leighton Boyd - Victoria (Convenor)

Mark Muscat – Victoria

Chire Fulford – Queensland

Pat Stillman - Queensland

Lyn Eagers - Queensland

Kym Hand – South Australia

Keith Hayes – Western Australia

Vanessa Ransley – Tasmania

Karen Knight – BCA President (ex-officio)

Maryanne Diamond – BCA Executive Officer (ex-officio)

This group has met six times in telephone meetings and uses email to communicate with each other between meetings.

Initially the prime objective was to complete a "Terms of Reference" document which would outline the aims, objectives, priorities, roles and responsibilities for the group. This has now been achieved with the aim being to increase the membership of BCA and to improve

the involvement of members in BCA activities.

Six priorities were also identified for immediate attention and a further nine issues have been listed as future areas for consideration. Two of the priorities, namely; the preparation of an ID Card Explanation Statement and Frequently asked Questions sheet have been completed and are now in the process of being prepared for distribution. The group is currently working on the remaining priorities which involve; contacting indigenous and ethnic groups to encourage more representation of their communities within the membership of BCA, completing a member survey, initially in Victoria, and producing a news release insert for other organisations’ newsletters.

The Working Group is indebted to the support given by the national office and in particular to Collette O’Neill and Helen Freris for their help with the indigenous and ethnic group priorities.

Our membership continues to grow strongly. Below is a table which illustrates the growth in membership by State/Territory from September 1997 to September 2001.

VIC 888 936 1002 1031 1061

NSW 523 572 617 642 681

SA 420 408 394 393 385

QLD 244 257 282 303 318

WA 190 195 207 208 209

TAS 80 78 83 83 134

ACT 39 40 46 47 46

NT 16 15 15 16 14

Overseas 7 8 8 8 9

Transport and Access Report

Peter Johnson

The national office has also been working very closely with the Australian Building Codes Board to ensure the best outcome for our members, and I would like to thank everyone from the ABCB for their co-operation and assistance. In particular I thank Collette O’neill, our Policy Officer, who has worked long and tirelessly on numerous issues relating to Standards. Another achievement in this area was the appointment of David Blyth to the Australian Standards as the representative of Blind Citizens Australia. Previous to this we were represented by Ivan Peterson who did a superb job on our behalf and BCA thanks Ivan for all his hard work and expertise.

In addition the Transport and Access Committee is updating BCA’s Policies and thus far we have looked at the Pedestrian Safety Policy and the Audible Tactile Pedestrian Signals Policy. More work remains to be done in this area and this is one of my goals for the coming year.

Other issues we have discussed include the provision of tactiles on the edge of station platforms and whether this is a good enough barrier to prevent blind people falling off those platforms. The installation of Pedestal phone boxes and the danger they present to blind and low vision pedestrians.

As a result of a request from Vic Roads we discussed the riding of bicycles on footpaths in Victoria.

This is just a sample of the type of work undertaken by this Committee and I thank all those people who have had input to the decision making process. The Committee is still looking for a person from Tasmania and if anyone from there would like to be part of this Committee then give me a call.

There is almost an unlimited number of issues that my committee could spend time on, however I believe that we should work in those areas where we can make a difference. Notwithstanding this I remind all members of BCA that we are there to help you, so if you would like to put forward any suggestions they would be very welcome.

Finally I say a big thank you to all my committee for all their work and support and I look forward to working with most of them after convention.

This year, half of the State representatives on the NPDC are to be re-elected. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the retiring Councillors – Pat Stillman, Pam Fayers, Mark Muscat and Peter Ryan as the representative of Organisational Members. Thank you all for your contributions and I trust you will continue to work with BCA in your local areas.

WELFARE REFORM WORKING GROUP

Robert Altamore

The Committee members include Karen Knight, Daniel Stubbs (ACT), Sean Tyrrell (Victoria), Lynne Davis, Pamela Fayers and Fiona Woods (all NSW). Collette O'Neill, BCA's National Policy Officer, provides support to the Working Group.

The Working Group's main priority has been the oversight of the research being undertaken by Collette O'Neill for BCA into the costs of blindness.

This has involved a thorough investigation of the direct, indirect and opportunity costs of being blind or vision impaired. This research is

based on the experiences of blind and vision impaired people and will be a valuable resource to draw upon when formulating BCA's contributions to the debate about income support policy in Australia.

Six focus groups have been conducted in various parts of Australia to gain information from blind people on the non-optional costs of blindness. These focus groups have highlighted the issues for blind people as parents, people from a non-English speaking background, young people, older people, residents of regional Australia and people who are experiencing gradual site loss. The results of these focus groups have been collated and analysed and implications drawn for the next two stages of the research, the conduct of interviews and a diary keeping exercise. In addition to

its own research, the Working Group is also monitoring and providing input into work on the cost of disability and the development of disability allowance models that is currently being undertaken by several of the other disability peak bodies.

The Working Group has sought information from the major political parties on their policies in key areas of interest to blind people and the responses were published as a supplement to the August edition of BCA News. The Working Group has also provided input into Blind Citizens Australia's response to the Australians Working Together consultations by which the Government seeks to progress its welfare reform agenda. Input has also been provided to comments by Blind Citizens Australia to Centrelink on changes to its rules with respect to provision of information by clients.

This year's Convention session on welfare reform issues has been put together by the Working Group and will provide BCA members both with information and an opportunity to express their views on welfare reform issues.

On behalf of the Working Group, I express appreciation to members of Blind Citizens Australia who have participated in focus groups or contacted Collette with their individual comments and observations. I also express appreciation to Collette for her support of the Group and the high quality of her research work.

CONTACT DETAILS

Branches and Organisational Members, August 2001

Regional Branches

Robert Altamore

President ACT Branch

6 Taroona Place

LYONS ACT 2606

Phone: 02-6282-2805

Tony Starkey

President Adelaide Branch

PO Box 3103, Rundall Mall

ADELAIDE SA 5000

Phone: 08-8223-7622

Fax: 08-8223-7836

Terry Boyle

President Brisbane Branch

54 Panorama Street

ASHGROVE QLD 4060

Phone: 07-3366-2128

Richard Mackay

President Macleay Nambucca Branch

3 Laurels Avenue

KEMPSEY NSW 2440

Phone: 02-6562-7174

John Simpson

President Melbourne Branch

18 Prosper Pde

GLEN IRIS VIC 3146

Phone: 03-9899-0392

Patrick Downie

President Sydney Branch

20/55 Albert Road,

STRATHFIELD NSW 2135

Phone: 02-9745-6715

Ian Harrison

President Tweed Valley Branch

Site 28B Tweed Heritage Caravan Park

Chinderah Bay Drive

CHINDERAH NSW 2487

Phone: 02-6674-3243

Greg Madson

President Blind Citizens WA

Locked Bag 2

MAYLANDS WA 6931

Phone: 08-9371-2111

Fax: 08-9371-2155

Doug McGinn

President Tasmanian Branch
P.O. Box 22
Sandy Bay Tas 7006
Ph: 03-6223-7146

Special Interest Branches

President Computer Users Group

Phone: 03-9555-1190

Fiona Woods

President National Women's Branch

17 Peel Street

GLENBROOK NSW 2773

Phone: 02-4739-5101

Ivan Molloy

President Overseas Service Branch

8 Morrisons Avenue,

MT MARTHA VIC 3934

Phone: 03-5975-1858

Jordie Howell

President Youth Branch
3 Lee Ann Street

Blackburn South Vic 3130

Phone: 03-9878-9053

Organisational Members

Class A

Naomi Clark

Executive Officer - Association of Blind Citizens of

New South Wales Inc.

11A Ethel Street

BURWOOD NSW 2134

Phone: 02-9744-1516

Fax: 02-9744-1575

Len Clothier

President - Association of Blind Citizens SA

Box 1336

GOLDEN GROVE SA 55125

Phone: 08-8289-9880

Darryl Hicks

President - Blind Workers Union of SA

PO Box 30

GREENACRES SA 5086

Phone: 08-8232-2444

Neil Gillies

President - Blind Workers Union Victoria - RVIB

201 High Street

PRAHRAN VIC 3181

Phone: 03-9521-3050

Marj Barton

President - South Sydney Blind Community and Friends

C/- The Factory

67 Raglan Street

WATERLOO NSW 2017

Phone: 02-9698-1873

Lisa McNeil

Secretary - Albinism Fellowship of SA

18 Baden Terrace

O’Sullivan Beach SA 5166

Phone: 08-8326-4323

Phillip Jenkin

Secretary - Retina Australia

PO Box 340

KENT TOWN SA 5071

Phone: 08-8362-1111

Dr John Vance

President - Retina Australia

PO Box 12544, Elizabeth Street

BRISBANE QLD 4000

Phone: 07-3229-0482

Robyn Richards

President - Retina Australia (NSW)

PO Box 397

STRATHFIELD NSW 2135

Phone: 02-9744-7738

Fax: 02-9715-1314

Email: ransw@connect.net.au

Kate Giles

President - Retina Australia (Vic)

4th Floor - Ross House

247-251 Flinders Lane

MELBOURNE VIC 3000

Phone: 03-9650-5088

Phillip Jenkin

President - Retina Australia (SA)

PO Box 340

KENT TOWN SA 5071

Phone: 08-8362-1111

Organisational Members

Class B

Chief Executive Director

The Deaf-Blind Association

PO Box 267

CLIFTON HILL VIC 3068

Phone: 03-9482-1155

Fax: 03-9486-2092

Paul Creedon

Manager - Sensory Options Co-ordination

21 Blacks Road

GILLIES PLAINS SA 5086

Phone: 08-8366-7333

Fax: 08-8366-7366

Stephen Jolley

Manager – RPH Australia

C/- 3RPH

454 Glenferrie Road

KOOYONG VIC 3144

Phone: 03-9864-9333

Anthony Schimck

Manager - Senswide Services

Level 7, 250 Queen Street

MELBOURNE VIC 3000

Phone: 03-9642-8848

Fax: 03-9642-8750

www.sensewide.com.au

Deb Lewis

Manager – State Wide Vision Resource Centre

PO Box 201

NUNAWADING VIC 3131

Phone: 03-9841-0242

FINANCIAL REPORTS

For Period Ended 30 June 2001

1. Your directors submit the financial accounts for the year ended 30^th June, 2001.

2. The names of the directors in office at the date of this report are:

Robert J. Altamore

David C.H. Blyth

Leighton J. Boyd

Lynnette A. Davis

Lynette Eagers

Peter R. Johnson

Karen L. Knight

Tony F. Starkey

4. The net amount of the Surplus amounted to $37,566.
5. The directors recommend that NIL should be paid by way of dividend. NIL has been paid or declared by way of dividend since the commencement of the financial year, of which NIL was provided for in the previous director’s report.
6. One director has received a benefit because of contracts made by the Company with her or an entity in which she has a substantial financial interest. Payments made: Lynne Davis $1,457.00 for consultancy fees.

Signed in accordance with a resolution of the directors.

Director ____________________________________ David Blyth

Director ____________________________________ Leighton Boyd

Dated this 24^th day of August 2001

In the opinion of the directors of the company:

1. (a) The Profit and Loss account is drawn up so as to give a

1. At the date of this statement, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the company will be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due.

1. The company has kept its accounting records in such a manner as would enable true and fair accounts of the company to be prepared from time to time.
2. The company has kept its accounts in such a manner as would enable the accounts to be conveniently and properly audited in accordance with the Corporations Law.
3. The accounts have been properly prepared by a competent person.

This statement is made in accordance with the resolution of the Board of Directors and is signed for and on behalf of the directors by:

Director ___________________________________ David Blyth

Director ___________________________________ Leighton Boyd

Dated this 24^th day of August 2001

60000 Agency Grants 48500

140802 Bequests 2461

14736 Charged Services --

38374 Fundraising 146444

39028 Donations 29806

-- Grant – Jeffrey Blyth Foundation 9000

10055 Interest & Dividends Received 5546

493284 Projects 378067

109789 Project Reimbursement 219237

42759 Specific Purpose Income 16834

9000 Victorian Service 9000

-- Convention 3500

LESS EXPENSES

-- Accounting Service & Support 640

-- AGM Expenses 4363

1140 Bank Charges 8106

5410 Charged Services --

38675 Communication 3453

15126 Consultancy & Fundraising --

17662 Council --

6920 Corporate/legal/accounting 6314

20296 Depreciation 23143

1097 Donation Programs --

125000 Grant – Jeffrey Blyth Foundation --

3554 Insurance 3910

-- Lottery Expenses/Prizes 92002

10978 Maintenance, Equipment, Consumables 10094

7075 Memberships & Subscriptions 12161

53173 Meetings & Conferences 5474

4117 Membership Support 548

-- Newsletter/Publications 19312

6054 Policy Implementation --

6699 Postage & Shipping 6392

16145 Printing & Stationery 14027

15080 Project Expenses 10415

5288 Project Grants --

2000 Project Support --

3000 Project Management --

26421 Project Consultant 77070

11250 Rent & Services 21883

332802 Salaries & Wages 348846

-- Soundabout Communications 2056

-- Sponsorship 7220

3836 Staff Training & Recruitment 4696

3045 Staff Amenities 2054

-- Sundries 1243

52134 Superannuation 27742

39761 Telephone 30846

77584 Travel & Accommodation 76398

6559 Workcare 10421

144603 Opening Balance 184549

39946 Surplus/Deficit for period 37566

210 Cash on Hand 120

6078 Cash at Bank 61920

11705 Receivables 37301

135449 NAB 45329

40000 Trust Co of Australia 40000

10978 Furniture Fittings 10146

44998 Plant & Equipment 34705

22340 Computer Equipment 26574

37348 Creditors & Accruals 28658

1000 Prepaid Income --

31768 Unspent Project Grants --

17093 Provision for Annual Leave 5322

The accompanying notes form part of these financial accounts.

These accounts should be read in conjunction with the attached disclaimer.

1. This is not a general purpose financial report. It is a special purpose report prepared for the members of the company to enable compliance with the requirements of the Corporations Law and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Corporations Law and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Corporations Law including the disclosure requirements of Schedule 5. The accounts have been prepared from historical cost records, except where stated otherwise. The accrual and going concern basis of accounting have been adopted.
2. Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, Plant and Equipment are included at cost, independent of directors’ valuation. All assets, excluding freehold land and buildings are depreciated over their useful lives or depreciation rates set by the Commissioner of Taxation.

3. Inventories

Inventories are measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Costs are assigned on a first-in first-out basis and include direct materials, direct labour and an appropriate proportion of variable and fixed overhead expenses.

4. Unearned revenue

The unearned revenue shown in the accounts will be brought to account over the life of the contract based on the interest rate implicit in the contract.

5. Income Tax

The income of the Company is exempt form income tax by virtue of Section 23 (e) of the Income Tax Assessment Act.

6. Employee Benefits

In accordance with its Memorandum and Articles of Association the Company has no less than seven members and each member undertakes to contribute a maximum of $2 in the event of winding up.

$ $

Charge as Expense:

Auditors Remuneration – auditing accounts 1400 1600

- other services -- --

Capital profit on sale of investments -- --

Included in Current Receivables are:

Term debtors -- --

Less unearned revenue -- --

Freehold land and buildings -- --

Directors’ valuation 19 -- --

Plant and equipment at cost 181680 167778

Less accumulated depreciation 110255 89462

________ _______

71425 78316

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Maryanne Diamond

National Involvement

We continue to be active in outside organisations. Either we have had representation in our own right, or we have encouraged our members to take part in these various activities. We believe that it is necessary that we are vigilant, active and visible at all levels. A list of involvements in external bodies follows at the end of this section.

We have continued to be involved in co-ordinating bodies in the blindness field, namely: Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, Australian Blindness Forum, Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies

Our responsibility is to serve blind, vision impaired and print handicapped people. In so doing, we believe it is critical to be part of other organisations: to receive information from them, to give advice to them and to ensure that when they speak out or develop policy on blindness or disability related matters they are in conformity with our views. We have enjoyed productive working relations with many external bodies, and we value the contacts we have made and the information and advice we have received.

Blind Citizens Australia is a member of ACROD, Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF), Consumers’ Telecommunications Network and National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations.

We have continued to work with, advise and receive information from our members on various bodies, even though they do not necessarily directly represent Blind Citizens Australia. We believe that it is important that blind people in representative positions have strong links with other blind people, and we encourage our leaders to be involved in their own right in the wider community sector.

Michael Simpson, has continued his strong and beneficial involvement as a Deputy Chair of the National Disability Advisory Council (NDAC). NDAC is the advisory council to the Commonwealth Minister for Family Services. Michael’s major portfolio responsibility on NDAC has been liaison with the peak national disability organisations such as Blind Citizens Australia.

Members of Blind Citizens Australia

Serving on National and International Bodies

• Australian Blindness Forum: Maryanne Diamond *,

David Blyth *, Karen Knight *

• Australian Braille Authority: Karen Knight *

• Australian Communications Industry Forum: Tony Starkey *

• Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies:

Maryanne Diamond *

• ACROD: Maryanne Diamond *, Karen Knight *

• Consumers’ Telecommunications Network: Tony Starkey *

• Telstra Disability Forum: Tony Starkey *

• Optus Consumer Liaison Forum: Tony Starkey *

• National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations:

Maryanne Diamond *

• National Disability Advisory Council: Michael Simpson

(Deputy Chair)

• Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities:

Karen Knight with Bruce Maguire consumer representative *

• Australian Banking Industry Association: Tim Noonan *

• Federation of Disability Organisations Establishment Working

Group: Maryanne Diamond *

DDA Standards Working Parties

• DDA Steering Committee: Maryanne Diamond*

• Executive Member of International Council on English Braille:

Bruce Maguire

Standards Australia Committees

• ME/64: Access for People with Disabilities, David Blyth *

• ME/64/4: Access for People with Disabilities – Vision, David Blyth

World Blind Union

• Australian Delegates: Maryanne Diamond, Graeme Innes*

• Chair, WBU Committee on the Status of Blind Women: Maryanne Diamond

Other International Representations

• Executive Member, International Council on English Braille, Bruce Maguire

International Involvements

DAISY Consortium