87 High Street, Prahran VIC 3181
Tel: 03-9521-3433 or 1800-033-660
Fax: 03-9521-3732
TTY: 03-9521-1200
email: bca@bca.org.au
Web Page: http://www.bca.org.au
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.
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
Lynne Davis
This is the last issue for 1998 - how quickly the year has gone! Most people should receive their copy around the time of our postponed Convention. Having moved the Convention date from the customary June long weekend, we were among the unfortunate casualties of Victoria's gas crisis and our October date had to be cancelled at short notice. You can imagine how much angst and extra work this caused for all involved in organising the Convention! They have done a magnificent job in rescheduling the event, so let's hope that it is a great success. And commiserations to all those Victorians who had to endure two weeks of cold showers and no heating.
This issue is mainly focused on material to be presented at the Convention. The President's Overview and Executive Officer's Report are extracted from the Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia, and review the achievements of our organisation over the period since the last Convention. As well, there is an article by Gai Wibberley about the development of a policy statement on education, which will be the subject of a Convention workshop. Equality of access to education is such an important issue, affecting all of us at various stages and in different capacities during our lives. Please read Gai's article thoughtfully, and let her know if you have comments or observations about the policy statement under development.
I'd like to thank the many people who have assisted me in various ways since I took over the job of editor at the beginning of 1998. I've really appreciated your generosity with time, ideas, contributions and the many invisible tasks which go into the production of every issue in so many different formats. There's such a diversity of talent and experience among our readers and our membership, and so many stories waiting to be told. Let's hope that 1999 is a year in which we continue to flourish, individually and collectively.
Until next issue - whatever you celebrate at this time of the year, I hope
that it's a very happy time for you. See you again in 1999!
Editor's note: I have received an anonymous letter in response to one of the articles in the last issue of Blind Citizens News. Although I recognise that occasionally circumstances will dictate the use of a pen name, the authenticity of all letters to the editor must be verifiable and Blind Citizens News will not publish anonymous correspondence. I wonder how many people have walked into a doctor's surgery with a minor eye irritation and come out with a referral to an eye specialist, not knowing why they have that referral? Or, they come out of the eye specialist's surgery with a prescription for eyedrops and orders to "come back in so many months", without any idea of what the prescription is for or why they've been asked to come back.
This seems to be a common scenario. There are very few doctors who take the extra time to sit down and explain what is wrong, what kind of problems might be experienced, and the possible side-effects of medication. Even when the patient asks for more information, they will often be faced with a "don't bother me with that type of question" look. But short and sweet is not good enough. I know from personal experience what it feels like to be aware that you have some kind of serious medical problem and yet it isn't even given a name. All I knew was that I had high pressures in my eyes, that controlling the pressure was necessary and would be achieved by administering eyedrops. What name this condition had and why it was essential to keep the pressure under control, I had no idea. I had no idea because my doctor never gave it a name, never told me what was happening or why. I was just told to come back in six months to have the pressures checked again. I didn't know what the drops did, what would happen if I didn't use them, or why I had to keep a check on the pressures. At that time I was only nineteen years old. I am now thirty-one, and it is only through my own research that I have found out what I know about glaucoma. It is about time that doctors and other health professionals learned to start looking at their patients not only as something they practise their skills on, but as fellow human beings with very real physical and emotional support needs. My glaucoma was first diagnosed in 1986, and since then only one doctor has suggested that I approach the Guide Dog Association for help with orientation and mobility. At the time I did not need that help, although I do now. I've told three specialists that I feel unsafe in certain situations due to my diminishing sight, but none of them have informed me of support services which may be of help to me. And my GP is the only one who takes account of my hearing impairment and makes sure that I hear what he has to say.
Julie Armodie
Queensland
Many members of Blind Citizens Australia who attended the Perth Convention in 1995 met a young deafblind person called Jimmy Dyer. Jimmy enjoyed the attention given to him and it didn't take him long to understand the sign language used by blind signers.
On the flight to Perth Jimmy charmed the flight attendants and to this day I'm not quite sure how he did it but he didn't part with one cent for his drinks.
Sadly, Jimmy is no longer with us as he passed away on July 26, 1998. For those of us who connect to the Common Ground BBS here in South Australia his humour and wit is being sadly missed.
If any of you would like to send a message to Jimmy's mother, Eileen, you can do so by sending me an email and I will pass it on. My address is lscott@picknowl.com.au.
Lenore Scott
South Australia
Hi, my name is David Walker. I've only been a member of Blind Citizens Australia for a short while and I thought I'd tell you a little about myself. I've always been legally blind but in 1993 I lost a lot of my remaining sight. It took me about two years, with a lot of counselling and help from friends, to get over the loss. I thought I wasn't any good for much. Then I went to the Guide Dog Association and learned to use the long cane. I still wasn't happy because it took me about three times as long to get to places that I knew, and if it was a new place I was pretty much stuck.
I've always been a person that enjoys freedom but with the cane I didn't have that freedom. I knew some friends who used guide dogs and I had a good long talk to them about the good and bad of using a dog. After hearing what they had to say I had a long think about it, applied for a guide dog, and within a few weeks I was put through an assessment. I didn't enjoy it very much because they used an empty harness and I couldn't get the hang of moving with the harness when the instructor moved from side to side. But then they took a dog out of the back of the van and let me use that, and that was fantastic. It felt like it was meant to be.
Six months later I was training with my guide dog, a labradoodle called Zared. I met a lot of great people while I was there, including Iain Edwards. They taught me that blind people do have a lot to offer. After leaving the centre we went home to continue training. Six months later I went around Australia to visit some of the people I met while training. It was a fantastic trip, it felt like I was alive again. It took a bit of adjustment travelling with a dog but it was worth the extra time taken.
I've since returned home and have gone about things as usual. There's nothing I can't do with the help of my dog. He is my friend and companion and I don't think I'd do as well without him, he just makes life so easy.
I'll finish by saying if anyone is thinking of getting a guide dog it's worth it.
David Walker
Victoria
Editor's note: I have great memories of David's wonderful massages for
weary feet during my guide dog training!
Bill Jolley
The Annual Report gives detailed coverage of the development and activities of Blind Citizens Australia. Copies in your preferred accessible format are available from the National Office, as well as from our Web Page on the Internet. The Report was written in September for release at the National Convention scheduled for the first weekend in October. Following the postponement of the Convention because of Victoria's gas emergency, I have some news to pass on to you all.
I start with some sad news; reporting the deaths of Elizabeth Hastings and Kenneth Jernigan, both from cancer in the second week of October. May they rest in peace, having both made outstanding contributions through their commitment, skills and energy to improving the situation of people with disabilities in their respective countries.
Elizabeth Hastings had polio as a child which left her a paraplegic. She attended a special school and then a regular school, before obtaining a University Degree and working for seventeen years as a student counsellor. In 1992 she was appointed as Australia's first Disability Discrimination Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, following the proclamation of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act. She served in that position for five years and did much to promote the Objects of the Act, leading the fight against discriminatory attitudes and actions towards people with disabilities in Australia.
Kenneth Jernigan was the second great leader of the National Federation of the Blind of the United States. For most of the last thirty years he has been its President or Executive Director. In recent years he was President of the North American and Caribbean region of the World Blind Union. Dr Jernigan was an inspiring leader of the blind - a powerful orator, a masterful debater, a passionate Braillist, an extraordinary visionary and a forthright advocate. Dr Jernigan pursued the theme of "changing what it means to be blind" vigorously and ruthlessly on occasions. His prolific writings can be accessed through the Internet Web Page of the National Federation of the Blind at www.nfb.org. They emphasise his belief that rather than the absence of eyesight it is the negative attitudes of the sighted that are the biggest burden for the blind.
Personally, I thank Elizabeth and Kenneth for their inspiration and encouragement to me, and they leave me with enduring and respectful memories of their skills and contributions. A tribute to Elizabeth Hastings and Kenneth Jernigan was presented by Stephen Jolley on the RPH network. Copies of the 90-minute cassette are available by request from the National Office.
I am pleased to report good progress with Telstra Braille Bills. The trial finished in August and now more than 100 customers have been able to access the service. It is not necessary to change to monthly billing, and customers can continue to receive their print copy of the bill as well as the Braille bill. I have received Braille bills for more than a year now, being one of the people on the trial, and the system has worked well. I pay my bill by phone using a credit card, and I get Frequent Flyer points as well.
To register for the Telstra Braille Bill service, or to sort out any problems with your telephone service, call Telstra's Disability Services Hotline on Free Call 1800-068-424.
For this year's Federal Election we distributed cassette-based information on behalf of the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. We were pleased that both Parties were involved this time. Some members were concerned that they received the information from the Liberal Party too late. This was because the Liberal Party was a week slower than the Labor Party in providing us with the master tape for us to duplicate and post, and because of delays in delivery by Australia Post. I wish to thank the staff and volunteers who worked so hard to send out 7,000 cassettes in less than two working days - particularly Sandra Knight, Leighton Boyd and Dale Simpson. This year we did not produce and distribute information for the Australian Electoral Commission, and information on candidates was not available. Members with concerns about access to this information should contact the Electoral Commission directly.
There have been some changes of staff and their responsibilities recently. Ivan Peterson has been appointed as National Policy Officer. His work will focus on but not be limited to access to the built environment including pedestrian safety, accessible premises and transport. Elizabeth Casling has been appointed as the Policy Officer for the Telecommunications & Disability Consumer Representation project. Sandra Knight has been promoted to the position of Projects Administrator.
I am delighted to report that Maryanne Diamond has been appointed as the Victorian Project Officer. Maryanne, who is blind, has a background as a computer programmer. She is the mother of four school-aged children. Her eldest son is partially sighted. Maryanne has a good understanding of education issues for blind and vision impaired students, and she knows the need for strong advocacy on their behalf. Maryanne is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and of the Blind Women's Committee for the East Asia Pacific Region of the World Blind Union.
The Association for the Blind is proposing to change its name. In a circular to company members John Cook, the Chief Executive Officer, advised that the proposed new name is Vision Australia Foundation. He said that the new identity, incorporating a new name and logo, embraces the challenge of the future whilst building on the record and stability of the past. Whilst services to blind people in Victoria will remain at the core of the organisation's service delivery portfolio, the way is cleared for services to extend beyond Victoria's borders and to people with disability beyond vision impairment.
The Board of Blind Citizens Australia will next meet in Melbourne, in
December, to review this year's achievements and to make plans for
meeting next year's challenges. Two weeks later we will all pause for
Christmas reflections and New Year celebrations. I wish all of you peace
and happiness at Christmas, and prosperity and fulfilment in the year
ahead.
Michael Simpson
Phone: 02-9715-1450
Email: msimpso@ozemail.com.au.
I am pleased to introduce the 23rd Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia for the period ended June 30, 1998. This report covers fifteen months, since we changed our year-end from March to June to comply with Federal Government audit requirements. 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 focused on our core activities. We have provided:
Peer Support: where we provide a means for blind and vision impaired people to come together for mutual support and self help through Branch activities, forums and the National Convention;
Individual Advocacy: where we assist people facing problems such as discrimination or poor services;
Systemic Advocacy: where we work to bring about change in our society to improve the quality of life for all blind, vision impaired and deafblind people;
Information Dissemination: where we use tools like Blind Citizens News, Horizons, SoundAbout and our Web Page to provide information to our members and the blindness field generally; and
Consultancy to governments and the community: where we provide advice to Federal, State and Local Governments and to large corporations and community organisations on issues which affect blind, vision impaired and deafblind people.
We achieved a great deal during the year. Much of this success can be directly attributed to our hard working, expert and dedicated staff led by Executive Officer, Bill Jolley. Our Branches and many individual members have also played their part through the running of forums and by participating in Branch activities and the work of various projects. Some of the projects carried out or completed during the year are covered elsewhere in this issue.
We are ready to launch the Blind Citizens Australia Identity Card. The Identity Card will have equivalent status to a driver's licence, and will meet a growing need expressed by our members.
Our key objective as an organisation of blind and vision impaired people is to make a difference in Australia, but we cannot forget our blind brothers and sisters in developing countries. 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 has been provided by AusAID through ACROD, and we value their support and involvement.
We learned during the year that Australia's bid to host the 5th World Blind Union General Assembly in November 2000 was successful. I am looking forward to this event which will highlight issues concerning blind and vision impaired people throughout the world. We expect to host up to 800 delegates from over 150 countries at the Assembly. We, in Blind Citizens Australia and in the blindness agencies, should use the event for maximum benefit to blind people in Australia.
The year was financially stable. We had strong and generous support from our members, continuing support from the Office of Disability and the Attorney-General's Department, and assistance from most blindness agencies. In particular I want to thank Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, Ozemail, Commonwealth Office of Disability and the Victorian Department of Human Services for their ongoing support.
We have finished the year with a deficit of $21,113. This is mainly due to depreciation on our office equipment and computers; however, if we are to maintain our momentum our organisation needs to become stronger financially.
Our membership has grown steadily in recent years, from around 1600 in June 1994 and passing 2500 this year. It is vital that we stay in touch with our members to make sure we are addressing their needs, but this is costly both in terms of producing accessible format material and in staff time. Those of us who are leaders in Blind Citizens Australia must take a greater lead in networking and peer support.
We have given consideration to strategic planning and our corporate image during the year. A Future Development Working Party was convened, and its work has led to an "Options for the Future" discussion paper which is being circulated to Branches, Organisational Members and interested Individual Members. My thanks to John Simpson and Karen Knight for their leadership of this work.
In November the Board Of Directors, our new terminology for the Council, took a decision to adopt Blind Citizens Australia as a common use name, and this change has been very well received. We have also adopted a new logo and designed matching stationery. Our thanks to Cato Design for its free advice and design for our new corporate identity.
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, Kym Hand, Peter Johnson, Karen Knight, Joan Ledermann, John Simpson and Gai Wibberley. They have all contributed to our achievements during the year.
In June 1997 John Bastiaans and Fiona Woods retired as Directors. They have both given very good service and we are very pleased that they continue to be active at the local level. I thank both John and Fiona for their contributions and wish them every success and happiness. During the year June Ashmore and Doug McGinn found it necessary to resign as Directors for personal reasons. June has been a Director for almost six years and a Vice-President in recent years. She has made an outstanding contribution through her commitment, her understanding of people's individual needs and her capacity for hard work. Thank you June. Doug McGinn was a Director for just one year and was starting to make a valuable contribution. We hope that Doug will be back again one day with improved health, and we look forward to his continued involvement.
I anticipate another year of high achievement in 1998-99, and I look
forward to the continuing involvement and support of our members.
Bill Jolley
Editor's note: The Executive Officer's Report is written for delivery to the National Convention as the speech in which the Organisation's work is summarised and the Annual Report is released. It 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, but rather highlights the overall work of Blind Citizens Australia and focuses on particular aspects of that work.
Once again, as I compiled the Annual Report over recent weeks, I was reminded of the importance of Blind Citizens Australia to the blind community and of the breadth and complexity of the issues with which we deal. I set out to compile a shorter report this year, and perhaps I have not been completely successful as we still present too many words and not enough pictures. But the Annual Report is a historical document, a digest of the issues which are priorities of the day. We cannot cover everything in the Annual Report, and there is not much room for editorialising, but I am well satisfied that the Annual Report provides high quality information for those who are interested to receive it.
Whilst the trend towards more project work has continued during the year, we have been careful to ensure that we keep focused on our core activities. This summary report will cover: Individual Advocacy, Systemic Advocacy, Membership & Communication, External Relations, Administration & Finance, Services & Projects and Braille Literacy in Viet Nam.
I feel that it has been a very good year for Blind Citizens Australia. We are meeting the challenges of growth in our organisation and increased demand for our services. We are struggling with insufficient resources, but we are not going under. We have been extremely well led by Michael Simpson as President, and I appreciate the support I have received from our staff.
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 Cheryl Gration, Robert Mascitti and Sandra Knight. We communicate with 2500 members in their preferred formats through Blind Citizens News, SoundAbout magazines, the Convention notice and specific information. Each year we handle $600,000 and write 700 cheques. We photocopy 110,000 pages per year. In September, in the midst preparing for the Convention, we sent out 9000 cassettes to members and some Federal election candidates, of which we copied 2000 ourselves. We could not have done this without great teamwork by our administration staff and without regular and reliable help from volunteers. Especially, I want to acknowledge Kylie Partington who comes in twice a week to sort, erase and copy cassettes for Blind Citizens News and the SoundAbout magazines.
Isabel Anton was the mainstay of our individual advocacy work at national level whilst Aileen McFadzean was away on maternity leave. Isabel has done an outstanding job and she leaves us with our sincere thanks, congratulations and best wishes for the future.
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 throughout Society, 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. Next time it could be you or me who is sacked for no good reason, denied entry to a restaurant, ignored by a taxi driver, refused insurance cover, harassed by a neighbour, denied accessible information or sexually assaulted. Last year we attended to more than 400 enquiries, mostly concerning social security and discrimination in education, employment, accessible information, goods and services, housing and migration.
We were asked for help in a variety of employment cases. Recruitment cases are very difficult to resolve because it is almost impossible to prove that had the discrimination not occurred the complainant would have been the best person for the job. We have observed an increase in employment terminations without good cause, where vision impairment is the reason although not usually explicitly stated. There is no doubt that the labour market is becoming more challenging for blind people, despite our better access to information through assistive technology.
Meanwhile, there are many problems with assistive technology for information access: the rate of change, poor advice, lack of support, equipment cost (especially for Braille displays and embossers), and incompatibility with or inaccessibility of work-place systems.
Notwithstanding that some work-place access issues are quite complex, it must be of concern to all parties that the services offered by blindness agencies are poorly regarded by many blind people. Training, in-home or on-the-job support, and system configuration are major concerns of blind people.
In some cases we advise against the lodgment of employment-related discrimination complaints, and our advocacy takes the form of direct negotiation with employers. If it is not too late to do so, we work hard to avoid the employment relationship breaking down irretrievably. Many problems can be addressed by information and a little persuasion to clarify rights and obligations under discrimination or industrial laws.
Inaccessible goods, services and information give rise to many complaints. Nonetheless there is still a lethargy in our organisation, as many people seem content to accept discriminatory practices by organisations which should know better. Complaints against inaccessible Internet Web Pages are only just starting, and there is no excuse for developers who do not create accessible Web Pages or who do not modify them when inaccessibility is drawn to their attention.
Along with several other members I have lodged a complaint against the Federal Government's Office of Asset Sales in relation to the Telstra Share Float last year. This matter has nothing to do with Telstra. It concerns the Federal Government agency which manages the sale of Commonwealth assets. I wanted the documentation in Braille, but I couldn't even get it on disk or on cassette. If the law requires that documentation be widely circulated, or if Government policy simply dictates it, then surely I have a right to read it myself. I want the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to make a public investigation of this matter, so we can gain access to overnment, public and corporate documents and so the availability of legal documents in electronic form can be addressed. This is a good example of how we can use individual or strategic complaints to bring about systemic change.
Our fight against discrimination in the insurance and superannuation industry continues. I am pleased to report that we are having some wins. In one case a superannuation fund was treating all members with disabilities less favourably by providing to them fewer benefits than for employees without disabilities in the event of death or total and permanent disability. It is very hard to argue from the grave or a coma that an accident was not related to one's disability. Why should the onus of proof be on us? We were able to have the complainant re-classified with access to the same benefits as a person without a disability. What's more, there was no exclusion clause inserted that would have precluded the complainant from receiving a benefit if permanent disability was a direct result of vision impairment.
As usual we received many enquiries regarding the Department of Social Security and Centrelink. Of particular concern were administration errors by the Department or Centrelink and confusion over AUSTUDY entitlements and provisions. There were a greater number of enquiries about the impact of compensation on the blind pension than in previous years. Due to the complexity and volatility of the legislation, providing advice in this area is quite difficult and usually involves research.
Our systemic advocacy is wide-ranging. The Report gives details of our work concerning changes to employment assistance, social security, lobbying Government, HREOC, community access, accessing the built environment, access standards, telecommunications, information access and related research. Isabel Anton, Ivan Peterson and John Simpson, who carried out most of the work between them, have contributed to this part of the Report.
The Commonwealth Government is changing the delivery of its labour market programs for people generally, changes that have a major impact on blind people. The proposal for all job seekers to first go through Centrelink, and for people with disabilities to be assessed by the Job Seeker Classification Instrument and the Work Ability Tables for streaming between service delivery frameworks, raised many issues of concern to Blind Citizens Australia and to blindness agencies.
In March the Department of Health and Family Services belatedly funded some consultation processes with people with disabilities about the proposed reforms. We hosted a national employment forum, mainly for consumers and staff of blindness agencies. We made a report from the forum, and we are pleased that the Government has heard our concerns and taken some of them into account. The forum rejected the proposed model for streaming job seekers with disabilities between services funded by the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs and services funded by the Department of Health and Family Services. We believe that the needs of blind people would not be identified under the proposed assessment process, and so particular needs may not be met. Our needs for employment assistance are different from those of people with other disabilities in some very important respects. In addition to some specific work-place modifications, we need assistive technology and training and support in its use.
The Government has established an Industry Reference Group to examine the proposed labour market assistance reforms and address the concerns of the disability community. We are fortunate that Michael Simpson is a member of this Group.
As well as dealing with Social Security issues for individuals, we must address some systemic issues. Under the Department's first-ever medical review of blind pensioners, there were administrative problems and some issues of insensitivity by the Department. We wrote to the Department on a number of occasions. We consider, for example, that people who are totally blind (especially if they have artificial eyes) should not be required to consult an ophthalmologist, since a general practitioner could surely satisfy the Department's certification requirements.
The Department has issued a discussion paper called "Reform of Income Support Arrangements for People with Disabilities". Being careful not to press panic buttons but simply to ring some warning bells, we distributed it widely to Agencies, Organisational Member and Branches. The key proposal is a new income support payment to replace the Disability Support Pension and an allowance to compensate for the costs of disability. Although the paper does not mention the Blind Pension, it infers its abolition. The income support payment would be means tested and the disability allowance would be small and inadequate. We have made it clear to the Department, in blunt terms, that we will not tolerate changes to the Blind Pension that lead to its abolition. We must maintain our stance not just for ourselves, but for the generations of blind people who come after us. This is a serious matter, since post-election budgets are notoriously brutal these days.
We are continuing to work systemically to improve services to people who are deafblind. This year has seen the availability of new Braille-based text telephones in Australia, although new problems of availability are emerging following company restructuring and product obsolescence in the United States. I have written to the Prime Minister following the disgraceful series of delays with the National Advocacy Review, which have meant that our application for a national deafblind advocacy service has been on-hold for almost two years. We hope that the need for improved services for people who are deafblind will be accommodated in the meeting of Commonwealth and State Disability Ministers later this year, at which unmet need will be addressed as part of the new Commonwealth State Disability Agreement.
We are pleased to report that good amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 were passed this year. They make it easier for blindness agencies to produce accessible format materials without breaching copyright. We are continuing to work in this area for a radical simplification of the law, and for the appropriate accommodation of accessible materials in electronic or digital audio formats.
At consumer forums in recent years issues of pedestrian access and transport have always been prominent. I am reallocating staff duties and responsibilities to make it easier for us to give attention to issues of transport, pedestrian safety and accessible premises. Ivan Peterson will lead this work with the support of key members, and we are recruiting a new Victorian Project Officer.
Our Policy Statements on Pedestrian Safety, Audible Traffic Signals and Transport are valuable tools. They are a good starting point. They give members confidence and documentation that enables them to advocate for change at a local level directly or through Access Committees. The Disability Discrimination Act and local laws are also useful tools.
We, the members of Blind Citizens Australia and of other organisations, have not put our case strongly enough for an accessible built environment. We have not stopped authorities from turning off audible traffic signals; we have let hedges over-grow and footpaths become cluttered; we have allowed governments to prescribe that blindness of itself does not warrant access to taxi fare subsidy programs; we have allowed tactile ground surface indicators to be used haphazardly; we have allowed transport staff to stay silent whilst we have missed our stops or stations; and we have given conflicting advice or too often accepted "no" for an answer.
We haven't done a very good job in achieving an accessible built environment. We have allowed discrimination to flourish, fertilised by our own apathy.
We thank those members who have worked hard and lodged complaints. During the year we provided input to Standards Australia in relation to Draft Standards for lighting, lifts, tactile ground surface indicators and pedestrian push button assemblies. We want better lighting, Braille and speech in lifts, consistent use of tactile ground surface indicators and mandatory use of audible traffic signals. We have issued an interim policy position on tactile ground surface indicators, urging people to follow the existing Standard AS1428.4. Our request to join Committee ME/64 of Standards Australia concerning accessible premises for people with disabilities has been rejected. Standards Australia believes that blind people are well represented by the Australian National Council of and for the Blind (ANCB). The ANCB was defunct seven years ago. As you might expect, we will not take "no" for an answer on this one.
We have enjoyed a constructive relationship with Telstra for ten years now, and again we can report progress this year. We welcomed Telstra's announcement of telephone bills in Braille, and we have given advice to Telstra on implementation issues. We are not happy that Calling Number Display is still inaccessible, almost a year after its launch on the open market. We are also concerned that the new generation of multimedia payphones, which are now being trialed in Adelaide and Sydney and will be released early in 1999, are inaccessible to people who are totally blind.
The new telecommunications regulatory environment has increased our workload and provided us with new opportunities to influence companies towards making their products and services more accessible. We have started working with Optus, and will no doubt lobby or advise other companies as they enter the residential or small business markets.
John Simpson has represented Blind Citizens Australia on Working Groups of the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF). In particular, the Industry Code for "Consumer Information on Prices, Terms and Conditions" is almost in final draft form, and work on the Industry Standard for the inclusion of disability-related features in the standard telephone is progressing well. Recognising the fundamental importance of telecommunications for blind people, and acknowledging the vital role of ACIF in industry self-regulation, the Board of ACIF has decided that Blind Citizens Australia should become an ACIF member.
Membership growth was steady this year, just under 5% taking our numbers past 2500. Our Regional Branches continued their work steadily, but some of the Special Interest Branches struggled. The Board has been requested to wind up the two RPH Supporters Special Interest Branches in Melbourne and Adelaide. This is a result of changed circumstances which we hope will lead to new consultative arrangements being made.
Funding from Royal Blind Society and Royal Society for the Blind has supported our local work in New South Wales and South Australia, particularly the SoundAbout cassette magazines. All States except Tasmania now produce these magazines which are proving popular among our members. We continue to hold Forums which have raised issues relating to access to generic and specialist community services and the inaccessibility of the built environment. 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 and 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. We also acknowledge with thanks the work of Barry Chapman who keeps our Web Page current, looking good and sounding great.
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 Committee of Australian 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. It is safe to assume that the Committee of Australian Blindness Agencies is now defunct, an honourable attempt at interstate service rationalisation consigned to history. We can simply hope and strive for the liaison between Royal Blind Society and Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind to bear fruit that benefits blind people.
Early last year we joined Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies to lend our support to the development of standards for digital talking books. We whole-heartedly support the international collaboration which is the DAISY Consortium, and we are pleased that blindness agencies in Australia are embracing the new digital technology and standards for talking books.
We have continued our involvement in the World Blind Union, and this year meetings in Morocco, Ha Noi and Seoul were important events for this organisation. I am grateful for the privilege of representing Australia in the World Blind Union, and I shall continue to work hard to make that involvement beneficial to all stake-holders. Hosting of the Fifth General Assembly and Second Blind Women's Forum in November 2000 in Melbourne is of course a daunting challenge, but it is a wonderful opportunity for us to bring enormous expertise and media attention together for the benefit of blind people and service agencies throughout Australia.
We have introduced some changes in terminology and organisation at the top, to separate the two distinct functions of Councillors in Blind Citizens Australia: governance, and policy & development. The Board, which deals with governance, has met quarterly for half-day meetings. The Council, which deals with policy & development, has met quarterly for one-and-a-half days each time. So far these are distinctions of terminology and meeting agendas only. We are heading in the direction of separating these functions by eventually having different bodies to carry them out: a Board of Directors which may be a smaller body comprised of individual members, and a National Policy & Development Council which may be a larger body including some specific regional representation.
This time we have a fifteen month reporting period, significant when it comes to the finances. We changed the financial year to comply with audit requirements of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services which funds our National Advocacy Service. Our income for the period was $779,119 and expenditure was $800,232. This meant a deficit of $21,113. Our accumulated funds are $121,434, of which $88,417 is represented by fixed assets.
Last year we received $62,500 from blindness agencies, led by $20,000 from Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. We thank those agencies for their financial contributions and for other in-kind support which we receive. We received $35,630 from members through responses to our appeals and from the PACC program. We also made a profit of $10,000 on the national lottery last June. The support from members is strong and very much appreciated.
Last year we spent $30,497 on consultancy & fundraising, much of which was for work done by Michael Cassar. Although he did some good work for us in marketing, it did not bear sufficient fruit quickly enough and we could not afford to retain a paid specialist fundraiser. Other expenditure is detailed in the Annual Report.
Last year we made some changes to our accounting processes, particularly to enable us to keep a better track of project expenses. We also computerised our accounts. This has been important, because our project work is increasing and there is a need for specific accounting for and auditing of project funds.
We continue to receive $162,000 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 cooperation. Under this service we use and promote tools such as the Disability Discrimination Act and comparable State & Territory Legislation to raise awareness, monitor change, develop and promote policies on specific issues, and provide individual advocacy support. 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 receive $64,000 per year from the Victorian Government for our State-wide advocacy and information service. Our priority this year has been pedestrian access and safety, and under the coordinating committee leadership of Maryanne Diamond and through the work of Ivan Peterson we have made good progress. In June we received a special grant of $20,000 to investigate issues of concern to blind people in rural Victoria.
For the DDA Standards project we have just signed a new consultancy contract with the Attorney-General's Department that will provide $105,000 for each of the next two financial years. We convene and host the DDA Standards Project on behalf of the National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations. This responsibility is demanding of our leaders, but we consider that the development of Standards under the Disability Discrimination Act is very important and can be of particular benefit to blind people.
Rose Ross has worked very hard this year as the Project Coordinator, and we do hope that a DDA Standard for Accessible Public Transport can be approved by the Council of Commonwealth and State Transport Ministers before the year is through.
We received $27,000 for a research project to investigate computer access in vocational education and training. After some delays we hired Anne Bradford who carried out the work on our behalf. She has provided us with a comprehensive report with recommendations, which will be published shortly.
We have received $37,800 from the Office of Disability for a project on Digital Television Access. The work is being led by John Simpson and has already started. Following the introduction of new technology and revised broadcasting legislation, we hope that vision-only announcements on television will be a thing of the past.
We have received a grant of $50,000 to carry out work on Making E-Commerce Accessible to People with Disabilities. The project will concentrate on people who are blind or vision impaired and will include the use of Smart Cards. The Australian Government has announced a commitment to E-Commerce developments, doing business over the Internet, and we are committed to ensure that this development advantages blind people rather than presenting a new set of access barriers.
We have received a grant of $100,000 from the Department of Communications and the Arts for the Telecommunications & Disability Consumer Representation project. This is an important piece of work for us, which we hope will be ongoing, because telecommunications are of fundamental importance to blind people. We are leading this cross-disability project, with the support of a Project Advisory Board, and we are in the process of appointing a telecommunications policy officer.
We continue to support the United Blind Persons of Fiji to raise funds in Fiji and develop the organisation. Last year our $2,000 contribution was matched by $4,800 from AusAID. UBP has used this money to employ a part-time fundraiser, publicise the organisation and hold forums for its members. It is also rewarding to see the rise to leadership by young blind people whom we have supported. In this regard, we congratulate Angeline Chand from Fiji on her appointment as Chairperson of the WBU Blind Women's Committee in the East Asia Pacific region.
Our involvement in Viet Nam started in 1993 with funding from AusAID for the Blind Women's Literacy project in Thai Binh Province. We are now mid-way through a three year Braille Literacy Training project funded by AusAID. The sixth teacher-training course is now starting in Thua Thien Hue Province, after which we will have supported the training in total of 125 women as teachers of Braille, mobility, independent living and vocational skills to blind people. About 60% of the trainee teachers are blind and another 20% have low vision. We work with the support of ACROD and I thank Helen McAuley for her assistance and advice.
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 Ms Tran Dan Phuong, and she is my interpreter and guide when I visit. Miss Phuong has worked for Blind Citizens Australia for four years now, and she continues to do a very good job. She has a good understanding of the project and an empathy with the blind people whom our project supports.
Each teacher-training course is residential and lasts for nine months for 20 to 25 trainees. The newly trained teachers then set up classes in their home districts, which are proving very beneficial. A typical district class is residential and lasts for three months for fifteen students. The priority for all classes is literacy through Braille. Since January 1995, when the first trainees graduated, there have been 34 literacy classes for 616 students.
VBA considers that the course in Thai Binh was the best, because it ran for fifteen months and teachers were therefore better trained. Funding constraints have restricted later courses to nine months. VBA recommends that future courses be at least fifteen months long with only fifteen trainees. VBA prefers blind or low vision trainees because their retention rate is higher and their relationship with blind students is better.
With more than 100 teachers trained and more than 600 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. Especially I thank Miss Phuong for her excellent work and attention to detail. For me personally, the work in Viet Nam is a special part of my job that I deeply cherish and from which I gain much satisfaction.
So we come to the end of another year. We have made some advances for blind people, but we can see that there is much work to be done and that in some ways the task is getting harder. I feel that we live in a less compassionate society now than we did a few years ago; so we face an extra challenge in turning the tide of public opinion away from incentives and the free market and back towards community services and social justice.
For me personally it has been another demanding year, and I am becoming concerned that the burden of leadership in our movement is falling to fewer people rather than more. We desperately need another blind leader to be employed in our National Office, to share the advocacy, management and representation workload with me and to plan for the future. I remain strongly committed to Blind Citizens Australia as an organisation, to the work we do, and to the people we serve both here and in Asia. But the workload takes a heavy toll on family responsibilities and social life. We must plan for succession among our staff and our voluntary leaders, before succession is forced upon us.
I especially thank our President Michael Simpson for his support and advice to me, and I highly commend him on his strong and committed leadership of this organisation. He leads by example in all respects. Michael Simpson is an outstanding person and a staunch ally of people with disabilities. I especially thank my wife, Carmel, for her support and understanding this year, and my close friends for their encouragement.
I have pride and satisfaction in commending to you the Annual Report for
1998 of Blind Citizens Australia.
A recently published biography of Helen Keller draws on an impressive array of sources - letters, journals, books and even Keller's FBI file - to find the human being behind the "institution". It reveals that she was an outspoken political activist, but that no one wanted to listen unless she was speaking about being deaf and blind. The book argues that Helen Keller's desires for ordinary happiness were denied both by prejudice and by people who wanted her to appear virtuous and happy, and therefore acceptable to the public.
Publication details: Dorothy Hermann, "Helen Keller: A Life". Knopf, 394
pages, US$30. Not known if available in alternative formats.
Leighton Boyd
Well doesn't time fly!! By the time this issue of Blind Citizens News reaches you I will have been the Organisational Members' Representative for approximately seventeen months. As I said in my very first article, this position is normally for a one year term, but due to the shift in Convention from June to October my period of office was longer than usual.
During this time I have received a great deal of input from our Organisational Members. This has occurred through my regular contact with them, as well as by organisations contacting me on specific issues.
Some of the issues which have been dealt with include:
The action taken with respect to these issues has varied. They have all been thoroughly worked through with the organisation raising the issue, then they have either been discussed at a Council meeting, or referred to the appropriate Council or staff member for handling. The outcomes have then been reported back to the Organisational Member which originally raised the issue.
I would like to thank all the organisations for their support and involvement. I, along with all members of the Board of Directors of Blind Citizens Australia, feel that the input received has been of great value and assistance to us. It has enabled us to bring to the forefront, and follow through, many and varied issues, which we may not have considered had they not been brought to our attention.
Again in this issue, I have featured one of our Member Organisations. My profile will be of the Albinism Fellowship and Support Group Inc which is based in South Australia. This will enable readers to gain a better knowledge of the type of work or services that it provides.
Albinism is a condition affecting approximately one in 15,000 people. Affected people fail to produce usual amounts of pigment in the back of the eye, resulting in poor vision and dislike of bright light. Most affected people also fail to make pigment in the hair, which is very fair and the skin, which burns in response to sun exposure.
The Albinism Fellowship and Support Group Inc. is run for, and by, people affected by albinism. It was established in April 1986 and offers support and information for anyone with albinism, as well as their families, friends and professional advisers.
Information available includes:
A free booklet will soon be available, outlining basic understanding of albinism. This is being produced by the group and will hopefully help give a better understanding for anyone with albinism, or who may be interested in the welfare of people with albinism.
Membership of the organisation ranges from babies and students, to people raising children. It includes people working in trades such as mechanics and professionals in areas such as law, government and journalism.
For further information please contact Julie Sullivan at work on 08-8261-2922 between the hours of 10am and 4pm, Monday to Thursday, or write to the Albinism Fellowship and Support Group Inc., PO Box 717, Modbury, SA 5092.
We at Blind Citizens Australia look forward to your continued input on any
issues or concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact me through the
National Office.
Lynne Davis
One of my better discoveries of 1998 has been the special workshops for people with vision impairments staged by the Sydney Theatre Company in conjunction with selected plays from the company's repertoire. The workshops are intended to enhance appreciation of the performance by providing some of the information which vision impaired people might otherwise miss. Usually, an assistant director talks about the author and the play, introduces the actors and their characters, describes the set and scene changes, and provides a hands-on exploration of the set and costumes for those who want it. In addition, the significance of musical cues is discussed and non-verbal actions likely to elicit a reaction from the audience are described. As a lifelong lover of the theatre, I've greatly enjoyed the workshops and accompanying performances. In fact, I feel part of a privileged minority. I'm quite certain that my earlier, sighted theatre-going days would have been equally enriched by the opportunity to attend workshops such as these.
The workshops have rekindled an interest which I had thought was lost with my sight, and made me particularly aware of the twin pleasures of language well crafted and delivered. So I was especially interested in an article I read recently about David Richman, as associate professor of theatre at the University of New Hampshire in the USA, who is an experienced theatre director and mentor for student actors. He is also totally blind. Richman works from Braille scripts, and says that he prefers verbally dense plays because the authors provide rich language and thoughtful plotting. He directs one play a year, and has recruited colleagues and students to be his "sighted collaborators" - but in the event of a difference of opinion, he says, he has learned to place his trust in the image of the play which takes shape in his mind. He works in university productions rather than commercial theatre because his particular talents, which lie in language and the exploration of difficult ideas, have a rather difficult relationship with the market forces which dominate commercial theatre.
So now I'm wondering: when will we see the first drama workshop led by
a blind director?
Aileen McFadzean
Hello to members old and new. I am extremely happy to be back from maternity leave and advocating on a whole range of issues important to people who are blind or vision impaired. Everyone at Blind Citizens Australia was extremely sorry to farewell Isabel Anton who left at the end of August for a position in the Victorian public service. We wish her well in her new job and thank her for her diligence and commitment while she was here.
In this issue I plan to raise members' awareness of the types of items which may attract a medical expenses tax rebate.
Currently, Australians are able to claim a 20% tax rebate of medical expenses that exceed $1,250 in any financial year. In response to an inquiry by the Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advised that certain adaptive equipment qualified for the rebate. Specifically, we are advised that closed circuit televisions, talking computers and text reading machines are covered. The rebate would also cover any other adaptive equipment which could be classified a "medical or surgical appliance prescribed by a legally qualified practitioner".
The ATO has advised Blind Citizens Australia that a medical or surgical appliance is something which is manufactured, distributed or generally recognised to be an aid to the function or capacity of a person with a disability or illness. An appliance is an aid to function or capacity if it helps a person in performing activities of daily living. Generally, a household or commercial appliance is not a medical or surgical appliance. The test looks at the character of the appliance, and not the purpose for which it is used. Therefore, an item used generally by people without a disability would not be covered. Also, the fact that something can have a therapeutic purpose does not mean it is necessarily covered. For example, a spa bath would not be covered even if it was purchased by a person with chronic back pain to relieve symptoms.
To obtain the rebate, it is necessary that either the general practitioner or ophthalmologist recommends the purchase of the adaptive equipment.
I am aware that all of this seems very complex. Whether something
attracts the rebate will ultimately be a matter for the Taxation
Commissioner. If people have further queries they can call me at the
National Office.
Would you like to be better informed about the availability of household insurance, but find it difficult to get information which you can read? "Everybody's Business ...", our survey of consumer information needs among blind people in Australia, found that many people experienced great frustration at the lack of consumer information available in alternative formats.
So it's pleasing to note that Commonwealth Connect Insurance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank, has recently recorded its Homeowner's Insurance Information and Policy Booklet on audio cassette for people with print disabilities.
If you would like to obtain a free copy of the booklet, contact its Customer
Service Line on 13-24-23, or write to Commonwealth Connect Insurance
Limited, Insurance Services Support, PO Box 5310, Chatswood, NSW
2057.
Gai Wibberley
For some time now, Blind Citizens Australia has understood the need for a policy statement concerning the education of blind and vision impaired people. We continue to hear of situations in which people are denied full access to education. This is despite the availability of assistive technology, increased awareness regarding the needs of students with disabilities in the school, TAFE and university systems, and other supports available to these students as members of the general community.
Earlier this year a working group was established to develop an education policy statement for consideration by Council. I chaired the group which included Robert Altamore, Maryanne Diamond and Gary Stinchcombe. The group brought to this work invaluable experience as students, parents and educators from the perspective of people with a vision impairment. I appreciate the expertise of Robert, Maryanne and Gary and I thank them for their suggestions and advice.
The draft Policy Statement is founded on the recognition of the educational rights of blind people as expressed in relevant international instruments, disability discrimination laws, and the Commonwealth Disability Strategy.
A set of core principles is included in the Policy Statement. They apply regardless of the mode in which education is delivered, ie. via on-campus or distance learning. They apply to each sector of the Australian education system (pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education). They relate to the following areas:
In addition to focusing on the right of blind and vision impaired students to have equal access to the core curriculum associated with a specific program/course of study, the draft Policy Statement emphasises the necessity for these students to receive instruction in blindness specific skills from staff with professional qualifications in teaching and additional qualifications in these blindness skills. These include: effective use of remaining vision, Braille literacy, use of tactual graphics, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, study skills, daily living skills and interpersonal skills.
These skills are essential for effective participation in education and other spheres of community life, including employment and recreational activities.
The final section of the draft Policy Statement includes an outline of action points for key stakeholders with an interest and involvement in the education of blind and vision impaired people at all levels. They include: Blind Citizens Australia (individuals, Branches, Organisational Members and the National Policy & Development Council), students, parents, educators, service provision agencies, educational institutions, professional associations, and governments. It is intended that the core principles of the Policy Statement will be given effect by the various stakeholders implementing the action points recommended for them.
The draft Policy Statement will be considered by a workshop at the Convention to give participants an opportunity to discuss and debate key issues prior to the Council formally adopting the Policy Statement.
The development of a Policy Statement on education is long overdue, and is an important initiative of our organisation. It will be both a useful guide and an advocacy tool for students, parents and the various professional and support staff employed by government and private organisations throughout Australia. Furthermore, it will serve as an important point of reference for educational institutions, government at all levels, and generic and specialist service agencies regarding their responsibilities concerning the provision of necessary support systems and services required by this small but important section of the overall student population.
If you would like further information regarding the Education Policy
Statement, please direct any inquiries to me via the National Office.
Alternatively, I can be contacted by telephone at work on 02-9850-7920.
The Australian and New Zealand Association of Educators of the Visually Handicapped (ANZAEVH) will be holding its biennial conference at Moore College, University of Sydney, from January 11 to 15, 1999. The theme of the conference is "Education - A Lifelong Process", with an impressive lineup of speakers from Australia, New Zealand and six other countries.
The keynote address will be given by Kevin Carey, the editor of the British Journal of Vision Impairment and Blindness and an expert on the impact of information technology on the life chances of blind and vision impaired people. Kevin, who is blind, is a graduate of Cambridge and Harvard universities and chair of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) Information Society Advisory Group.
The registration fee for the conference, which includes attendance at all sessions, morning and afternoon teas and lunches, welcome drinks, happy hour, conference satchel and conference programme, is $300 for members, $335 for non-members and $125 for full-time students. There is also a day registration fee of $80, which includes the conference programme plus morning and afternoon tea and lunch. Conference accommodation is available at Sydney University Women's College ($42 per night) and Camperdown Centra ($113 per room per night).
Australian delegates with a disability are eligible to apply for a small amount of funding assistance from the Department of Health and Family Services. Please contact the conference secretariat for the appropriate application forms.
Conference secretariat: ANZAEVH 99
PO Box 326,
Roseville NSW 2069
Telephone: 02-9411-4666;
Fax: 02-9411-4243
Have you ever wished that "accessible" meant something more than simply providing access to people who use wheelchairs? Wished, perhaps, that there were Braille signs on toilet doors, a standard position for flush buttons, or good strong contrast between the handbasin and the counter top surrounding it? Well, last year the upmarket Hotel Delmonico on Park Avenue in New York unveiled a suite designed to meet the needs of blind and vision impaired guests. It has audio and large print books and magazines, a large-dial telephone, talking thermometer and alarm clock, and Braille instructions in the kitchenette and laundry. And the decor is mostly black and white for higher visual contrast.
The idea behind the suite was not to segregate vision impaired guests, but rather that the suite serve as a universal prototype for a hotel room more accessible to all guests. Anyone could find the features in the Delmonico suite helpful. There's a readily accessible magnifying glass, a TV screen enlarger, and a large-type hotel directory and room service guide. Other special features include furniture with rounded edges and a bowl for guide dogs (I wonder if they have a nice secure grassed area as well?).
A challenge for your local access committee, perhaps?
We have received an invitation from the Illinois Council of the Blind, seeking contributions to a cookbook being compiled as a fundraiser. They'd probably love some Aussie exotica, so if you're interested in contributing your favourite recipe, you will need to submit it, in the format of your choice, no later than January 15, 1999. Suggestions are also being sought for a name for the book, and the winner will receive a copy of the finished product in their preferred format.
Send contributions to Illinois Council of the Blind, PO Box 1336,
Springfield, Il62705-1336, USA
The closing date for articles for the next issue of Blind Citizens News is
Friday, December 18, 1998. Articles should be sent to Lynne Davis at the
Blind Citizens Australia Office, in large print or in electronic form (disk or
email attachment). If you would like to discuss your ideas for a possible
article please call Lynne on 02-9438-5675 or send her a message via the
Office.
For the latest information from Blind Citizens Australia tune in to Horizons, 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 over the Community Radio Satellite.
Canberra 1RPH 1125 kHz
11.15 am Tuesday; repeated 8.00 pm Tuesday
Sydney 2RPH 1224 kHz
3.00 pm Wednesday; repeated 8.15 pm Saturday
Broken Hill 2DRY 107.7 MHz
8.45 am Tuesday
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
6.00 pm Wednesday; repeated 10.15 am Thursday
Hobart 7RPH 864 kHz
7.15 pm Saturday; repeated 4.45 pm Wednesday
Mildura 3MPH 107.5 MHz
8.30 pm Wednesday, repeated 5.30 pm Sunday