Blind Citizens Australia

ABN 90-006-985-226

Edited by

Nadia Mattiazzo

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.

COPYRIGHT: Reproduction of articles appearing in Blind Citizens News is permitted, provided Blind Citizens News and the author(s) are acknowledged.

Large Print ISSN 1441-449X Braille ISSN 1441-5658

Cassette ISSN 1441-564X

Blind Citizens News is distributed in Large Print, Braille and Audio. Electronic copies in text format are available from our Web page, on Disk or by Email. To change your format please contact Blind Citizens Australia.

• SoundAbout Audio Magazines

• Blind Citizens Australia Annual Report

• Project and Research Reports

Accessible E-Commerce in Australia

Community Development for Blind Women

Everybody’s Business

• Horizons Radio Program

(see Tune in and Keep up to Date, in this issue)

Welcome to the Spring edition of BCA News. I hope that I can live up to the excellent standard of editorship of News that Lynne has set! Before I deal with the formalities of News, I thought I’d quickly introduce myself. My name is Nadia and I am a BCA member living in Melbourne. I have been involved with BCA for several years now, mostly at the State level, however, I have attended many National Conventions and some of you may know me from my work at the World Blind Union Fifth General Assembly. I am in my mid-thirties and, along with my partner, have been allowed to share a house with our three cats, Roger, Bart and Kasey. Some of you may know about my love for cats, however, I’ll try not to influence the choice of articles in News!

Enough about myself! In this issue, there are Reports from the various Working Groups of the National Policy and Development Council, along with some contributions from our organisational members. As usual, we have Letters to the Editor, along with some interesting articles I am sure you will enjoy. Please note that some guidelines have been developed for contributions to BCA News and these are included in this issue and will be included in at least one issue a year. I ask that you give this document some thought when sending in contributions for News.

Don’t forget to keep in mind our special theme issue for March 2003 – the history of blindness in Australia. I will be very interested to see what you all can come up with! For now, sit back and enjoy the rest of News!

The article, ‘Renwick College A Dream Come True’ by Liz-Rae Thometzek, is breath-taking and inspiring. How wonderful to read about a woman, a teacher who is able to see the person behind confining medical and educational labels. This personal story gives me much hope.

Just a few paragraphs to share with other readers of BCA News about something wonderful that is happening here in the West.

Last year I heard a lively talk at a conference about a subject that took my interest - Riding for the Disabled. So I inquired about learning to ride. Low and behold, I was invited to start in February.

It has been a time of learning to relax, shoulders back and lots of fun.

There is no age barrier or any other barrier. The helpers at this group of the RDA have been marvellous.

Recently one of their trusty horses died. We were all sad. Phoenix, the mare had been the first horse I rode, so I will treasure that memory.

To begin with, I was really nervous. It has been a wonderful experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity. We have learnt dressage, riding to music, trail rides and learning to trot. It’s been great for this Grandma!

The Board and Council of Blind Citizens Australia had a face-to-face meeting in late May. A key action from the Board meeting was the establishment of a Strategic Action Committee. This Committee will work with the Board and Council Working Groups to give strategic direction to the actions of our organisation in key areas. Tony Clark leads this Committee which includes: Maryanne Diamond, Karen Knight, Michael Simpson, David Blyth and myself and which will co-opt members of our organisation with skills in specific issues. This Committee has, in the first instance, three key areas of activity, blindness agency merger, income security and ongoing funding for our NSW Office.

Eighteen months ago, the Council decided to make accessible ATM’s a priority in our advocacy work. Michael Small from the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) joined the meeting to review the progress. Council noted the substantial achievements of Blind Citizens Australia’s individual advocacy for accessible ATM and Internet banking along with the launch of the Accessible Banking Standards in April this year. Council decided to retain accessible banking as a priority and work to extend the benefits to other financial institutions and other forms of banking.

The Council decided that completing our research into the Non-Optional Costs of Blindness should be a priority. Collette O’Neill was asked to provide an interim report to the Council by July and the report will inform the State Convention discussions of income support.

Each of the four Working Groups: Membership and Development, Access and Transport, Libraries, and Education led sessions at this meeting. Details of their work can be found in the reports which appear later in this Newsletter.

In recent months, Blind Citizens Australia has made submissions to the Senate Inquiry into Education for Students With Disabilities and the Inquiry into Higher Education ‘At the Crossroads’. We have also responded to the Technical Review on the Draft Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport.

The NILS and VAF Libraries agreed to merge at their June Board meetings. Blind Citizens Australia submitted a proposal to the NILS Board on provision for representation of consumers on the Board of the merged library, which was considered at their August Board meeting. At the time of preparing this article it was unknown as to the outcome of these discussions.

In early June, the Royal Blind Society, the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and the Vision Australia Foundation announced the commencement of discussions to create a National blindness agency.

The BCA Board considers that this could result in one of the most significant changes in provision of services to blind people in Australia occurring in our lifetime.

I urge you to read the short article in this newsletter and respond to the four questions.

Following the retaining of the DSP (Blind) in the Budget brought down in May this year, the Government has made it clear that they plan to reform the welfare system. A Discussion Paper prepared by the Department of Family and Community Services is expected to be released very soon and people will be invited to respond. Blind Citizens Australia will use the results of our Non-Optional Cost of Blindness project and discussions at each State Convention to prepare the organisations response.

During October and November, Blind Citizens Australia will conduct State Conventions for the first time. Along with the Notice for the Annual General Meeting, Registration Forms were sent to all those who were full members of BCA at June 30. Anyone who has not registered for Convention, requires additional information or who wishes to register, should contact the National Office on 03 9521 3433 or 1800 033 660.

Our Brisbane Branch has applied for and received funding for a project "Enhancing Advocacy Skills – Towards an Equitable Society". This project has been funded through a Legacy Trust Fund Grant with a Steering Committee being established to oversee the project. At the time of preparing this article Blind Citizens Australia was in the process of advertising for a part-time consultant to lead this work. I congratulate the Brisbane Branch on obtaining funding for this project and look forward to the outcomes for our Queensland members.

Finally, I would like to congratulate a small group of young Queenslanders who have come together to form BCA’s newest special interest branch, Young Blind Citizens Qld. I am sure you will all join me in wishing them well and we look forward to the contribution at all levels in our organisation from these individuals.

Over the last couple of months, there has been an increase in the number of requests for employment-related advice and advocacy support.

Issues raised have related to redundancy, dismissal, harassment and workplace adjustments. BCA is concerned that although many members might well be in positive work environments, there might be others in stressful work situations who may not have contacted us for advice or support. There might be other members who have been denied work opportunities due to discrimination.

Sometimes blindness agencies make referrals to us or contact BCA for advice. Other times, the employee makes a direct approach to BCA. BCA is happy to work with blindness agencies and unions to pursue the advocacy goals of the worker.

BCA can give general advice regarding redundancy, unfair dismissal and employment conditions, as long as blindness or vision impairment is a relevant issue. BCA can assist with the preparation, lodgement and management of disability discrimination complaints. BCA is keen to assist in resolving employment concerns to assist a worker to remain in employment and this might involve organising workplace assessment and/or making an approach to the employer.

BCA always asks whether a worker is a member of a union and encourages workers who are members of a union to approach the union for support. BCA is happy to work in partnership with the union or advocate without the union's involvement if the union has been unsupportive or does not sufficiently appreciate how blindness or vision impairment might impact upon employment.

BCA recently attended a National conference convened by the ACTU. The purpose of this meeting was for workers with a disability to discuss employment needs and their experiences when approaching unions for support. Some workers said that why they were not union members was because of a lack of confidence in unions addressing the needs of workers with disabilities. The ACTU, as a result of the conference, is developing a disability policy and a strategy for better representing workers with disabilities. Hopefully, advocacy by the unions will improve in the future and more people will be encouraged to be members. A paper prepared by BCA dealing with employment discrimination was circulated at the conference. Representatives from the Blind Workers Union of Victoria were also represented at the conference.

BCA intends to meet with the ACTU separately to discuss employment-related concerns and the experiences of workers who are blind or vision impaired in approaching unions for support. BCA strongly urges people with experiences - good and bad - are encouraged to contact us.

BCA also encourages workers who are experiencing problems in any field of employment to contact us. We have advocated in most areas including industrial advocacy.

In the June 2002 issue of News, I reported that the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) planned to hold a National Forum on Accessible Tertiary Materials, after Blind Citizens Australia publicly raised the issue of student access to study materials in alternative formats.

The Forum was held in May 2002 and was co-hosted by the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee (AVCC). Maryanne Diamond and I attended. Almost every university in Australia was represented, as were the peak publishing body, the Copyright Agency Limited, students with print disabilities, alternate format material producers and relevant Government departments.

The Forum developed recommendations in five areas: production, copyright and publishing, digital technology and sharing of material, guidelines and standards for material production, and university policies, practices and procedures. The recommendations are thorough and provide a good basis for all players to work from.

A steering committee, chaired by the AVCC, is currently being established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. Blind Citizens Australia will have a position on that committee. One of the committee’s first tasks will be to determine the extent of the problem; currently no data is collected about the number of students with a print disability that are enrolled at university, let alone the extent of their unmet need.

Our immediate challenge is to maintain the momentum that has been created by the National Forum. We have continued to lobby the Government and other stakeholders and will continue to support individual students experiencing discrimination.

In the future, the challenge will be to extend what is achieved for tertiary students, to students in the TAFE, community education and private education sectors, and to improve the level of access to materials enjoyed by all people who are blind.

Copies of the Forum recommendations and papers, including our paper, can be obtained from HREOC (telephone 1300 369 711 or look under "What’s New" at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/index.html)

At the June Board meetings of RBS, RVIB and VAF, a decision was taken to begin discussions about forming a National blindness agency.

A steering group consisting of the CEO and two Board members from each of the three organisations was established. A working group made up of one senior staff member from each of the three organisations and a project leader was also established. The working group was asked to investigate possible models for a national agency, for example, a federation or a centrally located model, and the legal implications of bringing the organisations together.

BCA wrote to each of the agencies in July offering to work with them to give blind and vision Australians who are members of the Boards, staff or clients of the agencies the opportunity to have a say about the proposed merger. The agencies thanked us for our suggestion and undertook to work with us once the three Boards had agreed to a model for the National blindness agency. It is expected that this decision will be made in September.

The Board of BCA was disappointed with this response because it feels very strongly that blind and vision impaired Australians should have input into this process at all stages and at all levels. As a first step, we have prepared four questions about the proposal for you to consider. You can respond in braille, large print, and email or by telephone. Responses should be sent to the national office by November 4, 2002 a session on this issue will be included in each State Convention and you can also have your say then.

BCA will collate all responses and use them to develop a position representing the views of blind and vision impaired people in relation to the merger proposal. Please help us to represent you well by thinking carefully about the following questions and letting us have your responses.

What would you want from a national blindness agency?

What role should people who are blind have in such an agency?

What effects (good and bad) do you think the establishment of a National blindness agency would have on services for people who are blind in your State?

What hopes and fears do you have about the formation of a national blindness agency?

The World Blind Union Asia-Pacific (WBU-AP) is conducting a youth leadership seminar during October this year. It will run from Sunday October 6 - Tuesday October 8 inclusive and will be held in Johore Bahru Peninsula, West Malaysia.

A number of the blindness agencies around Australia were invited to take part in a sponsorship program to ensure Australia was able to participate. Via various means, people were invited to express interest in participating. A small group from the sponsoring agencies have selected the successful applicants based on their written expressions of interest.

Anyone who is between 18 and 30 years of age, able to pay their own travel and all other costs is most welcome to participate. If you are interested, contact the National Office for more information and the Registration Form.

During late May there was a face-to-face meeting of the WBU Youth Committee held in Madrid, Spain. The member of this committee from our region was unable to participate and Jordie Howell had the opportunity to stand in for her.

The next General Assembly of the WBU is fast approaching. Cape Town, South Africa, has successfully bid for, and been granted, the hosting of this event. It will be held between 1 - 10 December, 2004. At this time there are no other details. Through this publication and BCA’s other communication media, we will provide details of the arrangements as they are determined.

BCA’s commitment and involvement in assisting the people of East Timor to form an organisation of blind people continues and I am very pleased to let you know that a generous benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to sponsor a train the trainer program for three years in East Timor. The Steering Committee established early this year consisting of David Blyth; Chair, Graeme Innes, Janet Cronan and myself will oversee the program.

We have obtained funds to assist two people from East Timor to participate at the WBU-AP Youth Leadership Seminar.

Since the last report on the work of the Education Working Group, a further draft of the DDA Standards on Education has been released to peak disability organisations seeking their endorsement. There was little time for this process as the DDA Standards Project was keen to have Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers of Education sign off on it. BCA expressed disappointment that the document was only available electronically. As many members would appreciate, it is very difficult to carefully read and comment on an important document such as the DDA Education Standards when it is available in an electronic form only. BCA felt that it was a much-improved document from the previous draft and that some of our earlier comments had been incorporated. Despite having some issues outstanding which might require direct advocacy, we believe that the Education Standards require our active support. Consequently, BCA wrote to all of the State and Territory Ministers requesting that they approve the Standards.

We have received feedback regarding the outcome of the Ministers’ meeting which happened on July 18. The Ministers expressed concern over the delay in finalising the draft Standards but agreed that outstanding legal and financial issues be further addressed by December 2002. The Standards have been referred to the Indigenous and Targeted Initiatives of National Significance Taskforce to perform the outstanding work required.

BCA is disappointed with this result and was hoping that the Standards would be agreed to and then the process of developing a Regulatory Impact Statement would commence. It appears that some States: New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have outstanding concerns regarding the impact of the Standards once they are mandatory. BCA might need to advocate directly with these States to encourage their support.

As primary and secondary education are largely State-based issues, the working group felt that it was important to get an overall view of the key issues for blind and vision impaired children and their parents in each State. State-based summaries have been prepared and a copy of any or all of these summaries can be obtained by contacting the chair of the working group through the National Office. The Working Group is currently in the process of developing a summary of the State reports highlighting common issues and concerns. It is expected that the National summary will be available on BCA’s website by the end of September.

At the last NPDC meeting, the Education working group requested organisers of State Conventions to include a session on education for blind and vision impaired people. Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have accepted this challenge. The working group will work with Convention organisers in these States to assist with the development of an outline for the session in which specific State-based issues can be included.

The Working Group has continued to monitor the merger of the NILS and Vision Australia libraries. In June, the Boards of RVIB, RBS and VAF agreed that the merger of the libraries should go ahead according to the implementation plan which had been developed. Blind Citizens Australia has requested observer status on the new expanded NILS Board, and we are waiting to see whether this request will be acceded to.

The working party would like to be able to monitor the merger process from the perspective of library users around Australia. We are looking at the possibility of conducting two national phone-ins, one at an early stage (possibly November) and one later, when the merger has been fully implemented and operational for a few months. We are looking for the resources necessary to support such an endeavour and, hopefully, will soon be able to report further progress.

The Working Group is continuing the work of developing a policy statement on what we expect of library services, both specialist services and those delivered through the public library system. If you would like to have input into this process, please send your ideas about what should be included in a library services policy to Lynne Davis via the National Office.

Two members of the Working Group, Keith Hayes (WA) and Diana Braun (NSW), are keen to see BCA undertake some work on the availability of braille reading resources for children. They are working on developing a project proposal in this area and identifying a funding source to support such a proposal.

If you wish to contact the Libraries Working Group, please send a message to Lynne Davis via the National Office.

In my last report to BCA News, I indicated that the Membership and Development Working Group is endeavouring to increase BCA membership in the Northern Territory. We are looking at the possibility of contacting our existing members in the area to seek their ideas on how we can go about this. If you live in the Northern Territory, please give the matter some thought so you will be ready with your ideas when we contact you.

With regard to attracting new members of ethnic backgrounds, we are aware that the Victoria Project has had some BCA brochures translated in to other languages and has distributed them to various ethnic groups. We are looking at the possibility of extending this work further.

The work on our membership drive has not progressed far since my last report, but we certainly hope to get this underway before too long.

At the May NPDC meeting it was decided that our "Where Do I Go to From Here" brochure was not an appropriate tool for promoting BCA. However, we are aware of a blindness agency who produces a brochure that may be along the lines of our proposed brochure. We are investigating this and, if it is, will encourage other blindness agencies to produce similar brochures.

Other projects in hand are: working towards attracting more blindness agencies to become Organisational Members and possibly developing a Resource Kit for Branches.

The highlight of the past few months was the opportunity to meet with Michael Small at the face-to-face meeting of the National Policy and Development Council in May. Michael is from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and is a member of the Building Access Policy Committee which is a committee of the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB).

The ABCB is developing an Access to Premises Standard, and the meeting with Michael Small gave Council members the opportunity to put forward ideas that they would like included in this Standard. Some of the issues discussed were as follows:

Exterior Signage: Where should this be located and what should it include. Council agreed that signage should be in both braille and tactile formats, be located in a standard position such as to the left of the doorway, and should include as a minimum the name and number of the building. We also discussed signage for buildings that are set well back from the street and where signs should be placed so that blind and vision impaired people would be aware that the building was set back from the main path. We talked about the development of audible signs that would be detected by vision impaired people carrying a small receiver which would fit in to a pocket or bag and would mean that the general public would not have to listen to the information being broadcast by these signs. Michael suggested that we attempt to get some research money for this type of project.

We then discussed the various methods of letting blind and vision impaired people know what services and facilities are provided within a building and on which level they could access these. We talked about using an internal telephone to provide this type of information and how much could be covered by both braille and large print boards in the foyer of the building. It was agreed that any tactile diagrams should be kept very simple and uncluttered, just showing such things as emergency exits, toilets and lifts.

That led to a discussion on the requirements for lifts and we put forward such things as braille and tactile markings in lifts and on each floor to assist independent travel of vision impaired people. Our preferred option was to have all lifts operating with human voice indication as to which floor the lift was stopping at, whether it was going up or down and the doors opening or closing.

Finally, we talked about tactile pathways in to buildings and how such things as concrete paths with good colour contrasted hand-rails or kerbing leading to main entrances could serve as tactile paths. Once inside the building such materials as vinyl flooring or carpeting, again with a good colour contrast to the background, could be used to direct customers to reception areas or lifts effectively.

Obviously, tactile paving should be used when necessary as long as this is not over done. Michael Small pointed out that in America, at least one of the major blind groups does not support the use of tactile markers at all and this creates doubt and gives people in Australia the opportunity to cast doubt on their usage.

Very briefly, other areas my Committee has been involved in are the development of a Rail Safety position where we are looking at features that will help to prevent accidents to blind and vision impaired travellers. This will be integrated with the Transport Policy of BCA once it has been completed. In addition, we have compiled a response to the Access to Public Transport Standard, and Collette has put this together and submitted it.

Finally, I would like to say a very sincere thank you to Karen Knight, Craig Magill and Collette O’Neill for all their work with Queensland Rail and the Physical Disability Council of Australia. This work has been long, frustrating and with very little reward at the end, but well done to all of you for your persistence.

• There is one theme issue of Blind Citizens News each year which is the March issue;

• Alternate articles prepared by the President and Executive Officer will appear in each addition;

• Articles prepared by the National Advocacy and National Policy Officer will appear in each issue,;

• Letters to the Editor must be no longer than 300 words;

• Letters to the Editor which are longer than 300 words will be sent back to the author for modification;

• All material should be sent to the National Office and wherever possible in electronic format;

• In the June issue, a call for nominations for the David Blyth Award and BCA Certificates of Appreciation;

• The December issue will contain a list of Resolutions adopted at the National Convention in the year it is held;

• The December issue will contain short reports of State Conventions in the years in which they are held;

• Any letter or article which does not have an author is not published, however, assumed names can be used where appropriate if the Editor has verified the true identity of the author;

• News is distributed in March, June, September and December;

• The closing date for articles for the next issue will be published in each issue and is usually two months prior to the publication date;

• A list of BCA’s Policy Statements will be published in the June issue;

• The title of the theme issue for March the following year will be published in the June issue and contributions invited;

• Details of how to leave a bequest to BCA will be published in each issue;

• Information on how to make a donation to BCA will be published in each issue;
• Horizons Broadcast Schedule will be published in each issue;

• Information regarding advertising in the News will be published in every second issue;

• Reports from NPDC Working Groups will be published in each issue;

A few days ago I attended a conference hosted by the DeafBlind Council of New South Wales. It was called "Touching the World" and I was one of 236 attendees. Some were Council members, some were agency staff members, and some, like me, were interpreters. The conference talks were conveyed in finger-spelling, Auslan and by intyrprinting, although some people preferred to use the audio loop which was provided. Four blind women carried out this function to the best of our abilities. Dawn and Lisa Maree used a standard computer with a large screen attached which enabled a deafblind gentleman to read, and Ros and I used a TeleBraille, with a small qwerty keyboard and refreshable braille display which was Irene's preferred method of communication.

The venue was quite easy to negotiate, but we had delightful young Occupational Therapy students as our guides, and we needed them! Imagine what a shock you would get if you were bumped by some one whose approach you could neither see nor hear. Thanks to our guides, we never did that, though it would have been easy to do, since the noise level was nothing like the volume of noise at a BCA Convention. In fact, I was constantly amazed by how little sound there was.

The keynote speaker came from Japan. His name was Shin Ichiro Kadokawa and he told us of his difficulties as a deafblind student and showed us cards he used to ask for the help he needed to get from place to place. He also showed us how to communicate in finger braille.

There were many other interesting speakers including Gabby Hollows, Steve Ripley who both spoke and signed his talk, and, my favourite, Sharon Barrey Grassick, an American lady living in Western Australia who talked about communication between deafblind babies and children and their families. She showed videos of the strategies developed by mothers and carers to interact with the children. A tap on the rear before the baby's nappy was changed, a sign on the hand, always the same sign, meaning "good girl" and many others.

My only concern about this enjoyable conference was that some speakers talked at normal speed, making it impossible for the four of us to type quickly enough to convey all they had to say. We did our best, changing places every half hour or so, but all felt a bit apologetic. We wanted to tell them everything that was being said; it was all so worth knowing.

This Organisational Member provides a service well known to many BCA members. I have listened to RPH stations in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmania, and all were the same only different, if you see what I mean. I listened to different newspapers, different local papers and programs I wish we had in Sydney. Other programs I would probably never listen to if I lived in the area but enjoyed hearing once. The RPH programmes provide all those who can access them with a very interesting and revealing service. I hope some day that they will be accessible to all print handicapped people in rural and remote areas of Australia.

At a recent meeting of the Women's Special Interest Branch of Blind Citizens Australia, the Committee agreed that we would provide regular updates to BCA News regarding the Branch's activities. The objective is to ensure that all those interested in the Women's Branch activities can be kept informed. It also provides the Committee with the opportunity to introduce each of its members and provide readers with an insight into our background and current interests. For those who are not aware, the current Committee comprises: Lee Kumutat (President) from NSW; Christine Simpson (Vice President) from Vic; Fiona Woods (Treasurer) from NSW; Theresa Smith (Secretary) from NSW; Tracey Cross from WA; Jordie Howell from Vic; and Amanda Tink from Qld.

I was appointed Secretary of the Women's Branch last year. I am 24 years of age and have been vision impaired since I was 10. I am currently completing my Ph.D at the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale NSW. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in 1999 at UNE, I worked in Sydney with both the Colonial and then Commonwealth Bank. My current field of research is in Human Resources Management. My proposed research topic is to explore the career patterns of men and women in the finance industry in Australia. My interest in supporting the needs of blind and vision impaired Australians was sparked by my attendance at the World Blind Union Fifth General Assembly held in Melbourne in November 2000. Since then, I was fortunate to have been elected on to the Women's Special Interest Branch last year. An area where I would like to see more attention placed relates to enhancing the employment opportunities of blind and vision impaired people.

The Women's Branch Committee is currently working diligently on a number of initiatives. Firstly, we are exploring what funding opportunities exist to assist the Branch in its activities. Secondly, we wish to ensure that we keep our members and the wider community informed about the Branch's work by posting reports on the BCA web page (www.bca.org.au); on the BCA and VIP-L e-mail lists; and finally through the Women's Branch Newsletter. Amanda Tink and Christine Simpson are responsible for publishing the Newsletter. In autumn they successfully distributed our inaugural issue. The next issue will be the winter addition to be released in August. Amanda and Christine encourage anyone to send in contributions for the Newsletter. The Newsletter covers a range of topics that would be of interest to blind and vision impaired women. Items include: recipes; puzzles; short stories; articles regarding women's health issues; and general interest articles. Finally, the Women's Branch is also exploring options for projects that we would like to establish. Such projects may involve trying to run a workshop or seminar for our members. If readers have any suggestions of initiatives they would like to see developed, please feel free to contact the Women's Branch. The Committee would greatly appreciate any feedback.

Earlier this year I agreed to represent Australia on the East Asia Sub-regional Women's Committee. The other members include Angeline Chand from Fiji (Chair), Faaolo Mutumapu from Samoa, and Rosemary Wilkinson from New Zealand. Due to our geographical dispersion, the Committee has the challenge of communicating via e-mail. Currently the Committee is focused on publishing a Newsletter to keep readers up to date about developments in our region. The Committee is also hoping to organise a survey of blind and vision impaired women in our respective countries. Since the Committee has only been formed recently, there are no major developments to report so far.

As you may all know, each State will be holding their BCA convention later this year. The Women's Branch Committee agreed that the State Conventions would be an excellent opportunity to hold a social event for its members. Committee members have managed to secure time during the Queensland and New South Wales convention programs. The Queensland State Convention will be held over the weekend of October 9-10. The NSW Convention will be held in Sydney on Saturday November 2 and Sunday November 3. The venue will be the North Sydney Harbour View Hotel. Amanda Tink, who is our Committee member from Queensland, will be organising an event for the Qld Women's Branch members. Lee Kumutat and Fiona Woods our Committee members from NSW, are hoping to organise a dinner for Women's Branch members on Friday November 1. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Women's Branch will also be held in Sydney during the Convention at 8:00am on Sunday November 3. All members are encouraged to attend.

In the last six months, the membership of the Women's Branch has been increasing significantly. This is great news!!! If you, or anyone you know, wish to join the Women's Branch, please feel free to contact us. There is a one-off joining fee of $10. To become a member of the Women's Branch, you do need to be a member of BCA.

To contact the Women's Branch, you can choose to do one of the following:

Phone Lee Kumutat (President) - 0414 639 770

Contact the National BCA Office - 1800 033 660

In May this year, I was given the opportunity to travel to Madrid to participate in the first meeting of the World Blind Union Youth Committee since the General Assembly in November 2000. My task was to represent the East Asia Pacific Region in the absence of the regional youth representative who is from Singapore. My entire visit lasted three days, one full day for the meting, another morning to consolidate decisions made during that meeting, and a day and a half of sight seeing. Then it was straight back on the plane to fly home to Australia!

The experience of such a journey was one I wasn't about to refuse, and on Thursday afternoon, 23 May, I packed my guide dog off to guide dogs Victoria and set off to the airport for Madrid. I flew from Melbourne to Singapore, Singapore to Frankfurt, and finally Frankfurt to Madrid, arriving in Spain at 11:30 am on Friday. I was expecting to feel exhausted by the time I arrived in Spain, but I was running on adrenaline and excitement and couldn't wait to meet the Committee. I was fortunate to be met by a volunteer from "ONCE", the organisation for the blind in Spain, and was taken to the hotel where the meeting was to be held and where the Committee were staying. Another comforting thing was that I met the representative from South Africa, Julia, as her flight came in at a similar time to mine, and so we travelled to the hotel together with the volunteer.

On our arrival was our first real exposure to living in a country where English was not the native language. Though the hotel staff could get by in English, it was sometimes a little difficult to make ourselves understood. Julia and I had a lovely lunch together, talking to the waiter who was delighted when I asked him to teach us some Spanish.

After a siesta to try and get over the jet lag, the Committee had dinner together at the hotel and it was then that we all met properly. There was Mohammed Lotfy from Lebanon who chairs the Committee, Karen Fridriksdottir from Iceland, now living in Sweden, Otto Pereda from Guatemala who was standing in for the Committee member from his region who could not attend, Stacey Kommenda from Canada, Julia Thobejane from South Africa, and myself. Stacey was the only one among us who could speak enough Spanish to order food, and have a casual conversation, which proved very useful. By now I was learning some basic Spanish, and I tried my hardest over those few days to use the knowledge of the language I had, in a conversational setting.

As this was the first meeting of the WBU Youth Committee since the General Assembly, a lot of ground work was covered on the Saturday. The meeting lasted from 9 am till 6 pm with an excellent lunch provided by "ONCE".

The outcomes of the meeting were for the most part, in the form of recommendations to the WBU Board. For example, the WBU Youth Committee recommends that the WBU Board take age and gender in to account when appointing committees. The WBU Youth Committee would also like to see the regions establish youth committees. Another task was to create a policy document and action plan for the remainder of the term, ending at the General Assembly in 2004. The Secretary General of the World Blind Union, Enrique Sans was present at our meeting, as well as the link person from the WBU Women's Committee, Birgitta Blokland.

The meeting was a huge learning curve for me, working with people I had only just met, and trying to take in as much about the Youth Committee in the short time I was there. On the Sunday, I spent the afternoon with three of the Committee members, site seeing around Madrid. We took a bus tour with audio commentary in many languages to learn about the famous old buildings and streets. A memorable moment on this bus tour for me was when I was unexpectedly sprayed by a fountain as we passed by – my tactile experience of Madrid! My last day was spent having lunch with a newly made friend. Travelling to her place was an experience, communicating to the taxi driver in very basic Spanish, and at times, wondering what it was he had just asked me.

Though I was in Spain on my own without speaking the language, I found the whole trip an exhilarating experience. I believe it taught me a lot about myself and how I solve difficult situations. The people in Spain were so friendly, they appreciate good food, good wine and good conversation, and I felt at home with them, even though I hardly knew them. Spending time with people from a variety of cultures made my trip so much more interesting, and as we all got along so well, it made working together so much more enjoyable.

I will treasure the memories I have of Madrid, and I am looking forward to seeing the youth movement in the World Blind Union develop and become stronger over the next few years.

That was the name of one of the two workshops held on 6 April by BCA Sydney Branch. As it was my idea, and I chaired it, and it worked well, I would like to tell others about it. I cannot, of course, use all the stories told at the workshop, but here are three.

Two blind women with their guide dogs went into a restaurant and asked if they could dine there. They were told that there were no free tables. They were sure this was not true, but left quietly. Later they telephoned the restaurant and booked a table for two in half an hour's time. When they returned, guess what? They were given the no free tables routine again. They then explained that they had booked a table, gave the name in which it was booked, and were reluctantly shown to it. They didn't care much for the food, but at least they had made their point.

Another story concerned a young woman who owned a pair of gold sandals. She took them to a bootmaker for repair, A staff member admired them openly, and later, when they could not be found, she naturally wondered if this person had taken them, but the bootmaker promised to search for them, and she accepted that. She returned to the bootmaker's shop several more times, but never could her gold sandals be found, nor did he offer any excuse or reparation.

Finally, she went up to the Chamber Magistrate and asked what she should do about the situation. He wrote her a letter to take to the bootmaker. On reading it, the bootmaker gave her money to replace the sandals.

I admire both these stories, but knowing myself, I'm fully aware that I could not emulate them. I would have walked out of that restaurant, never to return, and those gold sandals would have remained uncompensated. Yet even I have a self-advocacy story to tell. I asked Aileen about what I did, and she assures me that I did not break the law, which is nice to know.

An elderly blind friend fell and broke her hip. She was hospitalised, operated on and cared for, but the injury, and painkillers, plus her age, left her confused and disoriented, and at times unco-operative. I could usually coax her into doing whatever was asked of her, but she probably wasn’t an endearing patient when I was absent. Her closest relatives lived in the country, and I contacted them on her behalf. They visited, but made it clear that she would not be able to convalesce with them. I then offered to take her to my home, which she already knew quite well. She was happy with that idea, but when the house was assessed, the hospital welfare worker said it would not be suitable and sent her instead to a convalescent home. She later admitted to me that it was my blindness, rather than any shortcomings in our home, that caused her to make the decision she did.

My friend deteriorated rapidly. I don't want to say anything against the facility in which she was housed, but their knowledge of the needs of blind people was definitely limited. They seated her each day beside a woman who could speak no English. She was not hungry, did not help herself to the food she was given, and staff were presumably not always free to feed her. I visited each day, and she would ask me to take her home with me. Her condition rapidly deteriorated.

I spoke to my own doctor, asked if he would take her as a patient, and did my best to give an honest account of her physical condition. He agreed to take her as a patient.

I then brought a friend to the convalescent home, and she clearly heard my confused, disoriented friend say: "Let me come home with you."

So we made the necessary arrangements, without the facility's consent, and, without any co-operation from them, removed her. She lived with us for almost three months, and was happy and loved. We knew she would not live long, and in fact my doctor, when he first visited, was horrified and said: "she's practically dead!" I had told him that, but he admitted he'd thought I was exaggerating. I asked him how often I had exaggerated in the past, and he admitted I never had, but he had formed his own opinion anyway. Later he admitted that my patient was almost unrecognisable after a few weeks in our home. I treasured that. She put up with inexpert nursing from me, being wheeled backwards in her wheelchair, and, just at first, my clumsy efforts to use a feeding cup, and after all that, she still said she was happy.

The people who attended the workshop told their stories, some serious, some not. They spoke of the value of others' support, as I also did, and about the spur of anger when an injustice was being done. Nobody suggested that self-advocacy is the only way to go, but sometimes there just doesn't seem to be any other choice. I felt that way and so did other people who attended the workshop. We tried to explain what our experiences had taught us. We talked of making the decision to do what we did. I made the point that you need to think with your head as well as with your emotions, but once you have made up your mind, don't let anybody talk you out of it. My family were concerned for me rather than for my friend. How would I feel if she died in our home? If any harm came to her through my inexperience, or my blindness? These things had already occurred to me, how could they not, but it seemed to me that nothing that could happen in our home would be as bad as leaving her in the situation she had no power to change. So my family, as families usually do, sighed a bit, and then helped me.

I have a delightful memory of pleading and coaxing my invalid friend to drink her milk, and returning with the glass untouched. Then my sister, who had raised two rambunctious daughters, took the glass, marched into the next room, and said firmly: "Stop your nonsense. Drink that at once."

And meekly my patient drank it.

Do you laugh or cry when that happens? I rather think I did both.

According to the National Continence Foundation over one million people in Australia live with incontinence - many of these people are supported by carers. A new booklet has been developed for carers that contains essential information, both emotional and practical support for carers caring for a person who is incontinent.

The booklet includes sections about the bladder, the bowel, disposable pads and re-useable products, reactions and feelings, medications, costs and helpful hints for home and for going out.

Carers are usually family members who provide support to children or adults who have a disability, mental illness, chronic condition or who are frail or aged. Carers can be parents, partners, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers or friends.

Incontinence is a condition that is rarely discussed but it can have a devastating effect on the quality of life of the person with the problem. Many carers are struggling to cope with caring for someone with bladder or bowel problems.

Incontinence is often the deciding factor in admitting a family member into a nursing home or continuing to care for them at home. This long awaited resource is a milestone in addressing the many issues that face people caring for a person with incontinence.

The booklet also includes a fridge magnet with the Continence Helpline phone number and an ‘urgent’ card that can be used to explain the need to help people gain access to a toilet quickly when in public.

Carers can call their Carer Resource Centre on 1800 242 636 (freecall) or the National Continence Helpline on 1800 330 066 (freecall) to have a booklet posted to them.

Carer Resource Centres are a part of the Carers Association in each State and Territory and provide carers with referral to services, emotional support and practical information to support them in their caring role.

Hervey Bay City Council is currently undertaking an Access Tourism project to investigate the travel needs of people who are blind or vision impaired.

Project Officer Brendan Forde, is interested in speaking with people who are blind or have impaired vision, about a range of topics including problems encountered during holiday or travel experiences, suggested solutions, best practice examples, preferred adaptive equipment and information requirements.

The project outcomes will include information packages for accommodation providers, tourist attraction operators, transport services, retailers, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. The information packages will contain simple guidelines on how to improve or adapt their product or service to facilitate high quality, individualised recreation and leisure experiences for people with vision impairments.

Members of Blind Citizens Australia and generous members of the public have, for many years, partly funded the work of BCA through donations and lotteries. In recent times a number of friends and members have also shown their support by leaving a bequest or legacy from their estate in a Will.

This kind of support is vital for our ongoing work and we encourage all members and friends to ensure that BCA will be here to work for blind and vision impaired Australians in the future. BCA's advocacy to ensure that services and facilities do not discriminate against our members and other blind people has proved to be of enormous benefit to all blind Australians and we need to make sure that our work continues.

You can help by making a bequest in your Will. Please include Blind Citizens Australia in your Will by using the following wording:

"I give to Blind Citizens Australia the sum of (include sum both in words and figures) free from all duties or other taxes, whether State or Federal."

We would like to thank all members who have generously donated to BCA recently. If you would like to make a donation to BCA, but find it difficult filling out forms you may like to call the National Office on 1800 033 660 and donate over the phone using your credit card.

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For greatest impact, why not consider sponsorship of an entire issue of Blind Citizens News? For $800 you will obtain:

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Blind Citizens News is published four times a year and is now read by more than 3000 people with a direct interest or involvement in the services and facilities available to Australia’s blind and vision impaired population. We circulate 800 large print, 1000 audio, 200 Braille and 50 electronic

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For the latest information from Blind Citizens Australia tune in to Horizons on your RPH station, on a Community Station near you, or via the BCA website. Horizons is broadcast regularly on RPH stations. It is also becoming available on Community Stations, but you may need to contact your local station to ask it to receive Horizons by Satellite.

Canberra

1RPH 1125 Khz

11.15 am Tuesday;

repeated 8.00 pm Tuesday and 9.30am Saturday

Sydney

2RPH 1224 Khz

3.00 pm Wednesday;

repeated 8.15 pm Saturday

Melbourne

3RPH 1179 Khz

8.30 pm Wednesday;

repeated 6.30 pm Sunday

Brisbane

4RPH 1296 Khz

7.00 am Friday;

repeated 6.05 pm Monday

Adelaide

5RPH 1197 Khz

9.15 pm Wednesday,

repeated 6.00 pm Friday

Perth

6RPH 990 Khz

10.30 am Friday;

repeated 9.45 pm Saturday

Hobart

7RPH 864 Khz

1.30pm Friday;

repeated 5.15pm Saturday

Mildura

3MPH 107.5 Mhz

8.30 pm Wednesday,

repeated 6.30 pm Sunday

Bendigo

3BPH 88.7 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday;

repeated 6.30pm Sunday

Geelong

3GPH 99.5 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday;

repeated 6.30pm Sunday

Shepparton

3SPH 100.1 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday;

repeated 6.30pm Sunday

Albury-Wodonga

101.7 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday;

repeated 6.30pm Sunday