24th Annual Report for the Year Ended June 30, 1999
PRESIDENT'S OVERVIEW........ 2
OUR PEOPLE5
EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S SUMMARY......... 6
INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY.... 18
SYSTEMIC ADVOCACY.... 26
MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNICATION......... 32
EXTERNAL RELATIONS..... 37
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE......... 43
NATIONAL ADVOCACY SERVICE......... 49
VICTORIAN SERVICE......... 52
DDA STANDARDS.... 55
TELECOMMS & DISABILITY..... 59
MAKING E-COMMERCE ACCESSIBLE... 63
ENHANCED AUDIO WITH DIGITAL TELEVISION.... 69
BRAILLE LITERACY IN VIET NAM.. 79
CONTACT DETAILS......... 84
Blind Citizens Australia: the united voice of blind and vision impaired Australians. Our mission is to achieve equity and equality by our empowerment, by promoting positive community attitudes, and by striving for high quality and accessible services which meet our needs.
I am pleased to introduce the 24th Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia for the year ended June 30, 1999. We have had another good year, and this report shows that Blind Citizens Australia continues to grow in strength and achievement.
We have pursued our mission and focussed on our core activities. We have provided peer support, individual advocacy, systemic advocacy, information dissemination and advice to governments and the community. Much of our success can be directly attributed to our hard working, expert and dedicated staff lead by Executive Officer, Bill Jolley. Our Branches and many individual members have also played their part through various activities at local level.
We were delighted with the success of the Blind Citizens Australia Identity Card. The Identity Card has an equivalent status to a driver's licence, and has met a growing need expressed by our members for photo-ID.
We have continued with some cross-disability projects this year. The DDA Standards Project is well established, but progress towards DDA standards is very slow. The Telecomms & Disability project was a new undertaking for us, and we will continue this year to achieve strong outcomes for telecommunications’ consumers with disabilities. Our leadership of these projects is motivated by our belief that their positive outcomes are critically important for people who are blind or vision impaired.
We continue to support blind people in developing countries, although Australia remains our clear priority. We have the capacity and expertise to create change both at home and overseas, so we have continued our work in Viet Nam and Fiji. Funding and management support for these two projects have been provided by AusAID and ACROD respectively, and we value their support and involvement.
Plans are advancing well for the Fifth General Assembly of the World Blind Union, and associated events, to be held in November 2000 in Melbourne. We are taking the lead in organising this historic event, in partnership with blindness agencies, with John Simpson appointed as the Event Organiser.
The year was financially stable. We had strong and generous support from our members, continuing support from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments, and assistance from most blindness agencies. I want to thank Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, Ozemail and Cato Partners for their ongoing support.
We have finished the year with a surplus of $23,169. This is a good result largely due to careful planning and attention to detail by our Executive Officer. We face some uncertainty in the year ahead due in part to policy changes by the commonwealth Government in funding of peak bodies like Blind Citizens Australia.
I would like to thank our staff for their continued efforts, and our members for their continuing loyalty and effort at a local level. I also thank our Directors: Robert Altamore, Leighton Boyd, Lynne Davis, Helen Freris, Kym Hand, Peter Johnson, Karen Knight, Tony Starkey and Sondra Wibberley. They have all contributed to our achievements during the year.
Last year's Convention marked the retirement from the Board of Joan Ledermann after twenty years of service as a leader and inspiration to so many, including four years as President. We thank Joan for her commitment and contribution, and I particularly thank Joan for her assistance to me as a new member of the Board and as an inexperienced President.
Joan Ledermann was the winner last year of the Blind Citizens Australia David Blyth Award, a fitting tribute to her advocacy for Braille and her strong contribution to advance the cause of blind people over many years. Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Pat Downie from Sydney and Carmel Jolley from Melbourne. We record our congratulations to these two people who are integral members of the backbone of Blind Citizens Australia.
I anticipate another year of high achievement as a new decade begins. Blind Citizens Australia is a strong and dynamic national association of blind people. We have an international reputation for excellence and tenacity, and with your support I intend to keep it that way. It is a privilege for me to lead Blind Citizens Australia as your President, and I shall try hard to lead by example in "Changing What it Means to be Blind".
· Michael Simpson, President, Sydney
· Robert Altamore, Vice-President Advocacy & Policy, Canberra
· Peter Johnson, Vice-President Advocacy & Policy, Perth
· Leighton Boyd, Director, Melbourne
· Lynne Davis, Director, Sydney
· Helen Freris, Director, Melbourne
· Kym Hand, Director, Adelaide
· Tony Starkey, Director, Adelaide
· Sondra Wibberley, Director, Sydney
· Bill Jolley, Executive Officer
· Aileen McFadzean, National Advocacy Officer
· Sandra Knight, Projects Administrator
· Cheryl Gration, Administration Officer
· Robert Mascitti, Finance Officer
· Mary Delahunty, Administration Assistant
· Maryanne Diamond, Victorian Project Officer
· Wendy Knowles, Clerical Assistant
· Vacant, National Policy Officer
· Vacant, DDA Standards National Co-ordinator
· Gunela Astbrink, Telecomms & Disability Policy Officer
· Tran Dan Phuong, Representative in Viet Nam
· John Simpson, WBU Event Organiser
· Tim Noonan, E-Commerce Consultant
Editor's Note: The Executive Officer's Report is a summary of the year's activities, complementary to the President's Overview. It is not a summary of everything in the Annual Report, highlighting the overall work of Blind Citizens Australia and emphasising some things more than others. It is written for delivery to the National Convention as the speech in which the Organisation's work is summarised and the Report is released.
Each year I start compiling the Annual Report a couple of months before the Convention is due, but each year I never get it finished until the eleventh hour. I also fail in my attempts to shorten the document, because there is simply so much information to catalogue at the close of each year. With pride I look back at just what we have achieved, and I am well satisfied that Blind Citizens Australia is a top organisation with strength, purpose, commitment and a vital role in "Changing What it Means to be Blind".
This summary cannot cover the whole range of activities carried out and reported on for last year, so the following areas are highlighted:
· Individual Advocacy,
· Membership & Communication,
· External Relations,
· Finance, and
· Services & Projects.
We can look back on another good year for Blind Citizens Australia. It was a year of continued strong and committed leadership from Michael Simpson as President, a year of growth in our organisation and continued branch activity, a year of sustained effort from our staff, but a year that ends with some warning signs of challenges ahead. In particular, the Governments welfare reform agenda creates some uncertainty and the future of our individual advocacy service is under a cloud.
The direct service staff are implicitly recognised as we highlight the work that they do, but we must not forget our administration staff. We have been very well served by Sandra Knight, Cheryl Gration and Robert Mascitti. We communicate with 2600 members in their preferred formats through Blind Citizens News, SoundAbout magazines, the Convention notice and specific information. This year we handled $750,000 and wrote 900 cheques. We photocopy 150,000 pages per year and copy 15,000 cassettes. We could not have done this without great teamwork by our administration staff led by Sandra Knight, and without regular and reliable help from volunteers led by Kylie Partington and Leighton Boyd.
Individual Advocacy
Aileen McFadzean led our individual advocacy work at national level. Back from maternity leave she picked up where she left off, and she has continued to do an excellent job for members and other persons seeking her advice and support.
I consider that individual advocacy is the most important thing we do. It is where we can touch people's lives and our intervention can make a positive difference. It is regrettable that discrimination against people with disabilities is still endemic, despite awareness-raising campaigns and our own best endeavours. What's more, developments over recent years have seen the tools we have for fighting discrimination blunted, so our resolve needs to be strengthened. Let us never forget that discrimination against one single person on account of blindness is discrimination against all of us who are blind.
The biggest change in the operation of the service this year was that we supported some matters to the stage of a final hearing. This is a significant change because it requires the preparation of documents including affidavits, witness lists, preliminary applications and details about what is being sought as an outcome from a hearing. It also includes gathering evidence and legal research.
We find that discrimination in employment and education continues to be endemic. In fact, we think it is on the increase. Employment complaints are increasing, although formal education complaints are quite low. We think that this is due largely to the stress caused for families by discrimination in education, and to the growing unfriendliness of the formal complaints process.
In 1997 I, along with several other members, lodged a DDA complaint against the Office of Asset Sales and I//T Outsourcing because the Telstra-1 Share Offer documents were not available in Braille or other accessible formats. The complaint was not conciliated and still may go to hearing, but good progress has been made. We received our Share Offer documents for Telstra-2 in Braille and other accessible formats, but still we have no guarantee that we will receive accessible documents in the future.
Last June Bruce Maguire lodged a DDA complaint against the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) because he could not get the Olympic ticket book in Braille. Mr Maguire gave SOCOG every chance to rectify the problem, but to no avail. With our help he successfully obtained an Interim Determination in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to prevent further disadvantage in the ticket allocation process, whilst the substantive matters were investigated. SOCOG snubbed HREOC's Interim Determination.
The matter was heard in September and a decision was handed down quickly by Commissioner Carter. It received extensive media coverage. Commissioner Carter found that SOCOG had unlawfully discriminated against Mr Maguire in failing to provide him with Braille access to the Olympic ticket book. Commissioner Carter found that SOCOG directly discriminated against Mr Maguire, and stated that there was also a breach of indirect discrimination law. He ordered that Mr Maguire be assisted by SOCOG in the purchase of tickets in the second ticketing round, and implied that the ticket book should be made available to Mr Maguire in Braille. Commissioner Carter fully accepted the evidence brought by Mr Maguire and his witnesses, emphasising that Braille is paramount for blind people as our literacy medium, and totally discounted evidence brought by SOCOG: the comparative value of other alternative formats and media, the onerous cost of Braille production, the adequacy of the telephone help line for vision impaired persons, and the low value of the Olympics as a sporting event for blind spectators.
Of course we are delighted with the outcome of the Maguire case: a convincing victory for Braille confirmed by mostly positive media coverage and a high level of public interest. We thank Bruce Maguire for his courage and tenacity to lodge the complaint against SOCOG and to see the matter through to finality. Together with the Telstra-2 Share Offer Documentation case, it seems that a precedent has been set for the provision of widely available public documents in accessible formats.
One of our most complex matters this year has been a series of cases involving Marlene Massingham. Last November her seeing-eye dog was unlawfully retrieved by employees of the Lady Nell "Seeing-Eye" Dog School and Rehabilitation Centre. The School claimed that Marlene Massingham had breached her contract with the School: she had changed her address without notification, the dog was poorly kept and badly used. We advised Marlene throughout this matter, starting with her successful injunctive action to prevent the dog from being given to anyone else and to have it returned to her care and use.
The Lady Nell School proceeded with a court action to retrieve the dog under the contract. Already, one of the School's employees had been convicted and fined $1,000 for the assault of Marlene when taking her dog. The School's court action was an abject failure.
The decision by Judge Phelan, which was handed down on 20 August 1999, found that the School, through the actions of its Executive Director, Mrs Phyllis Gration, was motivated out of spite due to personal reasons. Judge Phelan also found that Marlene Massingham worked her dog well, and that the dog was kept in good condition. He awarded costs and damages against the School. The following quotation from the Judgment is concerning but was not surprising. He said:
"Mrs Gration emphatically denied in evidence that her action in retaking the dog was motivated by vindictive spite ... It cannot be disputed from her remarkable autobiography that as a blind person her achievements ... have been highly praiseworthy. She has often had to strive against formidable circumstances and this has no doubt engendered redoubtable qualities in her. She has generated considerable loyalty amongst those she has helped ..."
"I am also persuaded that Mrs Gration does not readily brook opposition or questioning. I accept the submission that there were a number of inconsistencies in her evidence, and an unwillingness to give answers to disadvantage the plaintiff's case. Indeed she was prepared on a number of occasions to alter her evidence to suit the circumstances. Nor did she show any real respect for the court by her constant interruptions and lengthy and non responsive monologues in apparent response to questions. This was calculated, I have no doubt, by her eagerness to justify her own position. In the end result such were the numerous unsubstantiated or abandoned allegations, which for the most part were trivial, I am quite convinced that the whole saga is the result of spite."
This case indicates to Blind Citizens Australia a kind of personal vendetta against Marlene Massingham, and we are extremely concerned about the use of the School's funds in pursuing such baseless legal actions. We want the School's Directors to realise their legal and moral responsibilities. Blind Citizens Australia has provided continuous advocacy support to Marlene Massingham throughout this case, and is striving for governmental support for a review of the School's activities.
Every year we report on the range of social security issues which arise for people who are blind or vision impaired. These issues relate to various entitlements, more and more the treatment of compensation payments. Much concern has been expressed over the year about proposals to change the structure of disability pensions in Australia. Unfortunately, we are unable at this stage to give reassurance about this issue, although we will fight hard against any changes to the means test free status of the blind pension.
The matters I have covered provide an indication of the range of individual advocacy which we undertake as part of the National Advocacy Service. Individual advocacy is a vital part of our work, demonstrating the difference we can make for individuals who request our help. More broadly, individual advocacy informs systemic advocacy. For example, our work in access to the environment and telecommunications is driven by a steady stream of member complaints and queries.
Membership growth was 5% this year, taking our numbers past 2650. Our Regional Branches continued their work, with access to the built environment being a common theme.
With our official name change to Blind Citizens Australia, a new logo and corporate identity were introduced. As part of this, a review of material sent to prospective members and new members was undertaken. I thank Karen Knight, with support from Maryanne Diamond and Sandra Knight, who did the work to design and produce kits for prospective members and for new members. These kits are proving popular, and they present a modern and professional image of our organisation.
We have continued to produce Blind Citizens News in multiple accessible formats, and its high standard has been maintained by Lynne Davis as editor. It continues to be a "must read" for many members, staff of blindness agencies and officers of government departments.
Our Horizons weekly radio program has continued to keep listeners apprised of news and developments. We thank Neville Kerr for his continued contribution as the program's producer and presenter. This year we celebrated our 800th program with the introduction of a new theme from "Future Road" by The Seekers, and we thank them for permission to use it. We also thank Barry Chapman who keeps our web page current, looking good and sounding great. Our arrangements for archiving Horizons on the Internet, accessible through our web page, are now well established. Personally, I find the Internet a very convenient environment for listening to Horizons.
We continue to maintain good relations with many national and international organisations. Our leaders are associated with twenty organisations, on most of which we are directly represented. In the blindness field they are the Australian Blindness Forum, the Australian Braille Authority, the Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies, the Australian Council for Radio for the Print Handicapped, the International Council on English Braille, the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities and the World Blind Union. Of course we maintain bilateral relationships with the blindness agencies as well. We support the employment by ACROD of a Policy Officer specialising in blindness, in association with the Australian Blindness Forum. We also strongly support participation by Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies in the DAISY Consortium; doing our part to develop the standards for the production, exchange and use of next-generation digital talking-books.
We have continued our involvement in the World Blind Union, and this year I attended an Officers meeting in South Africa. I am grateful for the privilege of representing Australia in WBU, and I shall continue to work hard to make that involvement widely beneficial. Hosting of the Fifth General Assembly and Second Blind Women's Forum in November 2000 in Melbourne is a major undertaking, but an exciting prospect. It is a wonderful chance for us to bring world-wide expertise and media attention together for the benefit of blind people and service agencies throughout Australia. Our collaborative arrangements with blindness agencies to organise these events are working well, and we soon hope to be able to announce participation by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.
Our income for the year was $751,485 and expenditure was $728,316. These figures show a 20% increase over the previous year. We had a surplus of $23,169. Our accumulated funds are $144,603, of which $86,692 is represented by fixed assets.
Last year we received $46,000 from blindness agencies, led by $20,000 from Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. This figure was down from the previous year, because the Royal Blind Society contribution was late. We thank those agencies for their financial contributions and for other in-kind support which we appreciate. We received $23,536 from members through our appeals and from the PACC program. We also made a profit of $8,000 on our first national lottery, but these figures will show in next year's report. This support from members is strong and very much appreciated.
Further details of income and expenditure are given in the Annual Report, and are provided for Braille readers in a separate volume.
We continue to receive $165,000 per year from the Office of Disability for the National Advocacy Service. We record our appreciation to staff of the Office of Disability for their advice, support and co-operation. We have continued to carry out our responsibilities as the peak body in the blindness field, and we have worked constructively with kindred organisations of people with disabilities.
We have accepted the Commonwealth Government's four generic outcomes which have been added to all Grant Contracts between the Commonwealth and national peak bodies. These are:
· Seek revenue from a variety of public and private sources, and consequently improve viability and reduce reliance on FACS (Family and Community Services) for funds;
· Fully represent people and agencies in area of interest, to achieve a reduction in the volume of separate and contradictory representations by other bodies in that field;
· Work together with other relevant peak bodies and with FACS, to streamline and simplify the present range of interests and to achieve a reduction in the number of funded organisations; and
· Work collaboratively with FACS and provide early warning for all controversial issues planned for media coverage and which might attract public comment.
We are finalising our agreement with the National Secretariat Program on the Performance Indicators and Priority Targets for these Generic Outcomes. We are comfortable with outcomes One, Two and Four. Outcome Three is more problematic. Of course we will readily co-operate with other organisations of people with disabilities and service providers through our participation in the Caucus and our membership of ACROD. However, we will not merge with other disability organisations to reduce the number of national peak bodies. We shall maintain our separateness and autonomy as Australia's national association of the blind.
We receive $69,000 per year from the Victorian Government for our State-wide advocacy and information service. Our priorities this year have been pedestrian access and forums in regional Victoria. The work has been led by Maryanne Diamond who joined our staff last November.
We convene and host the DDA Standards Project with funding of $105,000 per year from the Attorney General's Department. Overall progress on DDA Standards has been disappointing. The Transport Standard moved a little closer to adoption, and we do hope for good news by year's end. We are also encouraged that the Government has amended the DDA to allow for a Disability Standard on Accessible Premises.
Last year we received a grant of $100,000 from the Department of Communications, Information technology and the Arts for the Telecommunications & Disability Consumer Representation project. This is an important piece of work for us, because telecommunications are of fundamental importance to blind people. We are pleased that funding has continued for another year, and that Gunela Astbrink has joined our staff as the new Policy Officer.
We have made good progress on our project researching Enhanced Audio with Digital Television. John Simpson has led this work, with technical support from Dale Simpson. The final report will soon be available, demonstrating the extent of deprivation experienced by blind television viewers and providing suggestions for the future.
We have made very good progress with our project "Making E-Commerce Accessible" for which the research has been carried out by Tim Noonan. His discussion paper has just been released, full of background information and identified problem areas.
We were very pleased to learn that the Attorney General has requested HREOC to conduct an inquiry into the impact of electronic commerce and new technologies on people who are older and people who have a disability. Due to the extent of the work we have been conducting in the areas of E-Commerce, digital radio and television and telecommunications technologies, we are in an excellent position to provide major input into this inquiry.
We continue to support the United Blind Persons of Fiji to raise funds in Fiji and develop the organisation. Last year our $1,000 contribution was matched by $2,900 from AusAID. UBP has used this money to employ a part-time fundraiser, publicise the organisation and hold forums for its members. Last year we provided UBP with an office computer, and recently it received a grant in Fiji for a JAWS screen reader.
We are now at the end of the three-year teacher-training project in Viet Nam. We have supported teacher-training courses in six provinces and Braille literacy classes in sixty districts. All trainees have learned to read and write Braille as the top priority, with attention also being given to mobility, daily living skills and vocational training.
Our Vietnamese partner is the Viet Nam Blind Association (VBA), and we have developed a very good relationship with this organisation. I make monitoring visits to Viet Nam twice a year, and I appreciate the partnership with VBA and the support of its leaders. Our representative in Viet Nam is Miss Tran Dan Phuong, and she is my interpreter and guide when I visit. Miss Phuong has worked for Blind Citizens Australia for five years now, and she continues to do a very good job.
With 125 teachers trained and more than 1000 blind people receiving the gift of literacy through Braille, I am well satisfied that our work in Viet Nam is making a real difference to blind people. I express appreciation to AusAID for providing funds and to our Vietnamese partners who contribute to the success of the project. I thank Helen McAuley from ACROD for her administrative support. Especially I thank Miss Phuong for her excellent work and attention to detail.
As we come to the end of the year we can book back on many achievements: the identity card, the new publicity and welcome kits, our new name and some advocacy successes. Our communication media are strong and we are making good use of the Internet. But we must recognise some challenges ahead: our growth outstripping our funding, the demand for our advocacy growing by volume and complexity of issues, the Government's emerging welfare reform agenda and the constant battles to maintain employment and manage the new technology. Access, to the built environment and to cyberspace, is emerging as a national priority.
I thank our President, Michael Simpson, for his support and advice to me. I continue to be impressed by and grateful for his mature and committed leadership of Blind Citizens Australia. I thank my wife, Carmel, for her support this year. I thank my close friends for their encouragement.
I have pride and satisfaction in commending to you the Annual Report for 1999 of Blind Citizens Australia.
Editor's Note: Aileen McFadzean, working three days per week, has provided the individual advocacy support this year. She has contributed the following report which gives an insight into the work we do to support individuals. Since these issues concern people whose rights to privacy we respect, the reporting of particular cases is necessarily circumspect.
The year has been very busy in terms of the number of advocacy matters handled and their complexity. As with other years the matters dealt with have covered social security, migration, the medical expenses rebate, compensation, disability discrimination in a broad range of areas, and concerns about the quality of disability services. The extent of work required in each particular matter varies considerably. Some matters can be resolved with a telephone call while others involve many hours of research, submission writing and negotiation. The following summary of this year's activities is intended to give both broad-brush information, as well as detailed information about some of our more ground- breaking cases and crucial advocacy.
Our individual advocacy work continues to be dominated by disability discrimination advocacy. This advocacy is conducted under federal, state or territory legislation depending on which jurisdiction is more appropriate for a particular case. The biggest change in the way we conduct our its disability discrimination advocacy is that we try, where possible, to support matters to the stage of a final hearing rather than simply referring a matter on to a generic legal service, if it does not settle at conciliation.
This is a significant change since it means that our National Advocacy Officer must prepare all of the hearing documents including affidavits, witness lists, preliminary applications and details about what is being sought as an outcome from a hearing. It also includes gathering evidence and legal research.
Blind Citizens Australia cannot take all matters on to final hearing but will try to support the less complex and stronger cases. This sometimes requires hard decisions to be made, but we lack resources to support all cases to final hearing. The decision to take some matters to final hearing does add demands on our workload. It is, however, also extremely satisfying to be able to apply pressure on respondents by making it clear that we do intend to support cases to their conclusion. We do not underwrite any of the costs involved in taking a matter to final hearing and our support is sometimes conditional on being able to find a barrister to conduct the actual hearing. We have been prepared, for relatively simple matters, to conduct this work ourselves.
In the last year, Blind Citizens Australia has advocated in numerous cases of discrimination in the area of employment. All of these to date have been settled without the need to go to final hearing. In some cases we have settled for good outcomes including compensation and further adjustments made in workplaces. The outcomes of other cases have not necessarily been so satisfactory but it has not been practicable for various reasons to take the matter further, usually because we consider it would be too difficult to prove a case of discrimination.
Frequently, discrimination in employment relates to the failure of employers to make adjustments for a person's changing condition and very frequently discriminatory attitudes as to a person's capacity to perform his or her job. One feature we notice a great deal is an increasing propensity by employers to use the process of obtaining assessments as a tool to put unwarranted pressure on employees. Often something which could occur to any employee is attributed to a person's disability and doubts are raised about his or her competency. Employment discrimination cases often involve ongoing relationships which can make them extremely stressful, and the frequent obstacles to obtaining a new job places particular pressure on employees who are blind or vision impaired to stay in unsatisfactory situations.
At any one time we usually have a number of discrimination cases in the area of education in the process of being negotiated and sometimes just advice being given. We are only surprised that we don't have more. Education cases have common features including the failure to make any or sufficient adjustments to curriculum or the mode of assessment as well as adjustments such as Braille, audio tape or large print materials and the use of note takers. Sometimes, it is the attitudes of lecturers and tutors which is the problem. Blind Citizens Australia has negotiated with schools directly and has acted as advocate at formal conciliations.
Blind Citizens Australia has advocated again in a large number of complaints against restaurants or other businesses in relation to refusing access to people with dog guides. The first hearing in which we provided direct representation involved this issue. Another area involving discrimination against people with dog guides is that of accommodation; discrimination by landlords and their agents is rife.
Two cases involving discrimination in the area of access to information require special mention. The first is one that members will remember from our last Annual Report and relates to a complaint by four blind people against the Office of Asset Sales and IT Outsourcing (OASITO). The basis of the complaints was that there was a failure to provide the prospectus information for the first sale of Telstra in accessible formats.
The complaints were conciliated by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) on 12 March 1999 and unfortunately an outcome could not be reached. We could not get OASITO to guarantee that the prospectus for any future sale of Telstra would be available in a range of formats including Braille. The complaints were then referred for final hearing and we are waiting for a date to be set. In the meantime, negotiations have continued and to the credit of OASITO the feasibility of making any future prospectus available in a range of formats has been investigated and basically agreed to. We were pleased that for Telstra 2, prospectus information was made available in Braille, audio cassette, computer disk and large print.
The second complaint involving access to information was a complaint lodged by Mr Bruce Maguire in June 1999 against the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), for its failure to make the official Olympic ticket book and official Olympic souvenir program available in Braille. He also lodged a complaint against Ray White Real Estate for the failure to make the SOCOG web site accessible.
Mr Maguire gave SOCOG every opportunity to rectify the problem but to no avail. Blind Citizens Australia consequently applied for an interim determination, which is like an injunction, to prevent Mr Maguire from being disadvantaged in the ticket allocation process pending an investigation into the substantive issues by HREOC. SOCOG vigorously opposed the granting of the interim determination which was, however, granted by HREOC. Mr Maguire decided that instead of trying to enforce the interim determination in the Federal Court he would try to win on the substantive issue of whether unlawful discrimination had occurred.
Conciliation failed and SOCOG was generally obstructionist as Mr Maguire attempted to prepare his case. The final hearing was scheduled for 27-28 September and to date SOCOG must have spent thousands of dollars fighting Mr Maguire's complaint. Blind Citizens Australia handled the case until it was taken on by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in NSW. We are still providing ongoing support and assistance to Mr Maguire and his new representatives. This hearing was confined to the issue of the ticket book and separate dates have been scheduled for determination of Mr Maguire's related complaints about the unavailability in Braille of the Olympic Souvenir Program and the inaccessibility of SOCOG's Web Site.
Two days after the Hearing, on 30 September, Commissioner William Carter handed down his decision. He found that SOCOG had unlawfully discriminated against Mr Maguire in failing to provide him with Braille access to the Olympic ticket book. Commissioner Carter found that SOCOG directly discriminated against Mr Maguire, and stated that there was also a breach of indirect discrimination law. He ordered that Mr Maguire be assisted by SOCOG in the purchase of tickets in the second ticketing round, and implied that the ticket book should be made available to Mr Maguire in Braille. Commissioner Carter fully accepted the evidence brought by Mr Maguire and his witnesses, emphasising that Braille is paramount for blind people as our literacy medium, and totally discounted evidence brought by SOCOG: the comparative value of other alternative formats and media, the onerous cost of Braille production, the adequacy of the telephone help line for vision impaired persons, and the low value of the Olympics as a sporting event for blind spectators.
Blind Citizens Australia is delighted with the outcome of the Maguire case: a convincing victory for Braille confirmed by mostly positive media coverage and a high level of public interest. We thank Bruce Maguire for his courage and tenacity to lodge the complaint against SOCOG and to see the matter through to finality. Together with the Telstra-2 Share Offer Documentation case, it seems that a precedent has been set for the provision of widely available public documents in accessible formats.
In May this year, Blind Citizens Australia ran another test case, this time in the area of sport. The case involved a legally blind road racing cyclist who was unable to have his road racing licence reissued due to his vision impairment. The cyclist had an excellent record of safe cycling and a better safety record than many other cyclists. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 he had to show that he was reasonably capable of doing what was reasonably required of the sport. Despite safely riding each week over 300 km it was decided by the Commissioner that the cyclist was not sufficiently safe to satisfy the provisions of the Act.
Another area in which the advocacy of Blind Citizens Australia has increased is immigration. Specifically, the issue is the general practice of refusing permanent residency visas to people who are blind or vision impaired on the basis that their presence in Australia would be too costly and would prejudice the access of other permanent residents and Australian citizens to health care and other community services. One example of how this practice works is if an Australian citizen or permanent resident marries someone from overseas who has a vision impairment, it is very likely that that person will be denied permanent residency in Australia. We find that the calculation of cost often bears little resemblance to the actual entitlements and community service requirements. We have experienced children being separated from a parent, as well as spouses and elderly relatives being separated. The cases are often heart-rending.
It is important to note that Australia's immigration law affects most disability types. Fortunately, because Blind Citizens Australia has intimate knowledge about the way our social security system operates as well as information about blindness services, we have been crucial in the overturning of decisions to refuse entry. We generally have a number of these cases proceeding at any one time.
Blind Citizens Australia frequently advocates on behalf of users of blindness services about the quality of service and occasionally the refusal of service. One of the biggest cases Blind Citizens Australia has been involved with to date relates to the unlawful retrieval by employees of the Lady Nell Seeing Eye Dog School and Rehabilitation Centre (the Centre) of a dog guide being used by Ms Marlene Massingham. The claims of the Centre related to the alleged poor condition of the dog and poor working of the dog. The dog was returned to Ms Massingham after injunctive action was taken, and the case went to hearing in the District Court of NSW in July. One of the employees of the Centre had previously been convicted and fined $1000 for the assault of Ms Massingham when taking her dog.
The decision by Judge Phelan which was handed down on 20 August 1999 found that the Centre, through the actions of its Executive Director, Mrs Phyllis Gration, was motivated out of spite due to personal reasons., Judge Phelan also found that Ms Massingham worked her dog well, and that the dog was kept in good condition. The following quotation (pages 8-9) from the Judgment is a neat synopsis.
"Mrs Gration emphatically denied in evidence that her action in retaking the dog was motivated by vindictive spite following her husband's departure and his liaison with the defendant. It cannot be disputed from her remarkable autobiography which became Exhibit 1, that as a blind person her achievements, in aiding others who are similarly afflicted and in the training of guide dogs for them, have been highly praiseworthy. She has often had to strive against formidable circumstances and this has no doubt engendered redoubtable qualities in her. She has generated considerable loyalty amongst those she has helped and I have no doubt, as the defendant herself confirmed, that she could be a warm, friendly and encouraging person. It is also readily understandable in the twilight of a highly praised and honoured life, and after a lengthy relationship with Mr Cooper, that she might feel bitter against him and the defendant."
"I am also persuaded that Mrs Gration does not readily brook opposition or questioning. I accept the submission that there were a number of inconsistencies in her evidence, and an unwillingness to give answers to disadvantage the plaintiff's case. Indeed she was prepared on a number of occasions to alter her evidence to suit the circumstances. Nor did she show any real respect for the court by her constant interruptions and lengthy and non responsive monologues in apparent response to questions. This was calculated, I have no doubt, by her eagerness to justify her own position. In the end result such were the numerous unsubstantiated or abandoned allegations, which for the most part were trivial, I am quite convinced that the whole saga is the result of spite."
This case indicates to Blind Citizens Australia a kind of personal vendetta against Ms Massingham, and we are extremely concerned about the use of the Centre's funds in pursuing this and other baseless legal action. We want the Centre's Directors to realise their legal and moral responsibilities. Blind Citizens Australia has provided continuous advocacy support to Ms Massingham throughout this case, and is striving for governmental support for a review of the Centre's activities.
Every year we report on the range of social security issues which arise for people who are blind or vision impaired. These issues relate to various entitlements such as mobility allowance, rent assistance, other allowances and the treatment of compensation payments. An often-raised issue is whether a person receiving another entitlement such as compensation is still eligible for the Disability Support Pension.
Much concern has been expressed over the year about proposals to change the structure of disability pensions in Australia. Unfortunately, we are unable at this stage to give reassurance about this issue, although we will fight hard against any changes to the means test free status of the blind pension.
As you can see it has been a busy year and we encourage all our members to continue to raise issues of concern and make use of our advocacy service. The matters outlined above provide an indication of the range of individual advocacy which we undertake as part of the National Advocacy Service. Individual advocacy is a vital part of our work, demonstrating the difference we can make for individuals who request our help.
Editor's Note: My thanks to Ivan Peterson, who worked for much of the year as National Policy Officer, and John Simpson for their contributions to the following report. Ivan has since left our employ to work in a related field, and we wish him success and thank him for his work for Blind Citizens Australia.
Members throughout Australia continue to identify access to the built environment as a high priority. With extremely limited resources it is essential that we maximise outcomes from the application of those resources. We can do this in two ways: issues-based advocacy and policy development.
Progress can be made by tackling strategic issues which, when they are resolved, will have a "flow on" effect by creating precedents for addressing similar issues in other settings.
Impediments to pedestrian safety caused by overhanging foliage is a national issue. The City of Stonnington was considering changing a local law to allow for cypress hedges to encroach over footpaths. Following lengthy investigation by the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria, a mediated agreement was reached whereby Stonnington Council has agreed to ensure a Continuous Accessible Path of Travel as defined in Australian Standard 1428.1 past hedges in Stonnington. It is clearly the responsibility of Local Government Authorities to ensure Continuous Accessible Paths of Travel as defined in the Australian Standard to and from buildings and facilities in the built environment. The Stonnington experience can be used in advocating with other Councils.
Blind Citizens Australia has been involved in work to improve access to the built environment under Anti-Discrimination legislation, Australian Standards and Building Codes. Where building practitioners, service
providers or facility managers are not obligated to provide equity of access they may choose not to provide genuine equity of access for usually economic reasons or they may do so out of ignorance.
The Stonnington example also demonstrates that the instruments on which we can base our demands for equity of access to the built environment must address the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired. These instruments are: Australian Standards, the Standards of access to premises which will be developed under the Federal Disability Discrimination Act and the Building Code of Australia. Blind Citizens Australia has a vital role to play, along with other disability advocacy organisations, in ensuring that the Standards and Codes provide genuine equity of access and that they are compatible.
Standards Australia develops design criteria for access to the built environment for people with disabilities that are advisory until called into the Building Code of Australia. Until this year the Building Code has not addressed the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired and even now it only does so minimally.
Through representation on Standards and Building Codes Committees, Blind Citizens Australia has helped bring about changes to Standards and the Building Code to improve equity of access. Some changes achieved recently are:
· Tactile Ground Surface Indicators are now required by the Building Code at the top and bottom of all ramps and stairs.
· Australian Standards now specify the use of tactile signs and information in Braille in many new lifts.
· The needs of people with vision impairment for consistent minimum levels and consistency of lighting in lifts, building foyers and public spaces is covered by Australian Standards.
· The Standard on Tactile Ground Surface Indicators will soon include other design features to improve access such as tactile and Braille signs.
By advocating for the inclusion of equity of access in Australian Standards and Building Codes, Blind Citizens Australia is working to ensure that building practitioners at all levels are required to provide equity of access. Until the provision of equity of access is guaranteed by these Standards and Codes it will not be consistently provided.
Whilst it is unlawful under the DDA for building practitioners to fail to provide equity of access where it would not cause unjustifiable hardship or is otherwise unreasonable, remedy can be a slow and difficult process. Our aim is for the provision of equity of access to become as normal a requirement of the building regulatory regime as are the criteria for fire and for electrical safety. Our advocacy must continue at all levels. Our systemic advocacy and associated policy framework must support our members so that as representatives of people who are blind or vision impaired they can give advice which is founded in Australian Standards and the principles of Blind Citizens Australia policies.
Throughout the year our National Transport and Access Committee, chaired by Vice-President Peter Johnson, considered issues of access and provided input into the reviews by Standards Australia of AS1428.1 and ASS1428.4 dealing with access to premises by people with disabilities.
Blind Citizens WA reported that experience had shown that a person striding out confidently might over-step and therefore fail to detect a 600mm strip of Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSI's). Advice by our Access Committee that an 800mm strip of TGSI's is needed in certain applications has been incorporated into the draft of the revised Standard. The inclusion of additional tactile methods of providing information into the Standard was also as the result of input from our Access Committee.
The Committee has developed an interim statement on the use of TGSI's, and has taken a strong and positive stand on the use of technology to resolve issues of the intrusion of Audible Traffic Signals into peaceful environments.
Blind Citizens Australia has continued to give attention to issues of access to telecommunications and information technology. This has been a feature of project work described elsewhere in this report. The extension of competition within the Telecommunications Industry, together with the move to electronic delivery of information, and government and community services brings both opportunities and threats for people who are blind or vision impaired. We continue to strive for the providers of these services and for developers of new information technology to take account of the needs of people with disabilities as part of their design or implementation strategies rather than as costly afterthoughts.
We have enjoyed a constructive working relationship with Telstra for more than ten years. During this last year we have worked through direct negotiation to address a range of matters.
Much of this work is founded on recommendations contained in the report "Everybody's Business: Consumer Information Access for People who are Blind or Vision impaired". This report of research work undertaken on our behalf by Gunela Astbrink in 1996 is still very current and identifies information provision strategies that Telstra and other large commercial and government organisations should implement to address the information needs of people who are blind or vision impaired. We are pleased that Telstra has taken action to address many of these recommendations over the last year. In particular, we are pleased that Telstra is provided telephone bills in Braille and that soon a similar arrangement will be introduced for large print users.
We have had ongoing discussions with Telstra about the multimedia payphones. These are public access computer terminals which are not accessible to blind people because they use touch-screen technology for input. Telstra has been made aware of our concerns and is working to address them. Blind Citizens Australia is continuing to attempt to resolve this matter by negotiation and conciliation without immediate recourse to discrimination law.
During the year Telstra changed its consultative arrangements with the disability community from a Standing Committee of its Consumer Consultative Council to biannual forums. These forums are supplemented by ongoing bilateral relationships between specific disability organisations such as Blind Citizens Australia and Telstra to address specific issues.
John Simpson is our representative on the Optus Consumer Liaison Forum. The Forum has given advice to Optus on the development of its Disability Action Plan. The Action Plan underpins the Company's commitment to address matters of access to its premises and services by people with disabilities. Optus has an increasing role in the provision of information, entertainment and online services, and we are pleased that we are able to represent the interests of blind and vision impaired people through this Forum.
The Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) comprises telecommunications carriers, service providers and other organisations with an involvement in this industry. Its primary role is the development of Industry Codes of Practice in relation to both technical and customer service matters. Blind Citizens Australia is a member of ACIF which has provision in its membership for consumer organisations, and we believe that our involvement in ACIF will become more important as time goes on.
In February 1998 ACIF held a Disability Forum to apprise itself of disability-related issues and later in the year it established a Disability Advisory Body (DAB). John Simpson is chairing the ACIF DAB, which reviews ACIF's work program and advises on the relevance of particular Codes or Standards for telecommunications users with disabilities.
Blind Citizens Australia has continued to monitor and has tried with some success to influence the way employment assistance is provided to people with disabilities. We pointed out that general approaches may have adverse or unintended consequences for people with low incidence disabilities like blindness or vision impairment. We are also closely following the Commonwealth's Case-Based Funding Trials to ensure that blind people are not disadvantaged in their access to long-term supported employment or competitive employment services.
We have continued to monitor and participate in the review of the National Advocacy Program and the evaluation of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy. The reports of the Advocacy Review and Strategy Evaluation were recently released. We are reviewing these reports to assess their impact on the direction of our work and the Commonwealth Government's environmental framework in which we must operate.
At the National Convention last year a draft Policy Statement on Education for students who are blind or vision impaired was approved. During this year work has continued to finalise the document, ready for its promulgation throughout the education community. The Policy Statement addresses the full range of issues relevant to students at school and in all other educational settings.
Work was also carried out during the year to update the Policy Statement on Fundraising by Blindness Agencies. This is a very sensitive matter because negative or misleading fundraising can be very hurtful to blind people.
Editor's Note: My thanks to Karen Knight, Vice-President Membership & Communication, who contributed the following report Our best wishes too, to Karen, for happiness and fulfilment in her forthcoming marriage.
Over the past year, there has once again been steady growth in membership. With the implementation of the new membership database, member records have been refined and updated. The table below illustrates the growth in membership by State/Territory from September 1996 to September 1999.
State/Territory 1996 1997 1998 1999
VIC 852 888 936 1002
NSW 487 523 572 617
SA 131 420 408 394
QLD 216 244 257 282
WA 171 190 195 207
TAS 75 80 78 83
ACT 40 39 40 46
NT 12 16 15 15
Overseas 7 7 8 8
TOTAL 1991 2407 2509 2655
Membership Promotion
With the official name change of the organisation to Blind Citizens Australia, a new logo and corporate identity was introduced. As part of this, a review of material sent to prospective members’ and new members was undertaken. With the assistance of Maryanne Diamond and Sandra Knight, a general information brochure about the organisation was developed. A prospective members kit was designed which included a membership form, a general information brochure, an application for the Blind Citizens Australia Identity Card and an information sheet about our policies. A new members' kit was also designed which included a welcome letter, Cashtest Australia, the latest edition of Blind Citizens News, the most recent edition of SoundAbout for the member's home State and the person's Blind Citizens Australia identity card (if ordered at the time of joining Blind Citizens Australia. Both kits are put together in folders displaying the new Blind Citizens Australia colours. New member information is also now available in all formats. In the coming year, we will continue to develop further promotional material for the organisation.
A highlight of the 1998 Convention held in Melbourne was the presentation of awards to people who have made an outstanding contribution to Blind Citizens Australia and for the benefit of blind and vision impaired people. The Blind Citizens Australia David Blyth Award was presented to Joan Ledermann: "In recognition of her leadership in the self-help movement of blind people, including four years as President of Blind Citizens Australia; in appreciation of her passion and advocacy for accessible, high-quality Braille as our primary literacy medium; and for her friendship and inspiration to so many, especially blind women." She served as President of Blind Citizens Australia during 1986-90, and was the first and to date only female President of the Organisation. Joan was a member of the Blind Citizens Australia Board for almost twenty years and is well-known within and outside the blind community for her work in the area of Braille. She was the first chairman of the Australian Braille Authority and is about to complete her four-year term as President of the International Council on English Braille.
Certificates of Appreciation are awarded to people who have made a major contribution to Blind Citizens Australia. Last year they were awarded to Carmel Jolley from Victoria "In appreciation of her commitment to Blind Citizens Australia and her support of its work and its leaders over many years as a volunteer, active member and friend to all", and to Pat Downie from NSW "In appreciation of his service to Blind Citizens Australia, particularly through the Sydney Branch as Secretary and as a strong advocate for accessible transport". Congratulations to Joan, Carmel and Pat. Their work in the blindness field and for Blind Citizens Australia, in particular, serves as an example to us all.
As reported last year, a discussion paper on the future of the organisation titled "Options for the Future" was circulated to branches for comment. This consultation process has concluded and the feedback has been synthesised. As a result, a comprehensive package of amendments to the Organisation's Memorandum and Articles of Association have been proposed by the Board, and they will be put to members at Convention 1999. I would like to record my appreciation to Michael Simpson and Bill Jolley as the two main people who facilitated the consultation process and re-drafted the Articles of Association.
Once again this year, Blind Citizens Australia branches have worked tirelessly in their local areas. They have addressed a range of access issues including pedestrian safety, access to transport, access to emerging information technology and other information services. Our President, Michael Simpson, has visited most branches during the year and has reported a high level of energy around common issues.
I would also like to record my thanks to Leighton Boyd for continuing to keep in touch with organisational members and for bringing their issues to the Council. We currently have five Class A members, seven Class B members and five Class C members. Organisational members are regularly invited to contribute an article about their organisation to be included in Blind Citizens News, and a number of organisations have accepted this invitation over the past year.
Blind Citizens News continues to be a well-respected publication and a "must-read" for members and those interested in the work of Blind Citizens Australia. Lynne Davis has done a fantastic job in encouraging feedback and contributions from members, and she must be commended on how she has continued to develop the publication to foster the discussion and debate of important issues that affect the daily lives of blind and vision impaired people.
Our weekly radio program, Horizons, continues to keep people informed about the work of Blind Citizens Australia. Some community radio stations are now taking the program each week, meaning that interested members and supporters in regional areas of Australia can listen to the program. Horizons can now be heard on the Internet via Real Audio. This has significantly increased the listenership of the program. We were pleased to find earlier this year that some archived Horizons programs are included in a unique display in the United States demonstrating the feasibility and utility of telephone-based access to the Internet using a combination of synthetic speech for text files and digital audio files for recording material.
In early August 1999 we celebrated the 800th edition of Horizons and a new theme for the program was introduced. We believe that "Future Road" by The Seekers captures the sentiments of our organisation. Congratulations and many thanks to Neville Kerr for his ongoing work in producing and presenting the program in support of Blind Citizens Australia for over fifteen years.
SoundAbout magazines continue to be produced at least quarterly in all States except Tasmania. These are ninety minute audio magazines which focus on local news and information. This year we have tried to encourage presenters in all States to keep informed about the material being used in other States with the purpose of exchanging information and interviews where appropriate. This has worked effectively in some States, but there is still some work to do in others.
Barry Chapman has continued to do an outstanding job as Web Master of our Web Page. He is always diligent in updating information and creating additional links where appropriate. It is a vehicle by which members and other interested people can read and learn about our work. The Horizons radio programs are now archived on the Web and can be heard through our Web Page.
Our use of the Web is also expanding with last year's Convention being broadcast live over the Internet. Feedback from those who tuned in via the Web described it as amazing - the ability to hear what is happening at Convention while sitting at home in front of one's computer. Plans are again in place to broadcast this year's Convention on the Web.
VIP-L is yet another vehicle of communication for blind and vision impaired people across Australia and New Zealand. It is an Internet discussion list which addresses a wide array of issues important to blind and vision impaired people. Thanks to Tim Noonan for his efforts as List Administrator. More and more people are joining the list. Most weeks, there would be at least 100 messages. It is a very effective way of conveying information to a very large audience, a number of whom enjoy reading what others have to say but do not necessarily wish to contribute themselves.
As I have indicated, there are a number of people who work collaboratively in the area of membership and communication. This is illustrated by the ongoing achievements of Blind Citizens Australia in this area. Congratulations to all of you and thank you for your diligence and commitment.
We continue to be active in outside organisations. Either we have had representation in our own right, or we have encouraged our members to take part in these various activities. We believe that it is necessary that we are vigilant, active and visible at all levels. A list of involvements in external bodies follows at the end of this section.
We have continued to be involved in co-ordinating bodies in the blindness field, namely: Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, Australian Blindness Forum, Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies and Committee of Australian Blindness Agencies.
Our responsibility is to serve blind, vision impaired and print handicapped people. In so doing, we believe it is critical to be part of other organisations: to receive information from them, to give advice to them and to ensure that when they speak out or develop policy on blindness or disability related matters they are in conformity with our views. We have enjoyed productive working relations with many external bodies, and we value the contacts we have made and the information and advice we have received.
Blind Citizens Australia is a member of ACROD, Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF), Consumers' Telecommunications Network and National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations. This year we joined ACIF, reflecting the importance to our members of telecommunications products and services now available from a range of suppliers.
We have resigned from Australian Council of Social Service and Consumers' Health Forum because we felt that we could not participate in all relevant organisations and that we must be more strategic and selective in our external involvements. Our resignations are in no way a reflection on these two important organisations, and we wish them well in their future endeavours.
We have continued to work with, advise and receive information from our members on various bodies, even though they do not necessarily directly represent Blind Citizens Australia. We believe that it is important that blind people in representative positions have strong links with other blind people, and we encourage our leaders to be involved in their own right in the wider community sector.
Our President, Michael Simpson, has continued his strong and beneficial involvement as a Deputy Chair of the National Disability Advisory Council (NDAC). NDAC is the advisory council to the Commonwealth Minister for Family Services. Michael's major portfolio responsibility on NDAC has been liaison with the peak national disability organisations such as Blind Citizens Australia. This involvement has confirmed for him the strengths of Blind Citizens Australia, and has indicated some areas where challenges for us still lie ahead.
Members of Blind Citizens Australia
Serving on National and International Bodies
Editor's Note: Those members marked "*" are direct representatives or are nominees of Blind Citizens Australia chosen by the Board. Other people serve in their own right.
· Australian Blindness Forum: Bill Jolley Secretary/Treasurer) *,
David Blyth *, Michael Simpson *
· Australian Braille Authority: Joan Ledermann *
· Australian Communications Industry Forum: Bill Jolley *,
John Simpson
· Australian Council for Radio for the Print Handicapped: John Simpson (Executive Officer), Stephen Jolley (President)
· Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies: Bill Jolley *
· ACROD: Bill Jolley *, Michael Simpson *
· Committee of Australian Blindness Agencies: Bill Jolley *
· Consumers' Telecommunications Network: Bill Jolley *
· DDA Standards Working Parties
· DDA Standards Project: Bill Jolley (Convenor) *
· Attorney General's DDA Standards Working Group: Bill Jolley *
· Employment Standard Working Party: John Simpson *
· Australian Building Codes Board Access Committee: Bill Jolley *
· Commonwealth Communication and Information Standard Working Party: Bill Jolley *
· International Council on English Braille: Joan Ledermann (President), Bill Jolley (Delegate) *
· National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations: Bill Jolley *
· National Committee on Equality of Opportunity in Employment and Occupation: John Simpson
· National Disability Advisory Council: Michael Simpson (Deputy Chair)
· Optus Consumer Liaison Forum: John Simpson *
· Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities: Bill Jolley *
· Standards Australia Committees
· ME/4/9: Facilities in Lifts for People with Disabilities, Barry Chapman *
· I//T/20: Text Telephone Requirements for People with Disabilities, Tim Noonan
· I//T/22: User Interface Requirements for Interactive Voice Response Systems, Tim Noonan
· ME/64: Access for People with Disabilities, Ivan Peterson *
· ME/64/4: Access for People with Disabilities - Vision, Ivan Peterson
· Telstra Disability Forum: John Simpson *, Bill Jolley *
· Tertiary Education Disability Council (Australia): Sondra Wibberley (Co-President)
· World Blind Union
· David Blyth (Immediate Past President)
· Australian Delegates: Bill Jolley (East Asia Pacific Regional Vice-President and World Executive Member) *, Maryanne Diamond (World Blind Women's Forum Organiser) *
· Committee on Human Rights: Graeme Innes (Deputy Chair) *
· East Asia Pacific Regional Women's Committee:
Maryanne Diamond *
DAISY Consortium
We have continued our involvement in Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies (ANZBA). This is an unincorporated association made up of Blind Citizens Australia, Royal Blind Society (NSW), Royal Society for the Blind (SA), Vision Australia Foundation, Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind. ANZBA is a member of the DAISY Consortium.
DAISY means Digital Audio-Based Information Systems, and the Consortium has come together to oversee the transfer from an analog to a digital platform for talking-books. The Consortium is developing the standards for the production, exchange and use of the next generation of digital talking-books. The very latest Standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium are being applied for file specification and integration, to give blind students and professionals access to the latest information systems, and text search and retrieval technologies. Digital talking-books will also be highly beneficial to recreational readers of talking-books.
The first of the biannual meetings of the DAISY Consortium for 1999 was held in Sydney, with ANZBA being represented by Bill Jolley. The meeting confirmed the importance of the DAISY Consortium as the international organisation developing the standards for digital talking-books, and highlighted the importance of these developments for blind people in Australia.
Blind Citizens Australia has since started to carry out a digital talking-book recording trial project through a grant of $20,000 from the Commonwealth Government. This project, using the Sigtuna recording software, will give us expertise in this new talking-book recording paradigm. Further, it will enable us to give information and advice to our members, to blindness agencies and to the Commonwealth Government's Office of Disability.
The Sigtuna project is funded by the Japanese Government and is carried out by the Japan Society for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities. Bill Jolley has continued to work closely with this project and recently organised a Sigtuna recorder training course for ANZBA members in Melbourne. This course was assisted by the Sigtuna project which generously provided a trainer free of charge from Japan to lead the two-day course. Collaboration with Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind is also appreciated.
The focus of our international activities is World Blind Union, the body which unites organisations of blind people and the agencies providing services into a unified movement. Its theme is "Changing What it Means to be Blind".
We are taking up the challenge and looking forward to hosting an outstanding event in November 2000 in Melbourne. The World Blind Union Fifth General Assembly will be preceded by the Second World Blind Women's Forum and an Agency Management Seminar. There will also be an Equipment and Technology Exhibition. A General Assembly Planning Group, chaired by WBU Immediate Past President David Blyth, has been formed. It brings together the expertise and perspectives of Blind Citizens Australia and partner agencies which have pledged a total contribution of $200,000: Guide Dog Association of NSW/ACT, Guide Dog Association of Victoria, Royal Blind Society of NSW, Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and Vision Australia Foundation. Bill Jolley is acting as Project Manager and John Simpson has been appointed as the Event Organiser.
We are planning for this to be a special event, attracting blind people throughout Australia and involving all blindness agencies that wish to participate. There will be a comprehensive radio coverage in Melbourne, available to interstate broadcasters, and we are planning for the General Assembly and Women's Forum to be broadcast live over the Internet in English, Spanish and French.
Blind Citizens Australia has been governed by its Board of Directors, with support from Bill Jolley as Company Secretary and Executive Officer. Michael Simpson has led the Board as President, with extraordinary commitment and enthusiasm. Robert Altamore, Leighton Boyd, Peter Johnson and Karen Knight have held Vice-President positions. Robert Altamore and Peter Johnson led the work on Advocacy & Policy, whilst Leighton Boyd and Karen Knight led the work on Membership & Communication. In May, Leighton Boyd resigned from the Board and as a Vice-President. In June he was reappointed to the Board, but not as the Representative of Organisational Members nor as a Vice-President. Lynne Davis, Kym Hand, Tony Starkey and Sondra Wibberley were the Directors without Vice-President responsibilities. In June Helen Freris was appointed as a member of the Board. Members of the Board came from five States plus the ACT.
Monthly Board meetings were held, mostly by teleconference. Three face-to-face Council meetings were held. With the introduction of monthly Board meetings, The Executive has not met since the 1998 Convention.
I thank our Accounting Consultant, Mary Noy, for her assistance in preparing the accounts for audit. I also thank staff member, Robert Mascitti, for his careful bookkeeping throughout the year. Our accounts were audited by Brent Murphy, Registered Company Auditor, of McDonell Cunneen & Associates to whom we record our appreciation.
Our income for the year was $751,485 and expenditure was $728,316. This gave a surplus for the year of $23,169.
Accumulated funds of $144,603 are made up of:
Current Assets $8,423
Investments $130,496
Fixed Assets $86,692
Less Current Liabilities 81,008
Investments are made up of $90,496 with the National Australia Bank and $40,000 with the Trust Company of Australia.
Current liabilities are:
Prepaid income $7,990
Unspent project grants$41,626
Creditors and accruals $9,838
Provision for annual leave$15,554
The Jeffrey Blyth Foundation$6,000
Income was $751,485 for the year.
Again we received $165,000 from the Office of Disability for the National Advocacy Service. The Commonwealth Government has announced changes in the funding of national peak bodies, establishing the National Secretariat Program. These changes will have an impact on Blind Citizens Australia, with greater recognition of our role as a national peak body but without explicit recognition of the importance to consumers or appropriateness of the individual advocacy service we provide.
We received $46,000 from Blindness Agencies. They supported Blind Citizens Australia as follows:
Royal Victorian Institute$20,000
Villa Maria Society for the Blind$10,000
Vision Australia Foundation$7,000
Guide Dog Association of Victoria $5,000
Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia $4,000
The grant from Royal Blind Society of NSW for 1998-99 of $15,000 was received in August, too late for inclusion in these figures.
We thank all of these agencies for their ongoing financial support. We also record appreciation to some of these and other organisations for their in-kind support.
We received $28,500 to off-set costs associated with last year's Convention. Sponsorship was led by Telstra which contributed $9,000, largely to meet costs associated with audio production and program distribution for the coverage of the Convention on Radio for the Print Handicapped stations throughout Australia. The Telstra sponsorship also supported our first-ever live Internet broadcast of the Convention. We received $5,000 from the Office of Disability, to defray costs associated with the Leadership 2000 program and the production of documents in accessible formats. We received $3,500 from the Commonwealth Bank for production costs and general expenses. We received a grant of $5,000 from the Victorian Government for general expenses. We received $3,000 from each of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and the Vision Australia Foundation. We thank these sponsors and appreciate the strong partnerships that we have developed with them.
We again received strong support from our members, $23,536 in donations through our Appeal to Members and the Pre-Authorised Credit Card (PACC) program. General donations were $3,721. We also made a profit of $8,000 from the National Lottery conducted earlier this year, but this result will be incorporated in next year's report. We appreciate our members' contributions, which demonstrate strong commitment by our members in support of our endeavours.
Expenditure was $728,316 for the year. Expenditure figures are given across all projects as an aggregate. The major items were:
Communication with Members$27,149
Corporate, Legal and Accounting$3,665
Depreciation$20,223
Insurance $2,998
Maintenance and Software $15,405
Management Meetings $9,959
Membership and Development$6,798
Membership and Subscriptions $8,177
Policy Implementation $7,367
Postage & Shipping $7,299
Printing and Stationery$32,037
Project Consultants$37,940
Project Costs$39,705
Project Meetings and Conferences$41,112
Rent & Services$15,000
Salaries and Wages$257,997
Salary On-Costs$52,357
Staff Amenities $2,486
Telephone$38,324
Staff Training and Recruitment$3,424
Travel and Accommodation$75,239
It should be noted that some expenditure figures seem abnormally high, such as Project Meetings of $41,112 and Travel and Accommodation of $75,239. This is because expenditure across all projects is counted. The DDA Standards, the Telecomms and Disability and the Viet Nam Literacy Training projects all have high travel components. Many Convention costs are counted in Project Meetings.
The major projects and services during the year are listed below. For projects, funding is usually split over several years.
· National Advocacy Service, for which we receive $165,000 per year from the Commonwealth Office of Disability.
· Victorian Advocacy and Information Service, for which we receive $69,000 per year from the Victorian Department of Human Services. Last year we received another $20,000 to hold forums and identify the particular needs of blind people in rural areas. We have applied for an increase in our recurrent grant from the Victorian Government and remain hopeful of a positive outcome.
· DDA Standards Project, for which we receive $105,000 per year from the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department. A contract has been signed through to June 2000. We also received another $10,000 for some specific work investigating a range of possible DDA compliance mechanisms in Education.
· Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation project, for which we received $100,000 from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. This is a one year project. Another grant has been received of $100,000 for 1999-2000.
· Braille Literacy Training in Viet Nam, For which we received $63,000 during the period from AusAID out of a total project budget of $168,000. This is a three-year project for 1997 through to 1999. An application for a grant of $244,000 for another three year project has been made to AusAID, through the assistance of APHEDA (Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad) and a decision is due to be announced in October.
· Making Electronic Commerce Accessible to People with Disabilities, for which we received $50,000 from the AccessAbility Grants Program, then under the National Office of the Information Economy. Naturally, the focus of this research has been accessibility for people who are blind or vision impaired. An application for a further grant of $66,000 has been made and a decision is expected in October.
· The grant for our project on Enhanced Audio in Digital Television was $36,000 from the Office of Disability.
The Jeffrey Blyth Foundation was an initiative of Hugh Jeffrey. With the support of David Blyth, he established "The Jeffrey Blyth Foundation", as a Charitable Trust to assist Blind Citizens Australia in perpetuity.
We thank Hugh Jeffrey and David Blyth for their contribution to secure our future in this way. Their desire is to see the capital fund grow through donations and bequests from our Members, friends and associates, and through contributions from members of the community. The corpus of the Foundation is approximately $85,000 at year's end. We hope that a reliable income stream from The Jeffrey Blyth Foundation will support the work of Blind Citizens Australia into the next century. This will reduce our reliance on Government funding and give us the capacity to grow.
The National Advocacy Service is funded under the Disability Services Act (1986). The Service consults with and represents the collective interests of People with a Print Disability throughout Australia, and now incorporates individual advocacy to support people who are blind or print disabled to assert their rights under Disability Discrimination, Social Security and other laws. Its objective is to enhance the equality of opportunity for people who are blind or have other print disabilities by the removal of barriers to access by this group and through individual advocacy support.
We record our appreciation to staff of the Office of Disability in the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services for their support and advice throughout the year.
The broad strategy of the Service is to use and promote tools, particularly the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and its State/Territory counterparts, to raise awareness, monitor change, and develop and promote policies on specific issues.
The work carried out under the Service is recorded throughout this Report.
Peak Body Representation
We have continued to discharge our responsibility as the peak body in the blindness field. We have been consulted on many questions and have been invited to make submissions to reviews of government programs and services. We estimate that 25% of incoming calls to the National Office are from staff of blindness agencies seeking information or referral on a wide range of issues. We receive a steady but lesser volume stream of inquiries from community organisations.
There is a vast range of issues in which we must involve ourselves: firstly, as the national voice of blind and vision impaired Australians; and secondly, as the peak body in the blindness field. We have been an active member of the National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations and have worked co-operatively and beneficially with allied organisations of people with disabilities. During the year, we have enjoyed good relations with Departmental Officers and politicians of both parties, and we thank all of them for their support and co-operation.
Among our fellow national organisations of people with disabilities, we see a particular need to develop strong alliances and specific partnerships with the Physical Disability Council of Australia and with the Australian Association of the Deaf. These two organisations, like Blind Citizens Australia, are comprised of and controlled by people with disabilities themselves.
We have accepted the Commonwealth Government's four generic outcomes which have been added to all Grant Contracts between the Commonwealth and national peak bodies. These are:
· Seek revenue from a variety of public and private sources, and consequently improve viability and reduce reliance on FACS (Family and Community Services) for funds;
· Fully represent people and agencies in area of interest, to achieve a reduction in the volume of separate and contradictory representations by other bodies in that field;
· Work together with other relevant peak bodies and with FACS, to streamline and simplify the present range of interests and to achieve a reduction in the number of funded organisations; and
· Work collaboratively with FACS and provide early warning for all controversial issues planned for media coverage and which might attract public comment.
We are finalising our agreement with the National Secretariat Program on the Performance Indicators and Priority Targets for these Generic Outcomes. We are comfortable with outcomes One, Two and Four:
· We are committed to raising funds and not being totally reliant on recurrent Government funding;
· We shall endeavour, in collaboration with the Australian Blindness Forum, to ensure that a unified voice between consumers and service providers is presented to Government on blindness matters; and
· We are happy to give the Minister and the Department advance notice or keep them adequately informed if we are making public statements.
Outcome Three is more problematic. Of course we will readily co-operate with other organisations of people with disabilities and service providers through our participation in the National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations and our membership of ACROD. We will also seek to develop strategic partnerships as appropriate. However, we will not merge with other disability organisations to reduce the number of national peak bodies in the disability field. We shall maintain our separateness and autonomy as Australia's national association of the blind.
Editor's Note: My thanks to Maryanne Diamond, Victorian Project Officer, who contributed the following report.
Blind Citizens Australia receives one unit of recurrent funding from the Victorian Department of Human Services to provide advocacy and information to people who are blind or vision impaired. We would like to extend our thanks to the staff of the Department for their ongoing support and co-operation with this project.
During late 1998 we were successful in obtaining an additional once-off grant from the Department to identify and begin to address the needs of blind and vision impaired people living in rural Victoria. During July this year, Ivan Peterson resigned from Blind Citizens Australia after two years. We thank Ivan for his hard work, enthusiasm and dedication especially in the area of developing an accessible environment for all citizens.
The Victorian project is steered by a co-ordinating committee which sets priorities, determines strategies and identifies issues in Victoria. The committee has been led by Leighton Boyd who has supported the work of Blind Citizens Australia in many roles. We thank Leighton for his hard work. The committee continues to identify pedestrian access as an important issue for blind and vision impaired people, but also identifies education, employment, and access to information as important issues to address.
Education
Late in 1998 a questionnaire was prepared and distributed through a number of sources to families who have a blind or vision impaired child of school age. This followed some preliminary work to investigate the type and level of service provided to blind children in Victoria. Following the responses, Blind Citizens Australia is producing a quarterly Parent Newsletter. We have encouraged all states to distribute the questionnaire to begin the building of a database of families with blind children throughout Australia. To date, ACT through June Ashmore and SA through Tony Starkey have taken up this initiative.
Earlier this year the State Government disbanded the Disability Transport Advisory Committee on which Robyn Stevens had represented Blind Citizens Australia for many years. The Minister for Transport is currently reconstituting this committee, with Blind Citizens Australia having one position. We are awaiting a decision from the Minister as to who will represent us.
Addressing issues relating to public transport is time consuming and complex as there are a number of companies providing public transport in Victoria.
Flinders Street Station, the major train station in Melbourne, is undergoing a huge overhaul and Ivan Peterson has been actively involved with the Minister and Transport Department on our behalf to ensure access to the station complies with all Access Standards, ensuring a safe environment for all. After considerable time and hard work the upgrade of Flinders Street will proceed and comply to all standards for TGSIs on platforms. There is still much work to be done on signage and other issues.
We work with many local governments with varying co-operation and success. Stonnington City has consumed hundreds of hours of work within Blind Citizens Australia. During this year an agreement on the matter of the Stonnington Hedges has been signed by both parties and we hope there will not be a need to go back to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission on this matter.
Regional Forums
With the additional funds received from the Department of Human Services, Blind Citizens Australia held consumer information forums in Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Wangaratta and Traralgon. Each forum had a number of speakers from the major blindness agencies and from local disability service providers. The afternoons were set aside for participants to identify and discuss issues which created barriers to them living in rural Victoria. As a result we have continued contact with service providers in rural Victoria, been requested to participate in seminars and noted an increase in membership outside Melbourne.
We used this opportunity to develop and produce a general information brochure and information kits. This brochure provides the opportunity to widely distribute information about Blind Citizens Australia, who we are and what we do. We continue to work with the Department of Human Services to increase our funding so that we can seriously support and assist blind and vision impaired people living in rural areas.
We thank the members of the Victorian Co-ordinating Committee, led by Leighton Boyd, for their advice and voluntary contributions during the year. We also thank our SoundAbout team: Stephen Jolley (on-air magazine host), Dale Simpson (audio production) and Kylie Partington (cassette sorting and copying). They continue to do a great job, without fuss or bother, and SoundAbout Victoria maintains its high standard and continues to receive positive feedback from members and staff of blindness agencies.
Editor's Note: Rose Ross has worked as National Co-ordinator for the DDA Standards Project this year. She left in July after three years of excellent work for Blind Citizens Australia, and for people with disabilities generally, and we thank Rose for her contributions and commitment.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) allows for the making of Standards, approved by the Federal Parliament, in the areas of Transport, Employment, Education, Accommodation and Commonwealth Laws and Programs. In September 1999 the law was changed to allow for a Disability Standard on Accessible Premises. The Attorney General's Department has a budgetary allocation to support the development of DDA Standards, which includes funding for the DDA Standards Project.
Blind Citizens Australia has been the host organisation for the DDA Standards Project since July 1996, and has a contract with the Attorney General's Department until June 2000. Bill Jolley is the Convenor of the DDA Standards Project. He chairs the DDA Standards Project Steering Committee which is comprised of representatives of the national peak consumer disability organisations. Work on the development of Standards has continued in the areas of transport, employment, education, Commonwealth communication and information, and access to premises.
We have reached another crucial point in the draft Transport Standard. A Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) on the social benefits and financial costs of implementing accessible public transport was presented to Commonwealth, State and Territory Transport Ministers early in 1999. The Transport Ministers, meeting on April 30 in Adelaide, confirmed approval of a Transport Standard, and accepted the current draft with some modifications and subject to some legal clarifications.
The main outstanding issue is how to allow for some concept of Unjustifiable Hardship in the Transport Standard, without detracting from the necessary level of certainty which a Disability Standard under the DDA must provide. We must now wait for the clarification of some legal issues by the Attorney General's Department, after which it is hoped that a Transport Standard can be laid before the Federal Parliament.
Representation of the Disability sector has been led by Maurice Corcoran. His commitment, tenacity and expertise have been outstanding, and he has harnessed the support of many organisations led by the Physical Disability Council of Australia. They have been involved in complex negotiation with and earnest lobbying of the Commonwealth Transport Department and other transport sectors such as the Australian Bus and Coach Association which has lobbied hard against the Transport Standard.
The Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Task Force issued a Discussion Paper on DDA Education Standards in August 1997, and a community consultation took place. As a result of the consultations with various education sectors, including the disability community, the MCEETYA Taskforce decided to develop a draft DDA Education Standard for further consultation with the disability sector. At the same time, in response to community concerns about the applicability of DDA Standards in Education, the DDA Standards project started work on a paper canvassing alternative options compared with Standards.
Work on the development of a Draft Education Standard intended for widespread community consultation was interrupted during the year when advice from the Chief Crown Counsel to the Commonwealth required a redraft. This matter concerned the need for certainty in a Standard which, if not apparent, might invalidate the document as a Standard. As the year drew to a close a redraft was distributed and State Education Departments were seeking their own legal advice.
The public consultations of 1997 raised the discussion of alternatives to Standards, such as Mandating Action Plans or establishment of an Affirmative Action Agency in Education. Bob Jackson from Perth was engaged to research the feasible options and provide a report. Following the legal advice to the Government about Disability Standards under the DDA it was decided that more work was necessary, and this was done by Robyn Banks and Rosemary Kayes from Sydney. The two papers have now been published.
There was a great deal of work done during the year, led by the Education Representatives, Belinda Epstein Frisch and Joan Hume. We record our thanks to both of them, and to members of the DDA Standards Education Reference Group, for their contributions.
The DDA Education Standard is very important for people with disabilities generally and for people who are blind or vision impaired particularly. It brings with it major opportunities and threats. Blind Citizens Australia is committed to averting the threats and to seizing upon the opportunities to improve access to resources for blind and vision impaired school and post-secondary students.
The development of DDA Standards, like all Standards development processes, is necessarily slow and tedious. This is because the issues are technically complex; decision-making is by consensus; and stake-holders have a wide range of perspectives, priorities and interests. It is not surprising therefore that this year we cannot report progress with employment and Commonwealth Government communication and information.
The amendment of the DDA to allow for an Accessible Premises Standard is a positive development. The amendment of the Building Code of Australia to provide for Tactile Indicators in the vacinity of ramps, stairs and escalators is also welcomed. We support the prospect of the Building Code of Australia being amended to incorporate provisions for Accessible Premises which may then be accredited as a DDA Standard on Accessible Premises, but only if the amendments are sufficiently strong and beneficial to qualify in their own right as a DDA Standard.
Blind Citizens Australia believes that despite the slow progress in DDA Standards development, a great deal has been achieved through greater awareness of the DDA by industry and the community, and by widespread discussion of complex concepts and provisions in the DDA and associated Human Rights law. We are prepared to continue playing a leading role in this cross-disability project, although our priority attention remains focussed on people who are blind or vision impaired, because of the fundamental importance of strong DDA Standards to our members.
Editor's Note: My thanks to Elizabeth Casling, formerly the Policy Officer for this project, whose final report was used as the basis for the following article. Elizabeth left at the end of the project, at a time when the delay in further funding created a great deal of uncertainty. We thank Elizabeth for her work, and we acknowledge her expertise in telecommunications and her support for the rights of people with disabilities.
In June 1998 the Commonwealth Government made a financial grant to Blind Citizens Australia with the primary purpose of providing funding for the representation of the views of the Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation (Telecomms & Disability) Project Advisory Board (PAB) on matters affecting telecommunications consumers with a disability, in all forums including public debate about telecommunications issues. The project was managed by Bill Jolley and advised by the PAB which included representatives from seven national disability consumer organisations. These organisations are:
· Australian Association of the Deaf;
· Blind Citizens Australia;
· Communication Aids Users Society;
· Deafness Forum of Australia;
· National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations;
· Physical Disability Council of Australia; and
· Women With Disabilities Australia.
The project has established a solid foundation on which to build an ongoing work program and has made some progress to improve the accessibility of telecommunications for people with disabilities. It is improving the level and quality of disability consumer representation in the telecommunications policy and standards development processes. This is achieved by improving the knowledge of people with disabilities, raising their views and concerns with those involved in policy formulation and standards development, and representing them in relevant government and industry forums.
The Project's underlying focus has been on general active involvement in all areas of the Australian telecommunications environment - government, industry, disability community and research sectors. Continuing liaison with personal contacts, involvement in various consumer consultative forums, making submissions and representations on telecommunications issues, and attendance at conferences have formed the major part of the work.
A significant amount of time and effort has gone into the Project's involvement primarily with the major carrier, Telstra, but to a similar extent with Cable & Wireless Optus. Regular personal contact has been maintained with relevant staff, which has included meetings and telephone contact. Concerns and problems have been raised by both parties, and in many cases resolved, and views sought and given on issues affecting people with disabilities.
Technical compliance for specially developed disability equipment: We wrote to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) raising concerns in relation to customer equipment designed to meet specific disability needs, and we enclosed a short discussion paper suggesting options for addressing these concerns. The matter has now been considered by ACA's Communications Technical Regulatory Advisory Committee (CTRAC), as it is recognised by ACA that significant issues have been raised.
ATIA Industry Disability Partnership: After an approach from the Australian Telecommunications Industry Association (ATIA), we organised a roundtable of product manufacturers, importers and disability representatives to discuss how progress can be made on meeting the equipment needs of people with disabilities more effectively. An action plan was agreed upon, with good prospects for a positive outcome. A meeting of disability sector representatives, together with Consumers' Telecommunications Network (CTN), was held to discuss how progress can be made on advancing CTN's work on "Accessibility Features" for telephones, making the most of the ATIA's goodwill. Guiding principles for assessment of the CTN recommendations were established and it was agreed to develop this work through a closed Internet discussion group. The roundtable will then meet again to discuss the results.
Review of Telstra's Universal Service Plan: We made a submission to this review carried out by the ACA. We were pleased that The ACA's recommendations presented in the report of this review took up most of our recommendations and identified with many of the views we expressed.
At the first meeting of the Advisory Board it was agreed that a critical early task was to identify priority issues from the perspective of each disability group. A mix of focus groups, surveys and published reports were used. For Blind Citizens Australia, we were able to draw on the findings of the 1996 report by Gunela Astbrink, "Everybody's Business: Consumer Information access for People who are Blind or Vision Impaired", which was supplemented by a workshop at last year's Convention. The Telecomms and Disability project sponsored an excellent report prepared by Women With Disabilities Australia titled "Telecommunications and Women With Disabilities".
Major issues of concern which were identified included: cost, affordability and funding; equipment design; availability of and access to information; carrier and service provider staff training; Internet access; and the National Relay Service.
We are pleased that ACIF has agreed to publish an information brochure on the structure of the Australian telecommunications industry, which was developed by Elizabeth Casling as part of her initial research. ACIF indicated to us that it sees the brochure as a very useful telecommunications industry reference document.
Elizabeth Casling travelled to Copenhagen in early May to attend the Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications (HfT99). The symposiums are held every two years to provide a forum for human factors experts to exchange information, views and experiences relating to human factors principles in telecommunications products, equipment and services. She provided a paper on her findings from HfT99 for the ARATA 1999 conference held in September, but unfortunately was unable to present it in person at the last minute.
A stopover in London provided the opportunity to gain first hand information on how the needs of people with disabilities are addressed in both the UK and Europe.
A visit to Michael Day of British Telecom's Age & Disability Unit was very valuable. It enabled comparison between the Australian situation and the legislative requirements imposed on BT in relation to people with disabilities and the equipment and services provided by BT to meet their needs.
A visit to John Gill, Chief Research Scientist of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), was also valuable.
It gave the chance to learn about the role the disability community, and in particular RNIB, plays in the UK telecommunications industry framework, and to compare this with the current situation in Australia for people with disabilities. It also gave insights into the impact of the European Community on UK domestic policies and programs, and the need for global strategies for raising and resolving issues for people with disabilities in telecommunications.
Editor's Note: My thanks to Tim Noonan, our E-Commerce Accessibility Consultant, who provided the material for the following report.
Over the last few years, Blind Citizens Australia has undertaken a variety of projects exploring access barriers and possible solutions for people who are blind or vision impaired. During 1999, with funding from the Commonwealth Government's AccessAbility Grants Program, we have been studying the impact of Electronic Commerce on people with disabilities in Australia, and in particular people who are blind or vision impaired. One of the primary purposes of this research project is to clearly articulate the issues, the barriers, and the potential opportunities presented by this new era of technology and social change.
Electronic commerce (usually shortened to E-Commerce) is a very broad term and includes common-place activities such as use of Automatic Teller Machines; telephone banking; use of the Internet to find, order and pay for goods and services; use of the Internet or the telephone to access financial information; the emerging area of smart cards; and much more. Our study is also exploring the barriers and options for access to online Government information, electronic publishing developments, completion of forms and related issues of importance to people who are blind or vision impaired.
Discussion Papers
Tim Noonan has been commissioned to conduct the majority of the work for this project. By the time you read this annual report he will have completed a comprehensive background paper which discusses the area of E-Commerce accessibility and which reports on his findings to date.
The discussion paper will serve various purposes including: introducing the reader to E-Commerce concepts and developments; serving as a discussion starter about current and potential barriers that these technologies may present for people with disabilities in Australia; and providing pointers to products, services, research, guidelines and standards that are all working to improve access in the area.
The discussion paper examines a variety of day-to-day activities from an E-Commerce and accessibility perspective. These include:
· Shopping, including selecting goods, accessing catalogues, paying for goods, barcodes, and home delivery options;
· Banking and Finance, including selecting a bank, ATM issues, telephone and Internet banking, and access to brochures and statements;
· Internet access, including getting online, selecting a browser, training issues, web design issues, and buying on the Internet;
· Government information and transactions, including stated information economy priorities, Government E-Commerce developments, Telstra and the Government, and Centrelink developments;
· Participation in employment;
· Implications of electronic publishing; and
· Emerging technologies like Java, Windows CE, Information Kiosks, and XML.
The project is also producing a related report discussing the impact of smartcards and new electronic payment systems on people with disabilities in Australia. This discussion paper will be available later this year.
Both papers are aimed at E-Commerce professionals, Government, hardware and software developers, disability professionals, and people with disabilities.
Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and a variety of other sources are demonstrating the momentum with which electronic commerce is taking hold in our society. More people are now using the Internet (at home, work and elsewhere) than ever before; more people are buying goods over the Internet; the banks are having increasing success with electronic banking (particularly Internet banking); and the Australian Government has the stated objective of implementing a world class model for delivery of all appropriate government services online by 2001, as well as an intention to eliminate the majority of paper-based requirements for the majority of financial transactions.
Keith Hazelton, I//T Architect at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the following about E-Commerce:
"It is now possible to conduct virtually any traditional business function electronically, from marketing to sales to delivery to post-sales support to accounting, customer service and business-to-business links."
Unfortunately, many of these exciting possibilities promised by E-Commerce may be denied to a significant number of Australians due to the lack of planning for and appropriate consideration of the particular needs of people with disabilities. Although the Government states that it wants the Information Economy to be accessible to all, until very recently, there is little evidence that it has yet put in place any mechanisms at all to actually achieve this goal.
To date, our research has shown up two very major barriers to accessible E-Commerce in Australia. While these findings were no surprise to us, the magnitude of the problem was certainly unexpected. These two barriers are:
· The huge lack of disability research in the E-Commerce area; and
· An unexpected general lack of awareness by the E-Commerce industry regarding disability and accessibility issues and research.
This problem of barriers to involvement in E-Commerce activities is not a small one - in fact, if not addressed, it may have one of the most significant negative social impacts on people with disabilities out of all of the social changes in the last thirty years.
In a paper by Cynthia Waddell titled "The Growing Digital Divide in Access for People with Disabilities: Overcoming Barriers to Participation" the following two statements are made, which also fully apply to the Australian situation:
"Unless the civil rights of America's 54 Million people with disabilities are addressed during this period of rapid technological development, the community will be locked out from participation on the basis of disability and the technological world will not be enriched by their diverse contributions. Because the benefits for overcoming these barriers extend beyond the community of people with disabilities, there are practical and significant business reasons for addressing this issue. Rather than creating a growing digital divide, emerging technology can enable full participation in the digital economy for everyone, regardless of age, disability or the limitations of the technology available."
"Whether the digital barrier is the inaccessible design of Internet/intranet websites, Internet service provider `portals`, incompatible browsers, or inaccessible web-based platforms for online business, the trend is growing and must be addressed at the infancy of the digital economy. Already, exciting electronic and information technology features are emerging. Unless functionality solutions for accessibility are addressed today, the state of the digital divide tomorrow may be impossible to overcome."
Blind Citizens Australia is very pleased to find that the Attorney General has requested the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to conduct an inquiry into the impact of electronic commerce and new technologies on people who are older and people who have a disability. This is an extremely positive move. Due to the extent of the work Blind Citizens Australia has been conducting in this area, we are in an excellent position to provide major input into this inquiry.
AccessAbility is a grants program administered by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, initiated in 1997, pursuant to the Investing for Growth statement and aimed at making online services more accessible for people with disabilities. In 1998, $1.5 million was provided for projects covering a range of disability groups. A second and final round of funding for this Grants program was held in 1999, and the outcomes are expected to be announced during October 1999. The Accessible E-Commerce project has the following aims:
· To investigate the positive and negative impacts of E-Commerce on people with disabilities;
· To produce two discussion papers which explain the field and provide information about the current state-of-play in Australia and abroad;
· To conduct one or more "Accessible E-Commerce" seminars for stake-holders including people with disabilities, people working in the disability field, Government and those working in the E-Commerce industry; and
· To develop recommendations for further research required in the field, in order to maximise the accessibility of future and developing online Australian E-Commerce services and products.
During the progress of the research, it has become evident that the most vital requirements for positive change will involve the following activities:
· Educate and raise awareness within the E-Commerce industry of the need for accessible design and practical and achievable approaches which can lead to accessible E-Commerce products and services;
· Inform Government about the barriers being presented by E-Commerce, and influence future policy and priorities to maximise the accessibility of Government and non-Government E-Commerce facilities;
· Educate and inform people with disabilities, as well as people working in the disability industry, about the possible barriers being created by E-Commerce developments, so that both of these groups can bring pressure to bare on developers and policy-makers.
· Become involved in national and international standards efforts relating to E-Commerce, to educate and influence E-Commerce developers;
· Prepare a list of recommendations for Government and Industry which will lead to practices and activities that will maximise the accessibility of E-Commerce services and facilities.
Editor's Note: John Simpson has led our investigation of Enhanced Audio with Digital Television as Project Consultant. My thanks to him for contributing the following report.
Experiments with Audio Description of television (the addition of a verbal description of the on-screen action, scene and other visual elements) began in Australia in the early 1980's.
From around 1984 3RPH in Melbourne has broadcast ball by ball description of international tennis as an extension of the television coverage. More recently 3RPH has provided description of major Australian drama series. These services have not generally been available beyond Melbourne and their incorporation into RPH programming has been at the expense of other content.
In June 1998 Blind Citizens Australia, in association with Vision Australia Foundation, received funding under the National Disability Research Grants Program, administered by the Office of Disability, to undertake research into the need for and practicality of introducing ongoing audio description services in association with the introduction of Digital Television Broadcasting.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority's Specialist Group on digital Television had already identified that the additional audio capacity available with Digital transmission could be used for services such as Audio Description.
The Government had indicated that it would seek the advice of the Community of Interest in regard to the introduction of Audio Description.
Encouraged by this identification of a potential delivery platform for Audio Enhancement and given the expectations placed on the Industry by the Disability Discrimination Act and other Government policy, we sought, through this project to:
1. Identify and report on the extent and level of deprivation that is common across the various elements of television content in Australia;
2. Identify and document enhancement techniques that address the information deprivation experienced by blind and vision impaired viewers;
3. Assess the Regulatory and Industry Environment that is underpinning Audio Description development in Europe and North America; and
4. Assess the opportunities that will arise as a result of Digital Television implementation for the introduction of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services in association with broadcast and cable television services.
The term Audio Enhancement was adopted for our work in preference to Audio Description as the techniques that we have identified to improve access to Broadcast Television for people who are blind or have a vision impairment go beyond Description.
They include:
· the introduction of standards relating to the content elements that must be provided in a verbal or audible form; and
· the use of verbal captioning to provide audible access to on-screen text information.
In Summary, the project "Improved TV Access for Blind and Vision Impaired Viewers in the Digital Era" has achieved results in the following six areas.
1. Conduct of an informal survey to establish the extent to which blind and vision impaired people in Australia view television.
We had access to a comprehensive research report "Who's Watching? A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired Audience for Television and Video" published by the American Foundation for the Blind in 1997, but we needed to establish whether these results were applicable in Australia.
55 blind or vision impaired people completed a brief questionnaire. Their combined response can be summarised as follows:
· 52 of 55 respondents indicated that they own or are part of a household that owns a television set;
· 51 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for at least four hours per week;
· 10 of 52 respondents indicated that they watch TV for 20 or more hours each week;
· 39 of 52 respondents indicated that they do at least some of their viewing without someone on hand to interpret the visual aspects for them;
· 35 of 52 respondents indicated that issues of access to the content determine their choice of program types;
· 27 of the 42 Internet respondents indicated that they had viewed audio described material at least once; and
· 25 of this 27 considered that the audio description had added to their understanding of the program(s). One indicated that the experience had been too short to make such a judgment and the other indicated that he considered his sight level did not limit his understanding of the content.
Clearly, at least for this group, TV viewing is an important aspect of life. For many, however, their experience is lessened by the need to consider access issues when making program choices. For those who had some experience of Audio Description, its potential to add to their viewing understanding and enjoyment was clear.
2. Conduct of a study to assess the level of information deprivation experienced by people who are blind or vision impaired.
We identified that this deprivation is a result of:
· the broadcast of vision only information, such as sports and lottery results, advertisers contact details and price information, talent identification and text-based captioning of foreign language material;
· reliance on on-screen action which is not supported with dialogue or other audible cues; and
· coverage of sport, news and other events that is supported by comment rather than direct description of the action.
As a result, people who are blind or experience a severe vision impairment are handicapped in their participation in community life.
This study was conducted across a two day workshop involving the thirteen members of our Consumer Panel. Participants viewed sample television content segments across a range of types and recorded their response to specific questions about the action, information or message shown. These responses were tabulated against a benchmark score for each sample item viewed and the participants scores were expressed as a percentage, representative of the comprehension level achieved. These scores were then averaged across each of the blind and vision impaired sub-groups.
The comprehension levels achieved across nine content types (and thus a measure of the level of deprivation experienced) are summarised in the following table.
Content type Low Vision Blind
Drama 44% 25%
Entertainment 35% 18.5%
Documentary 27% 24.5%
Current Affairs 37.5% 32.5%
Sport/Events 19% 21%
News 33% 39%
Information 38% 35%
Infotainment 28% 20%
Commercials 66% 14%
AVERAGE 36.4% 25.8%
3. We identified a range of Audio Enhancement techniques that offer substantial benefits to the target audience.
In association with the Consumer Panel that was an integral part of this project we concluded that Audio Enhancement should be offered at four levels depending on the nature of the television content concerned. These are:
· Scripted and Timed Integration: The technique used in both the US and UK, where the description is tightly scripted and its integration is timed to fit into the available breaks in program dialogue;
· Improvised Description: Where the describer previews the material and makes notes about key description elements, but then adds the description in real time as the program is broadcast;
· Audio Captioning: Where enhancement is limited to verbalisation of on-screen text and perhaps graphics; and
· Real-time Events Description: Where sport and other dynamic events are described in real-time without the opportunity to preview the action.
Our conclusion is that a mix of these techniques is appropriate to the needs of the blind viewer, and that they would enable the cost efficient provision of Audio Enhancement across the various content types.
4. We produced and tested with the consumer panel a range of Audio Enhancement Exemplars.
Material was selected from the Australian content broadcast by the various free-to-air networks and across the different content types from drama and comedy to news, infotainment, documentaries and commercials.
Following an initial production round all sample segments were shown to the consumer group for their feedback and much valuable input was provided relating to:
· the appropriateness of the different Audio Enhancement methods to various content types;
· the level of detail needed in various situations;
· the terminology and other language attributes used by the Describers;
· the placement of description in relation to the existing sound track; and
· the sound balance between the two audio sources.
With benefit of this input we were then able to produce a further set of Exemplars to a quality suitable for demonstration beyond the Consumer Group. A further eight segments (115 minutes of content) and five advertisements were then produced. These were previewed by the Consumer Group at its third workshop, and they formed the basis for an extensive presentation to the Strategic Planning Seminar held in March. A video tape containing these Exemplars forms an important part of our project report, and will be made available as an education tool for Industry and Community groups.
5. We have reviewed the Audio Description currently available overseas and the moves towards its delivery through Digital Television in the US and UK.
Blind Citizens Australia has established a close relationship with Descriptive Video Service in the US and those staff at the Royal National Institute for the Blind in England who are responsible for advocating on audio description matters. Through these relationships we have been able to study closely the development of Audio Description in both the US and UK, and to monitor progress towards its availability as part of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB).
We have noted that, while DTTB services commenced in major US markets earlier this year, Video Description Services are not yet delivered via this medium. The National Centre on Accessible Media has however commenced distribution of test materials for both Video Description and Closed Captioning for the Deaf, to inform the Consumer Products Industry on developments in this area.
A similar situation exists in the UK where DTTB services commenced in November 1998. Audio Description was not available from the commencement of these services since, while there is legislative provision mandating these services, facilities for reception through integrated digital television receivers and set-top conversion boxes were not provided for. A plug-in decoder card has now been developed for connection via the Common Interface slot provided in most new digital reception equipment and it is expected that Audio Description services will begin from November 1999.
6. We have monitored progress towards Digital TV implementation in Australia.
The Australian Government has legislated for the commencement of DTTB services in major metropolitan centres from 1 January 2001 and in other locations before 2004.
We have concluded that beyond the more general advantages of digital television, which are promoted by the Government and Broadcasting industry alike, Australia's move to DTTB offers a unique opportunity to improve access to television for the blind and vision impaired audience.
· DTTB has the technical capacity to carry Audio Enhancement as part of the transmission package;
· As all free-to-air television broadcasters in Australia need to make extensive changes to their program production and transmission facilities to enable their provision of digital TV, the costs of providing for Audio Enhancement become marginal to the overall upgrade cost;
· Similarly television viewers will purchase new reception equipment to facilitate their access to digital television. Again the additional cost of accessing Audio Enhancement would be marginal to this expense; and
· Overall, there is a willingness to consider the information needs of the blind audience at a time when the Industry and Regulatory environment is undergoing substantial change.
We are currently finalising our report to the Office of Disability which will mark the formal completion of this project. Beyond this there is considerable interest, among both the project's technical advisers and the consumer panellists who have supported us, in sustaining a lobbying effort towards the introduction of comprehensive Audio Enhancement Services.
Our assessment is that there is still significant work to be done before Audio Enhancement could be delivered as an integral part of television transmission, in parallel with the captioning service for the deaf.
· Experience is needed in the processes of preparing and integrating effective Audio Enhancement. Production standards must be developed in association with both the Industry and consumers.
· There are substantial issues to be resolved around the practicalities of producing and integrating Audio Enhancement as part of DTTB transmissions.
· We must also ensure that compatible consumer products are available and affordable so that Audio Enhancement can be readily available to its target audience.
While the resolution of these and other issues will take some time and is necessarily linked to the broader introduction of Digital TV, there is substantial work that needs to be done to progress these matters. Our preferred option is for the establishment of a Model Audio Enhancement Service, operating in Melbourne for up to two years. Delivery of the description and audio captioning could be provided through a simulcast arrangement on a dedicated radio channel. Users of the Model service would access the information through a radio receiver used in association with their current television set. They would be encouraged to provide ongoing feedback to the service on production and broadcast matters.
We estimate the cost of establishing and operating such a service at one million dollars over two years: $200,000 establishment costs, and $400,000 for operation of the service and associated research and development per year. Our report to the Office of Disability recommends that such a Model Service should be funded as a joint Government/Industry initiative, with substantial community input: both through consumer input to the management of the service and its development work, and through use of volunteer service providers.
Editor's Note: I have written this article to include some personal reflections following regular visits to Viet Nam since 1994.
The Braille Literacy Training Program in Viet Nam started late in 1993 with a training course for 25 women, through funding from the Australian Government and with advice and monitoring by Blind Citizens Australia. Braille literacy is the top priority for the Viet Nam Blind Association (VBA), followed by rehabilitation and income generation through vocational training and job creation.
We are now at the end of a three-year teacher-training project which has extended to four provinces. This project was carried out by Blind Citizens Australia in partnership with VBA, with administration support from ACROD. We do not have the necessary accreditation with AusAID to apply for funding directly, so ACROD has given us great help as the intermediary for this purpose.
125 women (three quarters of them blind or vision impaired) have now been trained as teachers in six provinces, and they have conducted district classes for more than 1000 blind people (60 percent of them women). The teacher-training course usually lasts for nine months, is residential, and is carried out by the Provincial Branch of VBA. Teacher-training courses have taken place in the provinces of Thai Binh, Ha Tay, Long An, Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue. The Hue course finished in June.
The first course in Thai Binh was funded under a "Women in Development" program. We have kept to training women as Braille teachers, to maintain a focus for the program and as a means of affirmative action for blind women.
After teacher-training finishes, district classes are opened throughout the province. There may be ten districts in a province. Each class is typically for fifteen blind people, is residential and lasts for two or three months. We would like 15-month teacher-training courses and 6-month district classes, but the funding is insufficient.
The blind people are taught Braille, basic mobility, daily living skills and vocational skills. They learn to read and write Braille. They are taught to read correctly, using two hands. They learn to make tooth picks, sleeping mats, fishing nets or brooms. Some of them have reported that, with a knowledge of Braille and basic mobility, they now feel safe and confident to take their products to the market and sell them, finding the way themselves and keeping notes of their sales in Braille.
Funding for the teacher-training courses has mainly been from the Australian Government through AusAID. Funding for the district classes is largely the responsibility of the VBA Provincial Branches with subsidies from the People's Committees at District level.
When I visit Viet Nam, generally twice a year for a week at a time, I start with a meeting with VBA President Mr Soat and end with the Project Co-ordinating Committee meeting which I arrange and for which I take minutes. We discuss arrangements for teacher-training courses and for district classes. I usually visit two or three provinces outside of Ha Noi, and where possible I meet with the Vice-Chairman of the Local People's Committee.
Viet Nam is a very poor country in South East Asia, home to 75 million people. It suffered widespread poverty, environmental damage and deprivation following the war with the United States that finished more than 25 years ago, which the Vietnamese people bravely refused to lose. But the costs of national pride, autonomy and tenacity have been great: young men killed from most families; women also killed, assaulted and scarred for life; trade boycotts; poverty; chemical damage to soil, foliage and people; and, of course, widespread disability including blindness. I am constantly moved by the national pride and impressed by the organisational skills of the Vietnamese people. Literacy rates are quite good, with the health and education systems well organised but very much under-resourced.
The Viet Nam Blind Association was formed in 1969, as a self-help support network for blinded soldiers. VBA now has 30,000 members, among the 750,000 blind people estimated to live in Viet Nam, and the organisation is growing rapidly. It aims to have a branch in each province; but the Government keeps sub-dividing provinces and making new ones - faster than VBA can establish new branches.
VBA'S growth is aided by the support received from the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (NABP), which carries out international programs in Asia and Africa to build and strengthen national associations of the blind. Viet Nam has the classical socialist structure of governance: national, provincial, district and commune administrative units. VBA'S structure replicates this structure.
There are five schools for the blind in Viet Nam, run by the Government and named after Nguyen Dinh Chiu (a famous blind man of the early twentieth century), but they barely scratch the surface. Many blind children in Viet Nam do not receive an education, but the VBA is making a difference with pre-integration classes for children in some of its provincial branch offices. VBA operates classes where there is no school for the blind or where there are orphan or poor children whose carers or parents cannot afford the fees at the Government schools.
The pre-integration classes emphasise reading and writing of Braille to give the children basic literacy and numeracy. The children also learn to sing and to play musical instruments. I remember walking into some children's classes and hearing them writing Braille - thirty pupils aged six to fifteen using their slates and styluses to make Braille, and some of them using their two hands to punch out the dots because the paper is too thick for their tiny fingers to penetrate with the stylus. Of course such experiences are emotional for me, as I recall the importance in my own life of Braille reading and writing. Some of the blind children I meet in Viet Nam are tiny: small of physique to start with, they are blinded by malnutrition. Vitamin A deficiency is common in Viet Nam, along with childhood diseases, accidents, chemical damage or explosions from the war and various other things as causes of blindness.
The Braille Literacy Teacher-Training program has been very successful, meeting most of its objectives very well. Its long-term sustainability will depend on how successful VBA is in generating local community support from the People's Committees and other funding sources. With the assistance of APHEDA (Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad) we have applied to AusAID for another three year project in Viet Nam, emphasising Braille Literacy and Vocational Training. At the time of writing we are waiting anxiously for news of the application's success. We are optimistic, but recognise that overseas aid funding is very competitive.
I go to Viet Nam twice a year to monitor and advise on the Braille Literacy Teacher-Training program. I stay for about a week and I come back a spiritually enriched person. I am fortunate to have a young Vietnamese woman who works for me as my guide and interpreter, and she has helped me greatly to understand the needs and the culture of blind people who have formative experiences so very different from my own. Miss Tran Dan Phuong has worked as the representative of Blind Citizens Australia in Viet Nam for five years, and she continues to do a very good job for us as interpreter, guide and local administrator.
I hear that the marriage rate among the blind teachers in Thai Binh is increased, reflecting their greater acceptance into the community. I hear that blind trainee teachers are preferred, because they stay around longer after graduation, and because they have a better relationship with their students. I hear that although the need is great, our humble project is sowing seeds and making a real difference.
Support for blind people in Viet Nam is an important part of the overall mix of services provided by Blind Citizens Australia. It is especially enjoyable to see that the Braille Literacy Teacher-Training Program is making a beneficial contribution: 125 teachers trained and more than 1000 blind people receiving the gift of literacy through Braille.
The administrative assistance of ACROD through Helen McAuley is warmly appreciated. We also thank our Vietnamese partners, the People's Aid Co-ordinating Committee and the Viet Nam Blind Association, for their support and co-operation. In particular, we appreciate our excellent working relationship with VBA President and Secretary General Mr Dao Soat and Mrs Vu Hong Chin respectively. I also personally thank Miss Phuong for her ongoing work of a consistently high standard, for her help to me when I go to Viet Nam, and for her commitment to blind people in her country. Finally, I thank the Board of Blind Citizens Australia for its ongoing support of the teacher-training program highlighting Braille literacy in Viet Nam.
Regional Branches
Robert Altamore
President ACT Branch
6 Taroona Place
LYONS ACT 2606
Phone: 02-6282-2805
Tony Starkey
President Adelaide Branch
PO Box 3103, Rundall Mall
ADELAIDE SA 5000
Phone: 08-8223-7622
Fax: 08-8223-7836
Terry Boyle
President Brisbane Branch
54 Panorama Street
ASHGROVE QLD 4060
Phone: 07-3366-2128
Jane Carter
President Illawarra Branch
194 Rothery Road
CORRIMAL SOUTH NSW 2518
Phone: 02-4283-1474
Richard Mackay
President Macleay Nambucca Branch
3 Laurels Avenue
KEMPSEY NSW 2440
Phone: 02-6562-7174
Sandra Knight
President Melbourne Branch
45 Lorraine Drive
BURWOOD EAST VIC 3151
Phone: 03-9886-1714
Trish James
President Sydney Branch
2/5 Deane Street
BURWOOD NSW 2134
Phone: 02-9745-6715
Ian Harrison
President Tweed Valley Branch
Site 28B Tweed Heritage Caravan Park
Pacific Highway
CHINDERAH NSW 2487
Phone: 02-6674-3243
Peter Johnson
President Blind Citizens WA
Locked Bag 2
MAYLANDS WA 6931
Phone: 08-9371-2111
Fax: 08-9272-6600
Frank Nowlan
President Computer Users Group
20 Goodwin Street
GLEN IRIS VIC 3146
Phone: 03-9889-0527
Diana Braun
President National Women's Branch
43 Woodside Avenue
BURWOOD NSW 2134
Phone: 02-9747-2741
Ivan Molloy
President Overseas Service Branch
8 Morrisons Avenue,
MT MARTHA VIC 3934
Phone: 03-5975-1858
Organisational Members
Class A
Naomi Clark
Executive Officer - Association of Blind Citizens of
New South Wales Inc.
11A Ethel Street
BURWOOD NSW 2134
Phone: 02-9744-1516
Fax: 02-9744-1575
Len Clothier
President - Association of Blind Citizens SA
Box 182
GREENACRES SA 5086
Phone: 08-8261-8520
Darryl Hicks
President - Blind Workers Union of SA
PO Box 30
GREENACRES SA 5086
Phone: 08-8232-2444
Martin Stewart
President - Blind Workers Union Victoria
RVIB
201 High Street
PRAHRAN VIC 3181
Phone: 03-9521-3050
Marj Barton
President - South Sydney Blind Community and Friends
C/- The Factory
67 Raglan Street
WATERLOO NSW 2017
Phone: 02-9698-1873
Organisational Members
Class B
Julie Sullivan
Secretary - Albinism Fellowship of SA
PO Box 717
MODBURY SA 5092
Phone: 08-8261-2922
John Martin
President - Northern Territory Blind Association
PO Box 40294
CASUARINA NT 0810
Phone: 08-8932-3271
Phillip Jenkin
Secretary - Retina Australia
PO Box 340
KENT TOWN SA 5071
Phone: 08-8362-1111
Dr John Vance
President - Retina Australia (Qld)
PO Box 12544, Elizabeth Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
Phone: 07-3229-0482
Allan Longland
President - Retina Australia (NSW)
PO Box 397
STRATHFIELD NSW 2135
Phone: 02-9744-7738
Kate Giles
President - Retina Australia (Vic)
4th Floor - Ross House
247-251 Flinders Lane
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Phone: 03-9650-5088
Phillip Jenkin
President - Retina Australia (SA)
PO Box 340
KENT TOWN SA 5071
Phone: 08-8362-1111
Organisational Members
Class C
John Finch
Chief Executive Director
The Deaf-Blind Association
PO Box 267
CLIFTON HILL VIC 3068
Phone: 03-9482-1155
Fax: 03-9486-2092
Paul Creedon
Manager - Sensory Options Co-ordination
21 Blacks Road
GILLIES PLAINS SA 5086
Phone: 08-8366-7333
Fax: 08-8366-7366
Stephen Jolley
Chairman - RPH Australia
C/- 3RPH
454 Glenferrie Road
KOOYONG VIC 3144
Phone: 03-9864-9333
Kirralee Lewis
Manager - Senswide Services
Level 7, 250 Queen Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Phone: 03-9642-8848
Fax: 03-9642-8750
Deb Lewis
Manager - State-Wide Vision Resource Centre
PO Box 201
NUNAWADING VIC 3131
Phone: 03-9841-0242