Blind Citizens Australia is the united voice of blind or 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.
Back to top of PageI am pleased to introduce the 29th Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) for the year ended 30 June 2004. As this report demonstrates, in the past year BCA has worked diligently on its key activities of peer support, information dissemination, individual advocacy, systemic advocacy and advice to government and the community.
The year has been a busy and productive one for our organisation. The highlights of the year were:-
This report is the collective effort of various Directors and members of staff. I hope you will read it and through it understand the work of BCA on behalf of Australians who are blind or vision impaired.
Karen Knight, Chair of our Finance and Fundraising Committee, and the National Office through Maryanne Diamond, have worked hard to ensure that our organisation is financially stable.
I thank all of those members and supporters who have made financial donations to BCA during the year. I also thank those blindness agencies that have continued to financially support us over a number of years and those blindness agencies and commercial organisations which have financially supported us this year. In addition to financial support, blindness agencies and individuals have provided much in-kind support through the year. This very practical help is also much appreciated.
I am very pleased to acknowledge the financial contribution Darren Fittler and his friends made to BCA through the East Coast Cycle Challenge. Darren, is one of our young blind members, who with 12 of his friends organised and completed a bicycle ride from Brisbane to Sydney. This raised awareness of BCA, the capabilities of young people who are blind or vision impaired and contributed funds for our work for youth. The East Coast Cycle challenge raised $22,222 for BCA thanks to the generosity of supporters along the way and a number of major sponsors including the Metroplex Organisation and their staff.
The members of the Board are: Robert Altamore, Karen Knight, Tony Starkey, John Simpson, Gregory Madson, Theresa Smith and Susan Thompson. Tony Starkey, Susan Thompson and Theresa Smith were elected at the 2003 AGM. Daniel Stubbs served as a Board member until the 2003 AGM and I thank him for his contribution to BCA as a Board member.
The Board meets monthly by teleconference and holds two face-to-face meetings each year, in association with meetings of the National Policy and Development Council. The Board also has a sub-committee on Finance and Fundraising, which is led by Karen Knight.
The NPDC consists of the Board members, a representative from each State or Territory that has more than 50 full members, a representative of organisational members and a co-opted representative of the National Women’s Branch. The NPDC has responsibility for guiding the development of BCA policies.
The membership, in addition to the Board, is: Mathew Mirabella (Vic), Bill McKennariey (NSW), Terry Boyle (Qld), Kym Hand (SA), Erika Webb (WA), Maree Brown (TAS) and Lee Kumutat (Women's Branch representative). The position of Organisational Representative is currently vacant.
The NPDC held two face-to-face meetings, in November 2003 and May 2004. The Council uses working groups to carry on its activity between meetings, which meet by teleconference. The working groups for this year were: Transport and Access; Education; Library and Information Access; and Employment. Each of the working groups was chaired by a Board member and a report from each is contained in this report.
Maryanne Diamond has resigned as Executive Officer of BCA. Maryanne has been offered and accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations. The Federation is the newly formed National peak body for people with disabilities in Australia. In this position, Maryanne will continue to work closely with BCA and its members on behalf of people with disabilities.
Maryanne has made a very significant contribution to BCA as its Executive Officer, providing sound advice and guidance to the Board and Council and leading an efficient and friendly office team, which provides a high level of service to our members and those with whom we have contact. Maryanne has also made a significant contribution to the blindness sector through her participation in the Australian Blindness Forum and as an Australian delegate to the World Blind Union. I am sure you will join with me in extending our appreciation to Maryanne for her contribution to BCA and our best wishes for her future career with the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations.
At the 2003 Convention, the BCA David Blyth Award was presented to Neville Kerr in recognition of his outstanding contribution as a pioneer in Radio for the Print Handicapped broadcasting and programming, an innovator in the use of radio to meet the information needs of blind people and as the producer and host of over 1,000 editions of our National weekly radio program 'Horizons'.
Lynne Davis received BCA's Certificate of Appreciation recognizing her contribution to BCA as a Director, as Editor of BCA News and as a leader in our advocacy work at the National level and in New South Wales.
On behalf of all BCA members and friends, I congratulate Neville and Lynne on these Awards and thank them for their tremendous contributions over many years.
Our contribution to the RBS/RVIB/VAF merger is covered in more detail later in this report. Blind Citizens Australia has been pleased to participate in and support the process, which resulted in the merger of these three key organisations. We have supported the merger of these organisations as we believe it is in the long term best interests of blind people or vision impaired people. BCA is committed to supporting the Board and staff of the new organisation in meeting the challenges of consolidating the merger and realising the promised benefits for blind people. In particular, it will be important that the Board set a culture for the organisation which has blind people at its centre and which fosters the active involvement of blind people as clients, consumers, employees, managers, executives and Board members. In fulfilment of our responsibility to blind people as their National representative organisation BCA will not hesitate to give praise where it is due or other constructive criticism where necessary
Back to top of PageI am pleased to summarise the activities undertaken by Blind Citizens Australia over the last year, which has once again been busy and varied. With mixed feelings I do this for the fifth and final time as I prepare to move on to a role as CEO of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations.
There was some movement in the staff of our National Office during the year. At the end of June 2004, staff included:
| Maryanne Diamond | Executive Officer |
| Aileen McFadzean | National Advocacy Officer |
| John Power | National Policy Officer |
| Nadia Mattiazzo | Victorian Advocacy and Information Officer |
The administration team consisted of Rosalyn Bates, Judi Potts, Robert Mascitti and Belinda Ayres.
During December 2003 Anthony Meilak left us to take up a new position and we wish him well. After more than three years, during June 2004 Collette O'Neill left Blind Citizens Australia for a position with the Victorian Government. All who have been associated with the organization during this period will no doubt be aware of the tremendous contribution Collette made and we wish her every success in the future. Judi Potts commenced during August 2003, Belinda Ayres in April 2004 and John Power in June 2004.
Rowena Jitts has continued as our NSW part time Administration Officer located in Sydney and from March 2004 she has taken on a short-term role as part time Project Officer for the employment project.
BCA continued to administer the lottery during 2003-2004. Judi Potts has taken primary responsibility for the administration in the National Office. Three people were employed in Bathurst as telemarketers. Two lotteries were conducted during this time and BCA raised approximately $30,000 as a result.
During the year we continued to work with a core group of volunteers who fit well into the office environment and provide an enormous range of skills, which support and enhance the work of our paid staff. They are a mix of members and local residents, some with sight and many without. Under the direction of Rosalyn Bates, they have proven a co-ordinated and effective team of people.
The staff and volunteers are a friendly, dedicated and capable group of people. I am pleased to have been a member of this group, both professionally and on a personal level.
Reports on the activities of the NSW and Victorian Offices are contained further in this Annual report.
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 to all blind or vision impaired Australians. Examples of advocacy undertaken during this year include: dealing with Centrelink, employment, education, migration, access to information and provision of bills and statements in accessible formats. We anticipate and are working towards many of the individual cases resulting in change that is of benefit to all blind or vision-impaired people.
During 2003-2004, under the leadership of Collette O'Neill, a huge range of policy areas was addressed. Some of these included: giving evidence at the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the DDA and the House of Representatives inquiry into employment and preparation of the organisations responses to many requests from the sector. Collette initiated a number of short term projects undertaken by volunteers that included: development of a Frequently Asked Question Booklet for the building industry, research into blind or vision impaired living in care facilities and the range and number of blind or vision impaired people acting as carers in the community.
In late 2003 the Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) funded a project aimed at identifying ways that students with vision impairments could be supported by good university teaching practices. BCA is a member of the steering committee for this project which will be completed during 2005.
BCA has been a member of the AVCC steering committee on accessible materials for students who are blind or vision impaired which has now wound up after achieving:
Further information about our progress in the area of education can be found in the individual reports of the National Advocacy Officer and National Policy Officer.
Blind Citizens Australia prepared a detailed response to the Draft Access to Premises Standard, which expressed our disappointment and frustration with how little the Standards would address issues of concern to our members. It also urged that greater resources be put into research on issues affecting people who are blind or vision impaired.
Following lobbying by BCA a project under the CRC Construction Innovation grants – WayFinding in the Built Environment has commenced with BCA having a place on the steering committee. This is a three-phase project with Phase One completed, which is a comprehensive review of research developments internationally in the area of way finding systems and technology. At the end of the scoping study, depending on findings, it is anticipated that Phase Two will begin for the identification and application of a preferred system that could be trialed. It is further anticipated that Phase Three could then be the installation, trial and evaluation of a system as part of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
A Convention on Human Rights and Disability is currently being drafted by the United Nations. Blind Citizens Australia has contributed detailed submissions to the Attorney Generals Department, which has primary responsibility for Australia's input. During July 2004 funds were made available for a cooperative project by People with Disability Australia, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and the National Association of Community Legal Centres, to conduct a range of public consultations with Australians who have a disability. The outcome of these consultations was a major report to the Attorney General setting out the views of Australians with a disability on the form and content of the Convention. This report will form part of the Brief for the Australian Delegation to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee who will meet in August/September 2004 and again in 2005.
Blind Citizens Australia continued to work with the three major blindness agencies, RVIB, RBS and VAF, as they worked to merge into a single agency. On July 1 & 2, members of each of the merging companies voted in favour of the merger and on July 6 2004 the Federal Court approved the merger. Three members of the first Board were nominated by Blind Citizens Australia: Maryanne Diamond, June Ashmore and Lynne Davis. This provides the opportunity for improvement in the delivery of services to blind or vision impaired people and is the most significant change for many decades. This is the beginning of change; certainly not the end and I look froward to being part of it.
Reports from several staff members appear later in this Annual Report and I urge you to read these to gain an understanding of the enormous amount of work undertaken by BCA during the last year.
BCA has links with a number of external organisations and sits on many committees and working parties to ensure the needs and views of blind or vision impaired people are represented. A complete list of these appear later in this report along with the names of our representatives.
Our work at an international level continues with the World Blind Union (WBU) and I am pleased that our members continue to show a great deal of interest in issues concerning blind or vision impaired people around the world. Graeme Innes Theresa Smith, Andrew Daly and I represent Australia as delegates to the World Blind Union both at a regional and international level. I have chaired the WBU Women's Committee since November 2000 and served as a Board member and Executive member of the WBU from our region since 2001. Theresa Smith is a member of the WBU-Asia Pacific (WBU-AP) Women’s Committee and Darren Fittler Chairs the WBU-AP Youth Committee.
Over the past year, there has once again been a steady growth in membership, with over142 new members joining. At the end of June there were 32 junior members, 300 associate members and 2756 full members.
We continue to communicate with members and the blindness sector through a variety of alternative format methods.
Our quarterly newsletter, Blind Citizens News, is read widely both in Australia and overseas. Nadia Mattiazzo has worked as the editor over the last year and it is anticipated that an ongoing editor will soon be appointed.
Neville Kerr continues to host the Horizons radio program each week, and for those who are unable to listen on the RPH network it is available via our web site.
Our audio magazine SoundAbout, which has been produced for more than 10 years, continue to provide a style of publication welcomed by many people. Thanks to Dale Simpson (for his technical expertise), all those across Australia who have provided technical support, Stephen Jolley and a number of other presenters and Greg Madson who chaired the Committee overseeing SoundAbout’s production. Their hard work and professional approach is appreciated.
The BCA web site is managed and kept up-to-date by Barry Chapman who does a tremendous job maintaining a well-resourced web site.
The BCA-L discussion list is available for members. The purpose of this list is to provide an email forum for discussion and information sharing on issues important to members who are blind or vision impaired. Thanks to Lynne Eagers for her work as administrator of the list for some time before responsibility for it moved to the National Office.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who support BCA in the National Office, NSW Office and at the State and branch level providing their expertise in a range of tasks, from labelling envelopes, formatting braille, copying newsletters, answering teletelephones, entering data, sending out raffle tickets, recording interviews, copying cassettes, developing submissions etc. Your efforts and time commitment are much appreciated.
BCA has undertaken a range of projects over a number of years, some specific to blindness and others across disability. During this year two major projects have been hosted by BCA: TEDICORE and an Employment Project.
The Telecommunications and Disability (TEDICORE) project has been managed by BCA over the last six years with Gunela Astbrink employed as a consultant to lead this work. John Simpson has chaired the Policy Advisory Board for this project over the last year with representatives from a number of disability organisations, providing a resource and support to Gunela in her work. The project aims to advance and represent the interests of telecommunications users with disabilities, and to promote equity and accessibility. BCA has been granted funding for a further year on this project.
During March 2004 BCA was successful in obtaining a grant from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) to undertake a short-term project. A resource manual has been developed for Job Network members and five workshops will be conducted around Australia during August 2004. A report on this project appears later in the Annual Report.
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.
There has been a change in the reporting of Blind Citizens Australia’s finances with these accounts showing a consolidated view of the organisation throughout the financial statements, as opposed to prior years that reported the Victorian Service separately with the net worth of the Victorian Service included in the Balance Sheet of the National Service. As a result, the financial statements will not disclose transactions between the two Services, and the reports may not appear to flow from prior years.
As you will see from the detailed financial statements which appear further in this Report BCA ended the year with a deficit of $5329.01.
Given the type of business BCA is, often funds are received in one year and expended in later years. This is evident when examining the finances over recent years where there was a large surplus on some occasions and a deficit on others.
During this year the total Income was $718,860.42, and total Expenses $724,189.43. With the consolidation of the National Service and Victorian Service, Government funding of $259,280.58 is made up of the grant from the Department of Human Services Victoria of $96,520.58, and the grant from the Department of Family and Community Services of $162,760.
Through various fundraising activities we raised $67,284.24. Lottery raised $29,913.45. We highly appreciate the support from our members through our Appeal to Members of $21,631.76 and Pre-Authorised Credit Card Program, which raised $7118.68. Donations from the general public provided $19,721.35. Special thanks must be recorded to Darren Fittler who organised a bike ride from Brisbane to Sydney raising $22,222 of which half was given to BCA and the remainder placed in the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation tagged for youth.
We also thank the blindness agencies that provided $72,500 during this year and the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation which gave a grant of $10,000. We recognise and thank other organisations for their continuing support.
Under the leadership of Karen Knight and the Finance Committee, I am pleased to report our books are in order and are regularly reviewed.
Under the leadership of Robert Altamore, our National President, we continue to work hard to encourage blind or vision impaired Australians to be part of BCA and to be part of the work we undertake.
Thank you to the staff, Board members, NPDC members, branches and all associated with BCA. Without you, we could not achieve anything.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board, staff and members for the tremendous support they have provided to me over the last five years. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to lead the work in our National office since June 2000. This has provided me with huge personal and professional development and I look forward to a new and different role in the organisation. I would like to wish my successor and the organisation well in the many challenges that lie ahead.
I am pleased to commend to you this Annual Report for the year 2003-2004 of Blind Citizens Australia.
Back to top of PageThis year has again been busy. The number of requests for advice and individual advocacy support has been consistent with previous years. Most of our advice work has related to Centrelink issues followed by employment and education matters. The accessible provision of goods and services continues to be regularly raised by callers. Our advocacy casework continues to relate primarily to disability discrimination as well as assisting with Centrelink appeals processes.
It is disappointing that employment opportunities have not increased for workers with disabilities in blindness agencies, and such opportunities appear to be contracting. We have, over the past year, regularly provided advice in relation to dismissal, redundancy and lack of promotional opportunities. Lack of promotional opportunities can result in the impact of redundancies falling more heavily on blind or vision impaired employees.
We do not believe that blindness agencies do as much as they can to recruit, train and preserve the employment of blind or vision impaired workers. Blindness agencies should demonstrate best practice in the employment of blind people partly because we believe that blind people should be involved in delivering services to other blind people and to also demonstrate to the broader employment sector that people who are blind or vision impaired are effective, valuable employees. Although agency efficiencies are an extremely important consideration we believe that the impact of restructuring on blind or vision impaired staff should be closely monitored and alternatives found. The trend must be reversed.
The trend of decreasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the public sector was raised in our last annual report. This trend has not been reversed and we have advocated for people in relation to discrimination in employment and in relation to the ending of the employment relationship. This continues to be extremely disappointing but at least the trend is recognised as an issue of concern in the public sector and there is discussion as to how to reverse this trend. The blindness agencies do not appear to be at the stage of recognising the trend as a problem, let alone developing strategies.
We urge people to contact us as soon as possible if they are in a difficult employment situation as the earlier advice is received, the more likely it is that a successful outcome can be achieved. This can be very important not just when a person is trying to preserve their employment but also when a person is considering leaving their employment. Many people do not know their entitlements and their financial security is compromised. We have given advice on numerous occasions in relation to termination of employment that has assisted people through a very stressful, difficult time.
Although we have continued to provide advice and advocacy support to students in the tertiary sector, this last year has seen a rise in the number of secondary school cases.
In a number of instances we have been able to work cooperatively with the school to make appropriate changes in the way students receive educational services. It is, unfortunately, not always the case. We are currently running a discrimination action against a prominent and very wealthy Melbourne private school. The school is claiming that it cannot afford to make the appropriate adjustments and has consequently passed the costs onto the parent. The matter appears unlikely to settle at conciliation and is likely to be referred to the Federal Magistrates Court for mediation and final hearing.
Unlike employment, at least in the area of tertiary education, there have been over the past year, policy initiatives to address issues in a more systemic way. This has made it much easier for us to achieve outcomes for individuals when we can demonstrate that the issues of concern generally reflect issues being addressed by the whole sector. The development of the Education Standards has been instrumental in driving the process to achieve best practice in relation to the provision of educational services for people with disabilities.
Without doubt, there is an increasing focus on materials being provided in accessible electronic form rather than a range of formats being available. Students who learn better using audio or braille might well struggle in the future to convince universities that they require a mixed format approach as electronic access is not appropriate in all circumstances. The cost of production of audio, large print and braille is so high that it is possible that an institution could win a discrimination case if a student wants braille, audio or large print for the bulk of their materials. Institutions distinguish between the student’s preferred format and what is a reasonable format in all the circumstances and of course prefer the least expensive option.
Members have been very active raising access issues in relation to goods and services. We have been involved in cases involving web sites, inaccessible financial and investment information, inaccessible bills and an interesting case involving inaccessible rehabilitation services.
All of the cases we have supported through to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) involved overpayments. We have currently one case that is due to be considered by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Centrelink has appealed the successful overturning of one of their decisions by the SSAT. As stated previously, much of our Centrelink work involves advice only. This advice might take a couple of weeks to provide as issues are researched. My role on the Centrelink Disability Customer Reference Group has meant that we can have issues quickly clarified and researched by the relevant policy section that can often remove the need to take an issue through the appeals process. The contacts achieved by our membership on the reference group have been invaluable.
It is the membership of BCA and other blind or vision impaired people in Australia that drives the individual advice and advocacy service. We encourage members to raise their individual issues as this helps to inform and direct our more strategic, systemic advocacy.
Back to top of PageDuring 2003 - 2004, I worked on a wide range of issues, including education, access and employment. This year for the first time I was helped by a range of volunteers. Below is a brief overview of the work they and I have undertaken.
In late 2003 the Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) funded a project aimed at identifying ways students with vision impairments could be supported by good university teaching practices. BCA is on the Steering Committee for this project. As part of our contribution, we have been organising consultation sessions with students across Australia.
The Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (AV-CC) Steering Committee on Accessible Curricular Materials formed in 2003 and met until June 2004. The Committee, of which BCA was a member, achieved:
The Committee’s main goal was to improve students’ access to their study materials. While we have developed many strategies to achieve this, they all require at least some initial increase in resources. The ALP has in their higher education policy “Aim Higher” committed to providing these resources and we are seeking a similar commitment from the Government. Work on this issue will continue in the coming year.
The 2003-2004 Federal Budget proposed two changes to education that we felt would harm students who are blind or vision impaired. The first was a proposal to stop paying the Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) over the summer break. The second was a proposal to introduce a 5 year limit to publicly funded tertiary education.
We initiated the campaign against the changes to the PES, but it was soon taken up by many other organisations including other disability groups and ACOSS. The campaign was a success because people from across Australia who would be affected by the change rang their local Members of Parliament to tell them exactly why the change was bad for them. It was this action that convinced coalition MPs to take a stand against the change and force the Government to drop it.
Unfortunately, our campaign against the second change was not successful. We had argued that access to publicly funded tertiary education should not be limited to 5 years because this would disadvantage people who were blind or vision impaired in two ways:
Despite our lobbying, the Bill was passed, but not before the Senate had lifted the limit from 5 years to 7.
Blind Citizens Australia prepared a detailed response to the Draft Access to Premises Standard, which expressed our disappointment and frustration with how little the Standards would address issues of concern to our members. It also urged that greater resources be put into research on issues affecting people who are blind or vision impaired. Our submission addressed in detail our concerns with the proposed Administrative Protocol.
The Steering Committee for this project met for the first time in 2003. The project ultimately aims to trial a way finding system at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but is currently only in its first Stage - an exploration of what is already available and already being done around the world in terms of way finding.
In 2004, we started preparing a booklet to answer commonly asked questions about how people who are blind or vision impaired navigate the built environment. We have been cooperating with the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors to develop the booklet and to make sure that the information contained in it is useful for people in the building industry.
Throughout the year we have taken several opportunities to promote the need for more to be done to improve employment opportunities for people who are blind or vision impaired, including meeting with Members of Parliament and senior public servants, and submitting to a Parliamentary Inquiry into Increasing Participation in the Workforce.
A Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is currently being drafted by the United Nations. Blind Citizens Australia has contributed to the process by providing detailed feedback on drafts of the Convention to the Federal Government and to representatives of the disability sector. This work will be ongoing in 2004-2005.
In 2003-2004 we continued to lobby Members of Parliament about the need for a cost of disability allowance. This work is ongoing.
During the year there was speculation, based on numerous leaks, that the Government was considering changes to the Disability Support Pension. Fortunately, these changes were not included in the 2004-2005 Budget.
Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Effectiveness of the Disability Discrimination Act
The Productivity Commission released a draft report of its Inquiry into the Effectiveness of the Disability Discrimination Act in October 2003. The inquiry was a far-reaching review of the accessibility of our society. We responded to the draft report and gave verbal evidence to the Commission on its draft findings and recommendations. The Commission’s final report was presented to the Government in April 2004. Until the Government releases the report, we will not know the Commission’s final recommendations.
During 2003-2004, I worked on a number of other issues including:
I also attended meetings in the area of:
In July 2003, we became aware that the Federal, State and Territory Disability Services Ministers had agreed to a list of fourteen priority areas for people with disabilities that they would work on in coming years. We were not consulted about the priorities and neither were other peak bodies. We wrote to the Minister outlining our anger that we were not consulted on such an important document. Unfortunately, this experience is not unique.
A number of volunteers have undertaken policy work in the last year. I thank them all for their good work. A description of their projects is below.
Cristina Giacominato is working on the Frequently Asked Questions about Blindness booklet for the building industry.
Amanda Tink is developing a draft policy on housing for the National Policy Development Council to consider.
Helen Freris is working on the issue of accessible health care.
Lee Kofman is a student doing a social work placement with us. She has started work on two projects. In the first she is exploring the situation of people who are blind or vision impaired living in institutions. In the second, she is identifying the key issues for people who are blind or vision impaired who are caring for someone else.
This is my last annual report for BCA as I have accepted a job with the Department of Human Services. I would like to record my appreciation for the excellent policy work that has been done by BCA members during my 3 years as the National Policy Officer. I have enjoyed working with you and doing my little bit to make Australia a better place to be blind or vision impaired.
Back to top of PageThe Victorian Information and Advocacy project has continued this year, in accordance with an agreement with the Department of Human Services, and a funding allocation covering information and individual advocacy services. Once again, staff of this department have been most encouraging 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 has again worked hard to identify priorities and set directions for the information and advocacy service. The Committee has identified the long-standing issues of public transport, access to information and services, and access to advocacy services as priorities for the year. Their work has been much appreciated, as has the cooperative atmosphere present within the committee.
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, I have attempted to provide both parents and students with a plethora of information relating to vision impairment including:
I look forward to producing Parent News next year, and hope it continues to meet the information needs of children and families.
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 was again part of a national working group continuing the production of a national SoundAbout magazine, incorporating both national content, and material prepared by each State.
Our membership of the Victorian Government’s Public Transport Access 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 needed to work hard this year to ensure that our needs for accessibility of transport services are communicated to Ministers within the State Government and Opposition, and to senior policy-makers within the Department of Infrastructure and the private transport companies. Our main access priorities are still audible announcements at stations and on vehicles, use of tactile ground surface indicators and education of transport providers. These issues are expected to involve considerable work in the coming year, particularly the redevelopment of Spencer Street Station.
Victorians who are blind or vision impaired have again had the assistance of the Public Transport Directory in making contact with and representing their needs to transport providers. This directory, which has been produced in accessible formats, contains contact details for transport providers and bodies in Victoria. The directory has been widely promoted to members and blindness agencies, as well as through BCA and other media. It is planned that the directory be kept up-to-date, and it is hoped that it becomes a means whereby users can make independent contact with providers to resolve customer issues.
Safety of level crossings has also been highlighted as an issue of concern and BCA has had representation on the Pedestrian Safety at Level Crossings Group that has been involved in providing invaluable suggestions and feedback to the Department of Infrastructure. As a result of the Coroner’s findings into two accidents at railway crossings a plan has been developed which will seek to upgrade all crossings that have been deemed unsafe.
The upgrade of the Spencer Street Railway Station has been underway for some time now and BCA is ensuring members are kept up to date with changes within the precinct, as well as providing input into the upgrade via a consultation process conducted by the consultants employed to facilitate the upgrade. We hope to keep members fully informed of the changes that will affect the use of the Station via our email list and in our publications.
In October 2003, the Victorian Minister for Transport announced some changes to the Multi-Purpose Taxi Program. These changes were undertaken without consultation with many of the people who would be affected and BCA was one of the leading organisations to oppose these changes. We held a number of rallies, conducted a letter-writing campaign and sought to meet with both the Minister and other people within the Department of Infrastructure to seek a full reversal of the decision. We worked hard with a number of organisations to form a common stand on the issue and early this year, we were successful in that some of the changes which would affect blind or vision impaired people were reversed. We believe this was a very good outcome and it certainly would not have been possible without the stance that many of our members took.
We continue to work with Local Government in Victoria, with varying degrees of co-operation on the part of Councils.
We have also provided information to local Councils’, which have been conducting reviews of their Disability Action Plans and it is exciting to note that many Councils are adopting a 1.5 or greater metre clearance from building line to footpath items.
An important part of the Information and Advocacy Project in Victoria is the contact between BCA and our members through forums and other presentations to community groups. Although we did not hold any forums as such we held a number of focus groups, which discussed issues such as education, employment and making information more accessible to blind or vision impaired people. We have also begun to organise our second State Convention, which will be held in Geelong, a regional city in Victoria. We hope this will increase people’s awareness of BCA and involve many blind or vision impaired people in regional Victoria.
We have continued to take opportunities to make presentations to already existing groups of vision impaired people within the community. Notably, presentations have been made to several low vision support groups and a peer-mentoring group auspiced by one of Victoria’s blindness agencies. At all 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.
We have also presented at several Vic Roads Workshops, the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) Congress and the Australian Braille Authority Victoria meeting where we spoke about signage.
I am still representing BCA on the Australian Standards 1428 Parts 1 and 4 Working Groups which deal with access to premises, the installation of TGSIs and the use of accessible signage. The Draft 1428.1 and 1428.4.1 Standards have been issued for public comment and we are now seeking to review those comments and make appropriate decisions as to the changes that need to be made to these Standards before final publication. This will be an invaluable experience for me, as it will coincide with the work being conducted in relation to public transport and the built environment.
We are grateful that some Victorian members and others have been able to assist us in a voluntary capacity. 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.
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 on locating appropriate blindness-specific and community services to which the caller can be referred, as well as 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. This year, for example, several queries about the provision of information in accessible formats have been received.
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 in relation to blindness agencies and education services.
Back to top of PageBCA operates a NSW Service from an office located in the premises of the Royal Blind Society in Sydney.
The Sydney Office reopened after a period of closure, in July 2003, and is now staffed on a part time basis. The Sydney Office is currently open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8 am to 4 pm, and the telephone number is 9744 9844.
My duties are various and include: receiving enquiries from members, inquiries seeking information about services, which I refer as appropriate. There have also been a number of calls from NSW members about various advocacy issues, which were referred to the National Office.
Membership and branch development has involved mailing out membership kits and membership forms to people who contacted the Office, and have included many inquiries and requests for the BCA Identity Card.
I also provide administrative support to the NSW/ACT co-ordinating committee, which meets once a month by teleconference. This involves preparing the agenda and taking the minutes for the meetings.
This year my role has also included providing administrative support for the NSW State Convention Planning Committee. The 2004 NSW State Convention will be held in Mudgee in central west NSW on the weekend of the 16 and 17 October.
My role also involves providing administrative support for the Sydney Branch, which involves collecting and reading the mail. I have also assisted with applying for and obtaining funding from the local councils, which was used to produce information in alternate formats for a committee training workshop that was organised by the Sydney Branch.
Recently, I presented a paper written by Dr Lynne Davis at a HREOC health forum, which investigated issues of access to the health system for people with disabilities.
During the next year, I will continue to work towards the further development of BCA’s presence in NSW amongst the blindness agencies, other disability organisations and the community, with the aim of securing additional funding so that BCA is in a position to establish a full time BCA Office for blind or vision impaired people living in NSW and the ACT.
Back to top of PageTEDICORE (Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation), has been in operation for the past six 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 the continuation of the project. Funding has been approved for the period October 2004 - September 2005. It is expected that TEDICORE will continue to be managed by BCA until after the new Federation of Disability Organisations has established its policies and operations.
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 or vision impaired people.
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 also a way for Blind Citizens Australia to maintain its profile amongst other peak disability bodies.
This report will highlight some examples of TEDICORE activities in the past year and their outcomes for blind or vision impaired people.
The Australian Communication Industry Forum (ACIF) has convened a Working Committee for the development of a Code on the accessibility of telephone equipment. I am a member of this Committee . This Code will be used by importers and manufacturers of telephone equipment to provide information to service providers about which features of their products are accessible. The service providers will in turn provide information to consumers about accessible features. This should assist when people with vision impairment are deciding on particular models of telephones based on such features as size of font on displays, size of buttons and lettering, speech output of pressed keys and good contrast. The work is still under way and there will be a request for public comment in October/November.
As a result of writing submissions to a number of Government Inquiries, the subsequent Inquiry reports have included recommendations based on extensive TEDICORE input.
For example, the Senate Inquiry into the Australian Telecommunications Network released its report in August 2004 and recommended that an independent telecommunications Disability Equipment Program be introduced. It also recommended that extensive consultations take place with people with disabilities before any new communications technologies are introduced to ensure that appropriate equipment is available.
The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) has appointed eight consumer representatives to develop an Issues Paper and Final Report to strengthen the consumer voice in achieving better equity in telecommunications. I am a member of the project group that has been working since April 2004 and will complete the final report this December. There are consumer consultation forums in most capital cities in October 2004 and BCA members are encouraged to participate. Further details and registration for the forums can be found at: http://www.aca.gov.au/consumer_info/CDC_committee/index.htm
I am active on the Telstra Disability Forum and the Consumer Advisory Group for the Disability Equipment Program. There will be new products made available through Telstra's Disability Equipment Program in the next six months, some of which will be of particular interest to BCA members.
Back to top of PageOver the period covered by this report BCA has been concerned to ensure that plans to merge three of Australia's major blindness agencies took full account of the needs and best interests of blind or vision impaired Australians.
When the Presidents and other senior representatives of the Royal Blind Society of NSW, Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and Vision Australia Foundation met on May 16th 2002 they issued the following statement.
"We have met together and formed a strong common view that the quality of life of blind or vision impaired Australians will be enhanced by one organization rather than by individual blindness agencies acting independently. We will utilise our combined resources to deliver improved services at a local level."
Subsequently the three agencies agreed that the following guiding principles should be taken into account in respect of any amalgamation proposal:
BCA has, for many years, supported the proposition that the development of a nationally co-ordinated blindness service system could provide enhanced and more readily available services for blind or vision impaired people across Australia.
However, despite this in-principle support for the decisions taken by the Boards of RVIB, RBS and VAF in May 2002 we were concerned with some aspects of this merger proposal and, in particular, with the fact that many of those responsible for its development and implementation were out of step with current community expectations for the management and operation of a newly structured disability service organisation.
Our concerns first arose in October 2002 when Board Members from the participating organisations, speaking at BCA State Conventions, made their views clear, that there was no place for BCA to participate as an equal partner in the development of the merger plans. This attitude was in stark contrast to the views that had prevailed some ten years earlier when BCA was invited to be a contributing party to the CABA process, a previous attempt to rationalise blindness service provision across Australia.
We were eventually able to win for ourselves a seat at the table and in September 2003 three BCA nominees became part of the interim board of twelve that would oversee the establishment of the new organisation. However, our involvement, and commitment to maximize the opportunities presented through these discussions was accepted grudgingly by some and our place at the Board table was only guaranteed until the first Annual General Meeting of the new agency, no more than eighteen months after its incorporation.
In February 2003 the BCA Board developed a position statement titled “Community Expectations of Newly Structured Blindness Service Agencies”. This detailed the expectations of governments and the community as embodied in legislation such as the various Disability Services Acts and the Disability Discrimination Act and proposed a number of key constitutional provisions and implementation strategies that should be incorporated into planning for the new agency. The major elements of this statement were then presented as a resolution that was adopted by our National Convention in October 2003.
One of the overriding principles advocated by BCA has been for the inclusion in the newly formed organisation's constitution of a requirement that at least half of the Board of Directors, including the Chairman be people who are blind or vision impaired. This expectation was outlined in both the BCA Board's Position Statement and the Convention Resolution. The matter was also raised by our nominees to the Interim Board during discussion of the draft constitution. However, despite the fact that the majority of Interim Board Members were blind or vision impaired, this proposal was resisted by all of the merging agencies.
In January of this year the BCA Board revisited this issue and resolved unanimously that President Robert Altamore should write to the Presidents of the merging organisations expressing our disappointment with their resistance to this proposal and calling on them and their fellow Board Members to revisit the issue before the draft constitution was finalised. The matter was reconsidered by at least some of the Agency Boards however; their opposition to the proposal was confirmed on the basis that the provision of such a limitation to board membership might mean that in the future the organisation is precluded from attracting the breadth of skills and experience necessary for good governance. However, during discussion of the issue it was proposed that the period for BCA to have nominees to the Board be extended to the second Annual Meeting of the new organisation – up to 30 months from incorporation.
On receipt of this advice those BCA members directly involved in the merger process as nominees to the Interim Board met with representatives of the BCA Board to consider our position on this and other key constitutional issues.
Our decision was a difficult one as on the one hand all involved remained committed to the principle that the Board of the new agency should include majority membership of blind or vision impaired people. On the other hand, we recognised that the momentum toward a merger was strong and growing and that BCA’s opposition to these proposals might only result in our losing all chance to influence the development of the new agency. We were also mindful of the fact that as Directors and Members of the new organization blind or vision impaired people would have the opportunity to use the constitutional processes to ensure that the new organisation meets our expectations.
On this basis the BCA Board formally adopted the following resolution:
“This board remains committed to the principles set out in its statement “Community expectations of newly structured blindness service agencies”, as released in February 2003. We also affirm BCA's expectation that the constitution of Newco should provide for the guaranteed involvement of blind or vision impaired Directors through the provision of dedicated Directors’ positions.
However, recognising that this expectation is not shared by all of the merging organisations at this time, we resolve to pursue these objectives over time, using the constitutional processes available to members and Directors of the newly merged agency.
To this end, we resolve to continue to work constructively toward the merger of RBS, RVIB and VAF and to ensure that the new multi-state agency remains responsive to the needs of blind or vision impaired Australians and functions in conformity with current community expectations for a newly established disability service agency.”
When conveying this decision to the Interim Board of the new agency and to the Boards of the three merging organisations we made it clear to all concerned that we would continue to closely scrutinise the process toward a merger and would work constructively and proactively to ensure that the new agency is structured and operates in a way that ensures its responsiveness to the needs and aspirations of blind or vision impaired Australians.
Formalities to implement the merger proposal involved Special General Meetings of the Company Members of each of the three merging organisations. During the latter part of the financial year all three organisations and BCA were active in promoting the opportunity for interested people to become members of one or more of the merging agencies, in order that they could vote on the merger proposal. The Corporations Act, which governs this process, requires that a comprehensive explanation of the current situation of each organisation and the reasons for and against its merger be circulated to all Company Members. This was done in early June 2004 in time for Special General Meetings that were held for Vision Australia Foundation and RVIB members on Thursday 1st July and for RBS members on Friday July 2nd.
Approximately 20% of the 1400 plus members who voted in person or by proxy at one or more of the Special Meetings was blind or vision impaired. The proposal was supported by the members of all three organisations and the merger was formally set in place when the Supreme Court of Victoria approved the recommendations on Tuesday 6th July.
BCA’s three nominees to the Interim Board are now Directors of RBS/RVIB/VAF Ltd, where they are actively involved with the deliberations of the Board and its various sub-committees. BCA’s nominees are June Ashmore, Lynne Davis and Maryanne Diamond. They and their colleagues on the Board face a busy and challenging year ahead as they work to ensure that the newly structured organisation remains fully responsive to the needs of its current and future clients. Among the early challenges before the Board will be the establishment and resourcing of a consumer representative structure within the agency that is able and encouraged to advocate on behalf of all blind or vision impaired people.
During the year ahead BCA will continue to monitor and contribute to the development of this new service delivery system. The BCA Board remains committed to the expectations expressed in its Position Statement of February 2003 “Community Expectations of Newly Structured Blindness Service Agencies”. A priority within this work will be to work with the blind or vision impaired Directors and members of the new company to ensure that its Board remains truly representative of the organisation’s principle constituency, the blind or vision impaired people of Australia.
Back to top of PageDuring March 2004 BCA was successful in obtaining a grant from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) to undertake a short-term project. The aim of the project was primarily to develop a resource kit for Job Network Providers informing them about blindness.
Job seekers who are blind or vision impaired can choose to use the Job Network or specialist employment services. There is evidence however that Job Network members are not well equipped to meet their needs. Job Network providers require more information about blindness and the assistance that is available to them to help place a blind job seeker.
BCA has developed a resource manual for Job Network members, and will deliver training workshops around Australia, to demonstrate to Job Network Members that there is a wide variety of industries and occupations that people who are blind or vision impaired can be employed in, given appropriate training, support and access to adaptive technology.
The resource manual and training sessions provide information on;
The workshops will be held nationally in August 2004, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Dubbo in central west NSW.
The workshops will include presentations by employees who are blind or vision impaired, and presentations by best practice employers, which will provide insight into the challenges and solutions associated with obtaining and maintaining employment for people who are blind or vision impaired.
There will also be demonstrations of adaptive technology, and a discussion forum, providing an opportunity for questions and answers, developing networks and identifying resources to promote employment opportunities for people who are blind or vision impaired.
Back to top of PageWe continue to be active in organisations outside BCA. Either we have representation in our own right or members take part in various activities as individuals. 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 Access to Information Group, Project Nexus (the merging of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, Royal Blind Society of NSW and the ACT and Vision Australia Foundation), and South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment.
Our responsibility is to represent blind or vision impaired 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 policies on blindness or disability related matters, they conform to 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.
The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, is the newly formed national peak body funded and recognised by government as the peak body in Australia representing people with disability. The Federation is unique because it is the first cross-disability national body in Australia that is made up of individual diagnostic disability peaks including:
The aim of the Federation is to champion the rights of people with disability in Australia and help them to participate fully in community life. This is achieved through the Federation consulting, coordinating and promoting policies, issues and views that are held by Directors, their member organisations and the broader disability sector.
The Federation is unique because it is a cross-disability national body in Australia with a Constitution that specifies that all its Directors must be people with disabilities. Membership will be opened up to other national consumer based disability bodies following the 2004 Annual General Meeting. Maurice Corcoran was elected as the first Chairperson of the Federation's Board. BCA's nominee, Robert Altamore is one of the three Deputy Chairpersons. Maryanne Diamond has been very recently appointed as the Federation's Chief Executive Officer.
BCA looks forward to working collaboratively with the broader disability community through the Federation to further our shared concerns. BCA will continue to independently advocate for people who are blind or vision impaired on issues of specific concern to our members.
Blind Citizens Australia is also a member of:
We have continued to work with, advise and receive information from our members on various bodies, even though they do not necessarily directly represent BCA. We believe that it is important that blind people in representative positions have strong links with other blind people, and we encourage our members to be involved in their own right in the wider community sector.
Lynne Davis has continued as a member of NDAC for this year. NDAC is the advisory council to the Commonwealth Minister for Family and Community Services.
During the last year work continued on Project Nexus to establish a single blindness agency by merging RVIB, RBS and VAF. I represented BCA on the steering committee. This group developed the business case and implementation strategy. Following the positive vote to merge by members of the three companies, BCA has three representatives on the first Board; Lynne Davis, June Ashmore and myself.
Aileen McFadzean has continued to represent BCA on the Centrelink Reference Group over the last year.
Members of Blind Citizens Australia serving on National and International Bodies
Those members marked “*” are direct representatives or are nominees of BCA chosen by the Board. Other people serve in their own right. At the end o July the following representations applied:
Other International
The NPDC Working Group currently consisting of Greg Madson (Chair), Karen Knight, Maree Brown, Michael Simpson and Vicki Alipasinoupolous, this year have been working through the education issues outlined in Blind Citizens Australia's current strategic plan.
promote equal access to education & training to maximize the potential of blind people
In August 2003 the Education Working Group developed a submission for the Senate Enquiry into Higher Education Funding and Regulatory Legislation. With BCA's Policy Officer’s direction, the committee’s submission focused on two key issues.
The cessation of payment of the Pension Education Supplement between academic years and the proposal to introduce full fee-paying if a student wishes to undertake longer than five years full time equivalent study.
The Education Working Group has investigated current equipment schemes in their respective states. The information will be brought together into a single document suitable for review.
This will be undertaken in the second half of 2004.
This item will be looked at in the second half of 2004.
On the alternative format front, the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee has been meeting throughout the year and a working group has been looking at a Code of Practice for transcription of material for print handicapped students. BCA has representatives on the AVCC and is monitoring the progress of the Code of Practice.
The Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, and the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, on 15 June 2004 announced the release for public information of the final draft of Disability Standards for Education.
The objects of these Standards are:
(a) to eliminate, as far as possible, discrimination against persons on the ground of disability in the area of education and training; and
(b) to ensure, as far as practicable, that persons with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law in the area of education and training as the rest of the community; and
(c) to promote recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle that persons with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of the community.
Back to top of PageDuring the 2003/2004 year, BCA members and other blind or vision impaired Australians, have demonstrated that library services designed to meet the needs of print disabled people, as well as access to current and emerging technologies with a high level of usability, remain high priorities for education, employment, and quality of life.
BCA members have, through convention resolutions addressing library services as well as access to technologies, re-affirmed the importance of work in these areas. Both members and staff have furthered this work by dialogue on blindness related mailing lists in Australia, participation in various trials, involvement in a number of committees both government and non-government, and by forming alliances with other organisations.
At the November 2003 meeting, the NPDC resolved to continue with the existing working groups including the Library and Information Access Working Group. It was decided that this work would be under the overall responsibility of Susan Thompson, with assistance from Mathew Mirabella and John Simpson, and that the work would go to two separate subgroups. The area of library services was led by Susan Thompson, with members being John Simpson, Frank Nolan, Jan Miller, Lynne Davis, Fiona Woods and Bev Burrows. The more technical area of information access was lead by Mathew Mirabella, with members being John Simpson, Susan Thompson, Frank Nolan, Aaron Howell and Bruce Maguire.
This report briefly covers some of the issues identified as priorities, and requiring work by this overall working group and BCA staff. These include areas continuing on from the previous year, some additional matters raised by committee members, and new matters raised by convention resolutions.
The library services and information access matters addressed by BCA included:
In the area of access to the non visual aspects of television, our work included
BCA’s activities in relation to accessible voting systems included:
In this report last year, we advised of the commissioning of a discussion paper into telecommunications for people with disabilities by HREOC, entitled; “When the Tide Comes In: Towards Accessible Telecommunications for People with Disabilities in Australia”. BCA, through a resolution at the 2003 National Convention, congratulated HREOC on this work. The HREOC report was authored by Bill Jolley, himself totally blind and with a wealth of knowledge in the use of telecommunications to assist blind or vision impaired people. We all can relate to the anxiety we feel when technology emerges at an ever increasing speed, and all too often brings with it equal change towards inaccessibility. This report and recommendations are important tools for changing this trend.
The final area discussed by the information access sub-group, relate to concerns about the continued appearance of inaccessible PDF documents on web sites as the only source of the document, and the lack of accessible business and accounting software needed by blind people running small businesses. These areas will likely require a multi-pronged strategy as time goes on.
In the area of specialist library services to people who are blind and print disabled, our advocacy efforts have been mostly in relation to the National Information and Library Service (NILS). Some of our important activities included:
BCA members, through resolution at the 2003 BCA Convention strongly re-affirmed the belief that NILS (along with other disability services), should, despite being funded as a public library service, reflect the principles and objectives of the Commonwealth D+isability Services Act 1986 by establishing mechanisms which demonstrate a genuine interest in seeking consumer involvement in the provision and evaluation of such an important service.
In closing, I would like to thank all working group members, other BCA members and BCA staff for efforts towards improving library services and other information access to members and all Australians who are blind, vision impaired or print disabled.
Back to top of PageThe members of the Employment Working Group (EWG) are Theresa Smith (chair) from NSW; Terry Boyle and Rikki Chaplin from Queensland; Robyn McKenzie and Kevin Murfitt from Victoria; and Kim Hand from South Australia.
The EWG has been working on a number of projects during its term. Firstly, one of the resolutions put forward at the BCA National Convention in October 2003 asked for research into the conditions of employments for employees of the Business Services (or workshops) in the various states. The EWG had discussions with the Blind Workers Union in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria to determine if their members had reported any problems with the Business Services. Each representative from the Blind Workers Union did not report any issues. EWG members also held discussions with the agencies responsible for managing the Business Services. We wanted to ensure that Business Services employees were encouraged or given the opportunity to pursue employment options in the open labour market. The EWG was assured that in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria that efforts were made to encourage Business Services employees to pursue open employment (if they so wished). To date, no further action has been taken on this matter.
The second major project that the EWG has worked on is the establishment of an employment information page on the BCA website. We are pleased to announce that in June 2004 the Employment Information Page on the BCA website was established. Please check out the site at: www.bca.org.au/employment
The site provides information on when to disclose your disability, a list of jobs that we know blind or vision impaired people have held, and a list of employment profiles. These profiles were submitted by members and provide detail on their employment history, their qualifications, and challenges that they may have overcome in the workplace. They are extremely informative and I encourage all BCA readers to check out the site. Some of the individuals have provided their contact details if readers wish to discuss their employment experiences further with them. Also, there is a link to the employment profile questionnaire, which I encourage all readers to complete.
Third, the EWG has also assisted with the BCA Employment Project. This was a project funded by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Rowena Jitts from the Sydney office of BCA is the Project Officer. The purpose of the project was to develop an on-line tool kit for job network providers to use to help blind or vision impaired people find employment. A series of workshops are also to be held in Brisbane, Dubbo, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. During the workshops, blind or vision impaired people will give a brief presentation on their employment experiences, and employers will also speak about their experiences of employing a blind or vision impaired person. Job network providers were invited to attend to listen to these presentations and participate in discussion groups on how to help blind or vision impaired people find employment. The workshops are to be held during July and August.
Finally, the EWG has participated in an email discussion group established by the World Bank during June to discuss issues of employment for disabled youth. A range of issues were identified on the list. Participants from all around the world took part in the email discussions. It was extremely informative and encouraging to see the breadth of discussion.
The EWG has enjoyed the challenge of the work that it has undertaken and views the area of employment as a means of providing social and economic independence for blind or vision impaired Australians.
Back to top of PageThe issues that fall under this NPDC working group are quite broad but very important. This group has spent a great deal of time working on the issues raised during 2003 and 2004.
One of the issues included the submission by Blind Citizens Australia on the Access to Premises Standards and thank you to all the BCA members who attended meetings and the public consultation process.
A variety of taxi issues were raised, including the success of the Victorian taxi campaign, the New South Wales taxi review and individual member issues. Other issues during the year related to the Public Transport Standards.
Some of the access issues considered during the year included, accessible voting, accessible banking, access to health services, way finding devices and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
Other issues included:
I currently represent Blind Citizens Australia on the Australian Network of Universal Housing Design.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the working group members who include Tony Starkey of South Australia, Bill McKennariey and Barry Chapman of New South Wales, Peter Johnson and Keith Hayes of Western Australia, Dave Gordon of Tasmania, Peter O'Connor of Victoria (who left the working group during the year) and Nadia Mattiazzo of Victoria all of whom have had input at committee level.
A special thank you to Amanda Tink of Queensland who is working with this group to develop a Blind Citizens Australia Housing Policy.
I also wish a warm thank you to Collette O'Neill, the Blind Citizens Australia National Policy Officer for the enormous assistance we received from her before she left BCA to further her career.
I would like to acknowledge the other NPDC working groups for the work they do. The working groups provide a source of resources that are called upon by the Blind Citizens Australia national office staff, the Board of Directors and the state and territory branches.
Back to top of PageThe Branch and Organisational Members Reports will be issued separate to the Annual Report and will also be available in the December issue of BCA News.
| ACT: | Michael Johnston | |
| Home: | 02 6288 4149 | |
| Email: | mc.johnston@bigpond.com | |
| Adelaide: | Tony Starkey | |
| Home: | 08 8172 0645 | |
| Email: | tstarkey@rsb.org.au | |
| Brisbane: | Lynette Eagers | |
| Branch Phone: | 07 3891 2522 | |
| E-mail: | bca@rbf.org.au | |
| Central West NSW | Mary Lovett | |
| Home: | 02 6373 1293 | |
| Email: | mlovett@winsoft.net.au | |
| McLeay/Nambucca: | Ossie (Oswald) Gallagher | |
| Home: | 02 6566 5004 | |
| Melbourne: | Natale Cutri | |
| Home: | 03 9337 7645 | |
| Email: | natalecutri@optushome.com.au | |
| Sydney | Diana Braun | |
| Branch Phone: | 02 9744 7366 | |
| Email: | Sydney@bca.org.au | |
| Tasmania | Miss Maree Brown | |
| Home: | 03 6223 7416 | |
| Email: | Maree.Brown@utas.edu.au | |
| Tweed Valley: | Ian Harrison | |
| Home: | 07 5536 1491 | |
| Email: | ianh@norex.com.au | |
| Blind Citizens WA: | Greg Madson | |
| Phone: | 08 9371 2111 | |
| Email: | bcwa@q-net.net.au | |
| Computer Users | Debbie Cook | |
| Home: | 03 9350 1455 | |
| Email: | debbiec@vicnet.net.au | |
| Women's Branch | Lee Kumatat | |
| Home: | 02 4620 4873 | |
| Email: | leek@quantech.com.au | |
| Overseas Service: | Ivan Molloy | |
| 8 Morrisons Avenue, | ||
| MT MARTHA VIC 3934 | ||
| Home: | 03 5975 1858 | |
| Youth Branch (Vic) | Michael Curran | |
| Home: | 03 5449 6803 | |
| Email: | mick@jantrid.net | |
| Youth Branch (Qld) | Amanda Tink | |
| Home: | 07 3371 3400 | |
| Email: | atink@uq.net.au | |
Association of Blind Citizens NSW
Naomi Clark
11a Ethel Street
Burwood NSW 2134
Business 02 9744 1516
FAX 02 9744 1575
Email asnblind@zip.com.au
Blind & Vision Impaired Persons Network
Peter Ryan
Unit 6, Kilkea Manor
2/10 Neerim Drive
MOOLOOLABA QLD 4557
Business 07 5478 2110
FAX 07 5478 2110
Email: bvip@bigpond.com
Blind Workers Union of SA
Darryl Hicks
PO Box 30
Greenacres SA 5086
Phone: 08 8232 2444
Blind Workers Union Victoria
Alan Bergic
201 High Street
Prahran VIC 3181
Business 03 9521 3050
Retina Australia
Robyn Wright
72 Regent Drive
THORNLEY WA 6108
Phone 08 9493 1858
Retina Australia (NSW)
Robyn Richards
PO Box 397
Strathfield NSW 2135
Business 02 9744 7738
Retina Australia (Qld) Inc
Graeme Ferguson
PO Box 12544
Elizabeth Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
Business 07 3229 0482
FAX 07 3229 0482 (same)
Retina Australia (VIC) Inc
Kate Giles
4th Floor Ross House
247-251 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Business 9650 5088
FAX 9650 5088 (same)
SA Association of & for Blind Citizens Inc.
Len Clothier
PO Box 1336
GOLDEN GROVE SA 5125
Business 08 8289 9880
Deaf-Blind Association
Celestine Hare
PO Box 1213
CAMBERWELL VIC 3124
Business 03 9882 7055
Email dba@internex.net.au
DeafBlind Association of NSW
Stephen Hallinan
PO Box 1295
STRATHFIELD NSW 2136
Business 02 9334 3333
RPH Australia
Stephen Jolley
454 Glenferrie Road
KOOYONG VIC 3144
Business 03 9864 9207
FAX 03 9864 9344
Email: admin@rph.org.au
SensAbility
Paul Creedon
251 Morphett Street
ADELAIDE SA 5000
Business 08 8203 8333
FAX 08 8203 8332
Senswide Services
Anthony Schinck
Level 7
250 Queen Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Business 03 9642 8848
FAX 03 9642 8750
Email: info@senswide.com.au
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Deb Lewis
PO Box 201
NUNAWADING VIC 3131
Business 03 9841 0242
FAX 03 9841 0878
Email: srvc@srvc.vic.edu.au
Your Directors present this report on the Company for the financial year ended 30 June 2004.
Directors
The names of the directors in office at the time of this report are:
| Robert J Altamore | Karen L Knight |
| Gregory A Madson | John A Simpson |
| Theresa Smith | Tony F Starkey |
| Susan J Thompson |
Operating Result
The loss of the company for the financial year after providing for income tax amounted to:
| Year ended | Year ended |
| 30 June 2004 | 30 June 2003 |
| ($5,329.01) | ($74,566.88) |
Significant Changes in the State of Affairs
No significant changes in the company's state of affairs occurred during the financial year.
Principal Activities
The principal activity of the company during the course of the year was consumer advocacy for blind and vision impaired people in Australia. No significant change in the nature of these activities occurred during the year.
After Balance Date Events
No matters or circumstances have arisen since the end of the financial year which significantly affected or may significantly affect that operations of the company, the results of those operations, or the state of affairs of the company in subsequent financial years.
Environmental Issues
The company’s operations are not regulated by any significant environmental regulations under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
Dividends
As the company is limited by guarantee, no dividends are permitted to be paid.
Directors' Benefits
Since the date of the last Directors' Report, Mr John Simpson has received or become entitled to receive benefits in respect of trading with Information Alternatives Pty. Ltd, of which Mr Simpson is a director and shareholder. With this exception, no director has received or has become entitled to receive, during or since the financial year, a benefit because of a contract made by the company or related body corporate with a director, a firm which a director is a member or an entity in which a director has a substantial financial interest.
This statement excludes a benefit included in the aggregate amount of emoluments received or due and receivable by directors shown in the company's accounts or the fixed salary of a full-time employee of the company or related body corporate.
This declaration is made in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors.
Director ___________________________________ John A Simpson
Director ___________________________________ Karen L Knight
Dated this 22nd day of September 2004
Back to top of PageThe directors of the company declare that
(a) comply with Accounting Standards and the Corporations Regulations; and
(b) give a true and fair view of the company's financial position as at 30 June 2004 and of its performance for the year ended on that date;
(a) that can correctly record and explain the transactions and financial position of the company
(b) in such a manner that would enable true and fair accounts of the company to be prepared from time to time
(c) as would enable the accounts to be conveniently and properly audited in accordance with the Corporations Law
This declaration is made in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors.
Director ________________________________ John A Simpson Director ________________________________ Karen L Knight
Dated this 22nd Day of September 2004
Back to top of Page| 2004 | 2003 | |
| INCOME | $ | $ |
| Dividends | - | 390 |
| Insurance Recoveries | - | 2,395 |
| Interest Received | 2,963 | 3,484 |
| Profit(Loss) on Sale of Assets | - | (4,047) |
| Charged Services | 72 | 778 |
| Conventions | 47,439 | 25494 |
| Fundraising - General | 47,361 | 48,110 |
| Fundraising - Lottery | 150,205 | 155,943 |
| Grant - Jeffrey Blyth Foundation | 11,111 | - |
| Government Funding | 259,281 | 244,166 |
| ACIF Disability Grant | 2,100 | 2,050 |
| Project Grants | - | 12,769 |
| Agency Grants | 72,500 | 60,500 |
| ID Cards | 2,480 | - |
| Membership/Organisational Membership | 2,830 | 2,410 |
| New South Wales Project | - | 15,000 |
| Queensland Project | - | 28,100 |
| Tedicore Project | 93,924 | 90,000 |
| World Blind Union Project | - | 6,915 |
| Employment Project | 15,125 | - |
| Project Reimbursements | 4,517 | 12,513 |
| Specific Purpose Income | 6952 | 6,915 |
| 718,860 | 713,882 |
| Accounting, Audit & Legal Fees | 4,857 | 5,865 |
| ACIF Disability Expenses | 2,437 | 2,050 |
| Advertising & Promotion | - | 863 |
| AGM Expenses | 3,199 | 3,008 |
| Bank Fees and Credit Card Charges | 2,278 | 5,010 |
| BCA Newsletter | 20,355 | 22,744 |
| Branch Support | 321 | 577 |
| Convention Expenses | 47,590 | 27,574 |
| Freight | - | 125 |
| Depreciation | 20,028 | 23,574 |
| General Fundraising Expenses | 2,231 | 1,756 |
| Goods on Hire/Hire of Facilities | - | 560 |
| Communication (Internet/E-mail) | 2,274 | 5,011 |
| Contents, Volunteer, Directors Insurance | 6,046 | 6,782 |
| Employment Project Expenses | 16,897 | - |
| Horizon Project Expenses | 470 | - |
| Interest | 723 | 857 |
| Lottery Expenses | 120,292 | 116,128 |
| Meals | 125 | 67 |
| Meetings & Conferences | 388 | 714 |
| National Advocacy Service Expenses | 40,320 | 40,897 |
| National Policy Service Expenses | 49,535 | 48,804 |
| New South Wales Project Expenses | 10,876 | 18,884 |
| Postage | 3,000 | 7,880 |
| Printing & Stationery | 13,128 | 12,943 |
| Professional Development | - | 1,087 |
| Queensland Project Expenses | - | 28,100 |
| Relocation Expenses | 18,133 | 5,044 |
| Rent & Services | 19,319 | 23,381 |
| Repairs & Maintenance | 2,869 | 7,451 |
| Salaries & Wages - Management Support | 146,679 | 188,217 |
| SoundAbout Communications | 6,819 | 7,595 |
| Sponsorships | - | - |
| Staff Amenities | 860 | 769 |
| Subscriptions, Publications & Membership | 3,439 | 4,416 |
| Sundries | 402 | 313 |
| Superannuation | 18,805 | 20,071 |
| Tasmania Project Expenses | - | 477 |
| TEDICORE Project Expenses | 93,892 | 88,940 |
| Telephone | 15,200 | 15,754 |
| Travel & Accommodation (Board & NPDC) | 14,600 | 18,316 |
| Workers Compensation | 5,289 | 5,273 |
| World Blind Union Project Expenses | 10,520 | 20,570 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | 724,189 | 788,449 |
| NET OPERATING SURPLUS (DEFICIT) | (5,329) | (74,567) |
The accompanying notes form part of these financial accounts. These accounts should be read in conjunction with the attached disclaimer.
Back to top of Page| 2004 | 2003 | |
| $ | $ | |
| ACCUMULATED FUNDS | ||
| Accumulated Surplus (deficit) | 200,592 | 205,921 |
| Total Funds | 200,592 | 205,921 |
| Represented by: | ||
| CURRENT ASSETS | ||
| Cash at Bank | 245,263 | 201,680 |
| Receivables | 9,077 | 6,330 |
| 254,340 | 208,010 | |
| TOTAL OTHER CURRENT ASSETS | ||
| Prepayment | 682 | 861 |
| Deposits Paid | - | 1,500 |
| 682 | 2,361 | |
| TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS | 255,022 | 210,370 |
| FIXED ASSETS | ||
| Furniture & Fittings | 5,860 | 5,951 |
| Plant & Equipment | 19,204 | 33,708 |
| Computer Equipment | 7,572 | 12,688 |
| 32,636 | 52,347 | |
| TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETS | 32,636 | 52,347 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | 287,658 | 262,717 |
| LESS LIABILITIES | ||
| CURRENT LIABILITIES | ||
| Creditors & Accruals | 23,758 | 7,218 |
| Credit Cards | - | 3,144 |
| GST Payable Control Account | 6,485 | 486 |
| GST Deferred | (531) | (614) |
| Amounts withheld from Wages | 2,614 | - |
| Prepaid income | 30,500 | 19,452 |
| Provision for annual leave | 15,494 | 11,906 |
| Funds to be returned | 3,535 | 8,444 |
| Hire Purchase | 7,866 | 9,832 |
| Less: Unexp Interest Charges | (2,655) | (3,072) |
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | 87,066 | 56,796 |
| INTEREST-BEARING LIABILITIES | ||
| NET ASSETS | 200,592 | 205,921 |
The accompanying notes form part of these financial accounts. These accounts should be read in conjunction with the attached disclaimer.
Back to top of PageThis 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.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with Statements of Accounting Concepts, applicable Accounting Standards and the applicable disclosure requirements of Schedule 5 of the Corporations Regulations.
The accounts are prepared in accordance with the historical cost convention. The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous year.
There has been a change in the reporting of Blind Citizens Australia with these accounts showing a consolidated view of the organisation throughout the financial statements, as opposed to prior years which reported branches separately with the net worth of sub-branches included in the Balance Sheet of the main branch. As a result, the financial statements will not disclose inter-organisation items, and the reports may not appear to flow from prior years.
(a) Acquisitions of Assets
The cost method of accounting is used for all acquisitions of assets regardless of whether shares or other assets are acquired. The cost of assets acquired is independent of directors’ valuations, and will be depreciated over their useful lives, as set by the Commissioner of Taxation.
(b) Inventories
All inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Cost includes direct material, direct labour, and an appropriate proportion of variable and fixed overhead expenditure, the latter being allocated on the basis of normal operating capacity. Costs are assigned to individual items of stock mainly on the basis of weighted average costs. Livestock has been valued at market value.
(c) 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.
(d) Employee Entitlements
The amounts expected to be paid to employees for their pro-rata entitlement to long service and annual leave are accrued annually at current pay rates having regard to experience of employee departures and period of service.
(e) Income Tax
The income of this company is exempt from income tax by virtue of Section23(e) of the Income Assessment Act.
| 2004 | 2003 | |
| Operating profit is arrived at after crediting and charging the following specific items: | ||
| Auditors Remuneration | ||
| -Auditing Accounts | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| -Other services | 1,000 | - |
For the purposes of the statement of cash flows cash includes cash on hand in banks and investments in money market instruments, net of outstanding bank overdrafts.
Cash at the end of the year as shown in the statement of cash flows is reconciled to the related items in balance sheet as follows:
| Bank cheque accounts | 68,579 | 83,339 |
| Cash investment accounts | 37,906 | 72,919 |
| Trust company accounts | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Cash at the end of the year (note 1) | 146,485 | 196,259 |
6 Clow Street, Dandenong Victoria 3175
P.O. Box 7014 Dandenong 3175
Telephone (03) 9792 0944 (6 lines)
Facsimile: (03) 9792 5466
Email: mcaacountants@bigpond.com.au
We have audited the accounts set out on the accompanying Profit and Loss Statement and the Notes to and forming part of the Accounts in accordance with Australian Audit Standards.
In our opinion the accounts of Blind Citizens Australia are properly drawn up:
A. So as to give a true and fair view of:
i. The company’s state of affairs as at 30th June 2004 and of its deficit for the period ended on that date; and ii. The other matters required by Division 4 part 3.6 of the Corporations Law to be dealt with the accounts:
B. In accordance with the provisions of the Corporation Law: and
C. In accordance with the Statements of Accounting Concepts and applicable Accounting Standards.
MCDONELL CUNNEEN & ASSOCIATES
BRENT MURPHY
Registered Company Auditor
6th September 2004
6 Clow Street, Dandenong Victoria 3175
P.O. Box 7014 Dandenong 3175
Telephone (03) 9792 0944 (6 lines)
Facsimile: (03) 9792 5466
Email: mcaacountants@bigpond.com.au
We have audited the accounts set out on the accompanying Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet and the Notes to and forming part of the Accounts in accordance with Australian Audit Standards.
In our opinion the accounts of Blind Citizens Australia – Victorian Service are properly drawn up:
A. So as to give a true and fair view of:
i. The company’s state of affairs as at 30th June 2004 and of its deficit for the period ended on that date; and ii. The other matters required by Division 4 part 3.6 of the Corporations Law to be dealt with the accounts:
B. In accordance with the provisions of the Corporation Law: and
C. In accordance with the Statements of Accounting Concepts and applicable Accounting Standards.
MCDONELL CUNNEEN & ASSOCIATES
BRENT MURPHY
Registered Company Auditor
6th September 2004
6 Clow Street, Dandenong Victoria 3175
P.O. Box 7014 Dandenong 3175
Telephone (03) 9792 0944 (6 lines)
Facsimile: (03) 9792 5466
Email: mcaacountants@bigpond.com.au
I have audited the accounting and associated records relating to the above mentioned project and have received from the organisation concerned the information to substantiate that the grant funds have been expended in accordance with the conditions of the grant. In my opinion the attached statement shows a true and fair record of the receipts and payments relating to the project. I certify that I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Registered Company Auditor and am not an employee of the organisation, or a person who has any financial interest in the organisation.
MCDONELL CUNNEEN & ASSOCIATES
BRENT MURPHY
Registered Company Auditor
6th September, 2004