Well, what a moment for reflection - not only the last issue for the year, but for the decade, the century, and even (depending on your point of view) the millenium. And trust me: I promise not to mention the very-overdone M-word again in this issue!

As is usual in the post-Convention issue, you will find that much of the current issue is devoted to BCA business of various kinds. But I hope you will not cease reading at this point - a perusal of the contents will convince you, I'm sure, that your organisation is doing amazing work and deserves your whole-hearted interest and support. You will find in the President's overview and the Executive Officer's summary (both reproduced from BCA's Annual Report) an indication of the wide array of activities in which we are involved, and how much has been done in the past year to change what it means to be blind, not only in Australia but in a number of other countries as well.

BCA's annual Convention was held in Brisbane in mid-October - the first time it has ventured into northern Australia - and a very good time was had by all who attended. There is a report in this issue from one of our young Leadership 2000 participants, and a summary of the resolutions which were passed at the Convention. As usual, the Convention Dinner was the occasion for the presentation of BCA's special awards to people whose work we value highly. This year the David Blyth award was presented to Graeme Innes (Sydney), and Certificates of Appreciation went to Terry Boyle (Brisbane) and Kylie Partington (Melbourne). The full texts of the citations for these awards will appear in the next issue. Suffice it to say here that Graeme has really been on a roll this year: he was recently appointed as Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and since Convention has been elected as the new President of the Royal Blind Society of NSW. He also told us in his acceptance speech that the high point of his year was his baby daughter's first words - "Bad Dad"! Congratulations on all fronts, Graeme.

In the August issue I mentioned that the first (February) issue for 2000 will be largely devoted to the topic of "Employment, Underemployment and Unemployment". I KNOW that these are big issues for many blind and vision impaired Australians, but I haven't been exactly inundated with offers of contributions to this issue. So, please, now is the time to get in touch with me either by writing a letter to the editor, sharing some information relevant to the topic, or expressing your thoughts in an article. The closing date is just before Christmas, so give me lots of work to do while you're all out celebrating the word I've promised not to mention again!

Finally, a reminder about the variety of formats in which you can receive the News. You can have it in Braille, large print, audiocassette, computer disk or email, or you can read it on BCA's web page. So if the way you're getting it now is not the format you'd prefer, contact the national office and ask for a change. Also, if you receive the News on audiocassette and sometimes would like to keep the cassette for future reference, you can do this if you return the mailer with an unwanted cassette in it (we get charged postage for empty mailers).

Have a good summer and enjoy your celebrations. See you again in 2000!

Greetings!

I'd like to respond to Graeme Innes' recent article "The Proof is in the Pudding" (August 1999) regarding his first year with his guide dog, Jordie. I'd like to make two points here: Graeme, you should lighten up. Open your eyes (figuratively speaking, of course) and see the wonderful thing that you have. Secondly, if any readers of BCA News are feeling daunted, well ... I can understand, but don't be.

Recently my second guide dog, Garnet (no, I'm not politically correct and I think dog guide sounds ridiculous although I mean no offence), died of cirrhosis of the liver. I have just been trained with my third dog, Zosh, and I am not saying that the whole procedure is a bed of roses. However, if you want to get a guide dog and are only focussing on the fact that you need to keep up your work commitments and are not prepared to take time out of your busy schedule, then yes, you may well be in for a difficult time.

I also take strong exception to Graeme's comments on people talking first to his dog. While he is "insulted by the fact that most people talk to Jordie before they talk" to him, causing him to question his "social status" in the community, I, on the other hand, find it very refreshing that people will take the time out of their busy lives to ask questions about my dogs. People are interested. If we walk the streets as blind people with bad attitudes, feeling ignored and undervalued, then I think these are self esteem issues we should be dealing with as individuals. Moreover, we are not alone. Many people from different groups in society express these frustrations, not just people with disabilities - mothers with young babies, for example, who feel that they have lost their own identity and are seen only as Mummy. If all we do is complain about this interest that people are showing, then I believe we are contributing to the negative perception of blind people held by some members of the community. More often than not, someone will ask me a question or two about my dog. Within seconds, they are telling me about their dog or their lives, and we have moved on to general chitchat. I think that this often takes the focus away from our difference, and sometimes people forget that I am blind. When people are able to do that, I take it as a compliment.

Furthermore, why is it that you see adults who pat your dog without first asking permission as "demeaning of" you "as a person"? Could it not be a simple mistake, an exuberance on the part of that person, an interest that they are taking? Have you never done anything that is politically incorrect? The people we associate with, and even our dogs, often make mistakes. However I believe that the way our dogs act is often linked very strongly with our handling. I certainly don't have everything resolved. I am sure there are heaps of things I still need to pick up on. Still, both of my dogs have been obedient. With Garnet you could have left the pizza on the floor, and he wouldn't have touched it.

While you tried to write a well-balanced article and point out both positives and negatives, I'd like to go a step further. Before all of you reading dive on to your keyboards to send an outraged response to this letter, I would like to say that I accept that the above is personal opinion only. So is what follows. I have used both cane and dog. I believe that the dog is the only way to go. If you want to feel, look and be more independent, a more competent traveller, then I believe that this is the best way out. The friendship, the loyalty and the affection are just extra bonuses.

Greetings! I am a Braille teacher and have had the satisfaction of helping people to master the art of reading Braille. Currently, I am teaching a lady who lives in Tasmania and has no hope of having face-to-face tuition. This is my first attempt at using correspondence with the assistance of cassette tapes and I'm very pleased that this student is progressing well. It is a concern that there must be others in this country who are unable to attend a centre for tuition and I would like to offer to help in this field - despite where a potential student lives. I have had teaching experience when I was a teacher with the Postal Training School in Adelaide. I have also had extensive experience in Sunday school work. In my job as postmaster I also trained staff on a day-to-day basis. If anyone wishes to contact me I am available by telephone on

08-8522-5155.

Perhaps there is someone else who would like to take up this challenge to help others who are in remote situations?

In the August issue I was very pleased to hear about the use of shower safety strips for tactile marking of all sorts of home equipment. I already have a few markings on my stove and microwave but Kevin Rowley's very practical idea is really good.

Another matter that I'd like to air is the attitude of sighted people - I should say SOME sighted people - who are employed by agencies to work with vision impaired or blind folk. I have found here in Tasmania a cool response to my offer, on numerous occasions, to help in public relations or to chat with and hopefully encourage those who are newly vision impaired or just "down" about things.

I feel I have a lot to offer as prior to becoming vision impaired I was a nursing sister (three certificates). I have been vision impaired for about 28 years. I am married and have had 3 children. My husband and I have a hobby farm and grow organic fruit and vegetables and our own beef cattle.

The attitude I mentioned earlier gives me the impression that vision impaired folk have to be mollycoddled and looked upon as inferior. It all boils down to making the general public aware that although our eyes are not good, in most cases we are normal, intelligent people well able to make a mark in our environment.

Maybe you have some ideas how I can best put into reality my desire to encourage and support others. My experience of life to this point has not been a bed of roses, but I'm still smiling, positive and will not be put on the shelf. My phone number is 03-6496-1489 if anyone wants to speak with me about the above.

How refreshing it is to deal with an enlightened book publisher. I rang Federation Press today to obtain a copy of Chris Ronalds' book, "Discrimination Law And Practise". I explained that I have a vision impairment, and that I read using my computer which has both Braille and speech output. I therefore requested the book on disk. Usually this request is met with long silences, irrelevant questions, and details of why such a request could not possibly be complied with, either because of complex copyright considerations or insurmountable technical difficulties. But not at Federation Press. They responded immediately that "of course we can do this, and we will charge you the same price as for the print copy. We will ask you to sign an undertaking that you will not print and/or publish any part of the book. In which format would you like it?" During our pleasant conversation - a change from my previous experiences - they commented that to refuse my request would probably be in breach of State and Commonwealth discrimination legislation. I congratulate Federation Press, and encourage other publishers to follow this excellent example.

This is what I get for opening my big mouth. I recently joined in a very useful discussion on VIP-L (Vision Impaired Persons List) regarding echolocation. My contribution reflected my lifelong experience as a blind person and my formal qualifications in the area of perceptual psychology. It was also an opportunity for me to indulge my passion regarding independent mobility for blind people. As a result, the Editor asked me to write this article. She promised that it would not have editorial scissors applied to it on the basis of political incorrectness, so here goes.

I will begin with some autobiographical details relating to my various aids to mobility so that you are aware of my perspectives. There will then be a discussion of attempts to provide more effective aids to orientation and mobility.

My twin brother and I were born with congenital glaucoma. I had some limited light and colour perception until just before my fifteenth birthday. I did not receive any formal orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction while at school, because it didn't exist.

My first job was as a machine operator in a factory. Over the following 18 months or so I variously walked, caught buses and trains to get to and from work. On some occasions, I ventured off the beaten track between lodgings and work. There was for me, though, a general feeling of being trapped in a quite limited range of travel and, therefore, activities.

One day, while in the process of drilling holes in 3,000 or so thingymibobs, the solution to this rather limited and boring existence hit me. The path which led me to decide to apply for a Guide Dog was much different to that described by Graeme Innes in his recent article. Whether due to my agrarian roots is hard to know, but I am fond of animals generally and dogs in particular. The notion of having a dog was therefore not at all an unpleasant one. Returning from Melbourne with the dog marked a major turning point for me. Whereas venturing off the beaten track to and from work was previously a daunting undertaking, I soon began looking for excuses to travel to places far and wide, including very busy areas. With this new found freedom, the thought of eternally drilling holes in thingymibobs and cutting chamfers into widgets was even less appealing than previously. I won't bore you with my entire curriculum vitae. In summary, though, I worked in a variety of clerical jobs while studying at TAFE and university, emerging with an honours degree in psychology. This, and the work I have done since, was completely beyond my wildest expectations upon leaving school, but if I go further down that track I'll digress onto another favourite topic and away from mobility issues.

So back to mobility. In the mid 1960s, while standing in my bedroom on my parents' farm, I heard a radio news item about the Sonic Torch, invented by Professor Leslie Kay in England. The concept filled me with enthusiasm. It was with great delight, then, that in 1970 I accepted an invitation to be part of the pilot study of the Binaural Sensory Aid, the forerunner to the Sonic Guide. Using the aid in conjunction with the dog gave me a valuable opportunity to learn to interpret the information it provided. By the time the dog was showing her age in the late 1970s, I believed I could travel competently with the Sonic Guide. An O&M instructor gave me something like an hour of instruction with the long cane and I set myself a year to evaluate my performance with Sonic Guide and cane. It was necessary to sharpen some skills with the Sonic Guide, but the transition was a very comfortable one. Therefore, over twenty years later, I still use the Sonic Guide and long cane. Incidentally, the aid I use now is the one I was unpacking on my lounge room floor as John Kerr was sacking the Whitlam Government.

Some years ago, I found a Mowat Sensor lying neglected at a place which collects funds in the name of providing rehabilitation to people who are vision impaired. I began experimenting with it and, after initial scepticism, this much more simple electronic travel aid (ETA) began to reveal its potential and I bought one. I generally use the Mowat when walking around the three-storey building I work in and on quick trips to the shops. I have used it in the centre of Sydney and, while I generally walk more slowly with it in crowded areas than with the Sonic Guide, it is quite a helpful gadget.

For me, then, ETA's have provided a great deal of independence, flexibility and enjoyment. It is a huge understatement, however, to say that they are not for everybody. For a host of reasons, most people who trained with the Sonic Guide ceased using it. My formal research and informal discussions suggest that gross discomfort and a perception of poor cosmetics had a large part to play. It is also highly likely that the long learning curve was a strong contributor. I mentioned earlier my immense feeling of independence when returning home with my Guide Dog. While I was doing some impressive things with the Sonic Guide at the end of training, on the other hand, I was a long way from feeling super confident with it. It was six months or so, for example, before I began detecting up curbs. The initial confusion in crowds, with people moving at different speeds and in different directions, is still a vivid memory. But that's all it is. It is now the other people who sometimes get confused as a blind person (identified by the long cane) negotiates a path through the crowd when seemingly having no right to do so.

Given the resources put into the purchase of, and training with, ETA's by mobility agencies and the poor level of acceptance of the aids by blind people, it is not surprising that enthusiasm has waned. While the Sonic Guide has quietly faded into history, the Mowat Sensor and Sonic Pathfinder are still, as I understand it, both offered to some clients by the Guide Dog Association of NSW/ACT. I know not, however, by what criteria an offer is made. Nor do I know the situation in other states. I can appreciate the frustration of mobility agencies. I also appreciate that dogs, while costing vastly more than ETA's, do raise more money for them. It seems to me, though, that more rather than less effort is required if effective ETA's and teaching regimes for them are to be developed.

This leads me on to a highly instructive discussion by the famous neurologist, Dr Oliver Sacks, at the recent Andrew Olle Memorial Lecture. Dr Sacks summarised the case of Virgil (not his real name), who had been blind for many years (the case has been taken up by Hollywood in the film, "At First Sight"). At the age of 45 or so, he underwent cataract surgery and could see again. Did Virgil leap out of bed and run around the room when the bandages were removed? Was he even pleased to be able to see? The answer to both questions is no. He was extremely confused and disoriented. Dr Sacks made the point that it is often assumed that we are born being able to see. In fact, children learn to make sense of visual information over many years.

I'm not about to argue that any of the ETA's which have been produced or which are under development provide anything like normal vision, even if people often assume that I have limited sight when they see me moving around. The most basic ETA, however, offers information which would not normally be available to a blind person. I strongly suspect that many people who do not persist with an ETA give up before they have learned to interpret its signals at more than an elementary level. I remember "looking at" things with the Sonic Guide during the first week of training. Yes, it told me a wall was ahead, but I knew that already through quite effective echolocation. It wasn't until I could integrate its signals into my other perceptions in more complex situations that it became highly valuable.

Nor will I argue that a blind person starting to use an ETA is in a completely comparable situation to an adult who sees for the first time or whose vision is restored after being out to lunch for many years. Sight adds a whole new sense, whereas ETA's supply environmental information to existing (hearing or tactile) senses. There is a similarity, however, in that in either case one is trying to interpret and integrate a whole lot of new signals. Importantly, vision is, at a neural level, only two dimensional and people learn through various cues to see in three dimensions.

A psychologist once commented to me that anyone who successfully used the Sonic Guide had, at some stage, had some vision. The implication is that vision, albeit limited, allowed effective interpretation of the environmental information supplied to the ears. It's a nice concept, but I know people who didn't have useful vision and find the Sonic Guide valuable. That's the trouble with trying to study people - they're all so different! I believe that psychologist was onto something, though. It is very likely that those who make sense of signals from an ETA have a well developed spatial awareness. I tried to measure this in a laboratory but, as they say, results were inconclusive.

All this discussion of ETA's and their relative merits to various people is, I fear, about to become superfluous. Blindness agencies in Australia alone collect many millions of public dollars. To my knowledge, not one of those dollars contributes to research into vision substitution technology. Nor have I heard anything from BCA on the issue, except informal comments from office bearers that there is nothing we can do. Over the past couple of decades, huge progress has been made in relation to blind people's access to computers and, therefore, information. It seems obscene to me that, while all that has been occurring, the vast majority of blind people in the developed world still rely on the millennia old technique (albeit with some modern materials) of using a rod to check for obstacles.

Like Virgil, for many middle aged blind people the task of coming to terms with vision or even visual substitutes can be very daunting. However, it does not seem at all reasonable that future generations should be deprived of truly effective mobility and environmental sensing aids. To that end, blindness agencies and blindness advocacy groups must take this issue seriously. I do not accept that money is not available. It could be if agencies were genuinely interested in fostering independence rather than dependence.

I recently spent an exciting morning with Prof Kay and his latest generation of ETA, the award-winning Kaspa. It is installed into a headband rather than heavy spectacle frames. A couple of hours use suggest that the discomfort issue mentioned earlier in relation to the Sonic Guide has been largely resolved. While not your resident fashion consultant, I'd not be at all embarrassed to wear it. It presents information in a similar fashion to the Sonic Guide. However, some innovations should make it more immediately accessible to a broader range of people and it can be used for a wider range of tasks.

A number of other people around the world continue to work on promising projects. While they discuss, and even disagree on, aspects of their research, they agree on one thing. That is the totally inadequate level of available funding for this type of work. Further to my earlier comments about funds raised by blindness agencies, I have heard recently of two mobility agencies (neither in Australia) who have an embarrassing amount of money sloshing about in their coffers. Will either of them contribute to ETA research? One, with two hundred million greenbacks hedging against future losses, has bluntly said no. The other one - well, let's keep fingers crossed. And will Australian agencies, some having made more effort in the past than most in the world, be prepared to try again? Possibly, but only if blind individuals and groups are prepared to (a) lobby strongly for an increased commitment and (b) provide ongoing constructive input and feedback. In the past, agencies have largely worked with aids produced elsewhere. It is quite conceivable, however, that they could take on an active role in the development and refinement of aids.

So, after all that, what does my crystal ball tell me about the future? I can be fairly confident in predicting that dog guides will be a viable option in at least the foreseeable future. This is partly because they offer very effective and safe mobility. After all, while computer boffins struggle to produce artificial intelligence, dogs offer the real thing. And, call me cynical if you wish, but they are great fund raisers. What about the future of ETA's or, to use Prof Kay's term, visual prostheses? Well, that's much less clear. America is important, both in terms of potential funding and candidates for aids. While politically powerful and reactionary blind people there continue to hold sway, progress is likely to be difficult and slow. It is time to bring the sociological inverted J curve into play. The concept is that people do not rebel when they are badly off, but when they realise that they are badly off. It seems to me that blind people, by and large, accept that independent and enjoyable travel is the preserve of those with reasonable vision. So far, ETA's have significantly improved both independence and enjoyment of travel for only a very small number of blind people. Those who persisted with the Sonic Guide and reaped the benefits now run the very real risk of being considerably disadvantaged, as the aid is no longer available and servicing becomes more problematic. If things are to improve, we must start demanding and participating in research which will lead to a range of aids which meet the needs of vastly increased numbers of blind people.

I am pleased to introduce the 24th Annual Report of Blind Citizens Australia for the year ended June 30, 1999. We have had another good year, and this report shows that Blind Citizens Australia continues to grow in strength and achievement.

We have pursued our mission and focussed on our core activities. We have provided peer support, individual advocacy, systemic advocacy, information dissemination and advice to governments and the community. Much of our success can be directly attributed to our hard working, expert and dedicated staff led by our Executive Officer, Bill Jolley. Our Branches and many individual members have also played their part through various activities at the local level.

We were delighted with the success of the Blind Citizens Australia Identity Card. The Identity Card has an equivalent status to a driver's licence, and has met a growing need expressed by our members for photo-ID.

We have continued with some cross-disability projects this year. The DDA Standards project is well established, but progress towards DDA Standards is very slow. The Telecoms & Disability project was a new undertaking for us, and we will continue this year to achieve strong outcomes for telecommunications consumers with disabilities. Our leadership of these projects is motivated by our belief that their positive outcomes are critically important for people who are blind or vision impaired.

We continue to support blind people in developing countries, although Australia remains our clear priority. We have the capacity and expertise to create change both at home and overseas, so we have continued our work in Viet Nam and Fiji. Funding and management support for these two projects have been provided by AusAID and ACROD respectively, and we value their support and involvement.

Plans are advancing well for the Fifth General Assembly of the World Blind Union, and associated events, to be held in November 2000 in Melbourne. We are taking the lead in organising this historic event, in partnership with blindness agencies, with John Simpson appointed as the Event Organiser.

The year was financially stable. We had strong and generous support from our members, continuing support from the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, and assistance from most blindness agencies. I want to thank the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, Ozemail and Cato Partners for their ongoing support.

We have finished the year with a surplus of $23,169. This is a good result largely due to careful planning and attention to detail by our Executive Officer. We face some uncertainty in the year ahead due in part to policy changes by the Commonwealth Government in the funding of peak bodies such as Blind Citizens Australia.

I would like to thank our staff for their continued efforts, and our members for their continuing loyalty and effort at a local level. I also thank our Directors: Robert Altamore, Leighton Boyd, Lynne Davis, Helen Freris, Kym Hand, Peter Johnson, Karen Knight, Tony Starkey and Sondra Wibberley. They have all contributed to our achievements during the year.

Last year's Convention marked the retirement from the Board of Joan Ledermann after twenty years of service as a leader and inspiration to so many, including four years as President. We thank Joan for her commitment and contribution, and I particularly thank her for her assistance to me as a new member of the Board and as an inexperienced President.

Joan Ledermann was the winner last year of the Blind Citizens Australia David Blyth Award, a fitting tribute to her advocacy for Braille and her strong contribution to advancing the cause of blind people over many years. Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Pat Downie from Sydney and Carmel Jolley from Melbourne. We record our congratulations to these two people who are integral members of the backbone of Blind Citizens Australia.

I anticipate another year of high achievement as a new decade begins. Blind Citizens Australia is a strong and dynamic national association of blind people. We have an international reputation for excellence and tenacity, and with your support I intend to keep it that way. It is a privilege for me to lead Blind Citizens Australia as your President, and I shall try hard to lead by example in "Changing What it Means to be Blind".

Each year I start compiling the Annual Report a couple of months before the Convention, but I never get it finished until the eleventh hour. I also fail in my attempts to shorten the document, because there is simply so much information to catalogue at the close of every year. With pride I look back at what we have achieved, and I am well satisfied that Blind Citizens Australia is a top organisation with strength, purpose, commitment and a vital role in "Changing What it Means to be Blind".

This summary cannot cover the whole range of activities carried out and reported on for last year, so the following areas are highlighted:

• Individual Advocacy,
• Membership & Communication,
• External Relations,
• Finance, and
• Services & Projects.

We can look back on another good year for Blind Citizens Australia. It was a year of continued strong and committed leadership from Michael Simpson as President, a year of growth in our organisation and continued branch activity, a year of sustained effort from our staff, but a year that ends with some warning signs of challenges ahead. In particular, the Government's welfare reform agenda creates some uncertainty and the future of our individual advocacy service is under a cloud.

The direct service staff are implicitly recognised as we highlight the work that they do, but we must not forget our administration staff. We have been very well served by Sandra Knight, Cheryl Gration and Robert Mascitti. We communicate with 2600 members in their preferred formats through Blind Citizens News, SoundAbout magazines, the Convention notice and specific information. This year we handled $750,000 and wrote 900 cheques. We photocopy 150,000 pages per year and copy 15,000 cassettes. We could not have done this without great teamwork by our administration staff led by Sandra Knight, and without regular and reliable help from volunteers led by Kylie Partington and Leighton Boyd.

Aileen McFadzean led our individual advocacy work at national level. Back from maternity leave, she picked up where she left off, and she has continued to do an excellent job for members and others seeking her advice and support.

I consider that individual advocacy is the most important thing we do. It is where we can touch people's lives and our intervention can make a positive difference. It is regrettable that discrimination against people with disabilities is still endemic, despite awareness-raising campaigns and our own best endeavours. What's more, developments over recent years have seen our tools for fighting discrimination blunted, so our resolve needs to be strengthened. Let us never forget that discrimination against one single person on account of blindness is discrimination against all of us who are blind.

The biggest change in the operation of the service this year was that we supported some matters to the stage of a final hearing. This is a significant change because it requires the preparation of documents including affidavits, witness lists, preliminary applications and details about what is being sought as an outcome from a hearing. It also includes gathering evidence and legal research.

We find that discrimination in employment and education continues to be endemic. In fact, we think it is on the increase. Employment complaints are increasing, although formal education complaints are quite low. We think that this is due largely to the stress caused for families by discrimination in education, and to the growing unfriendliness of the formal complaints process.

In 1997 I, along with several other members, lodged a DDA complaint against the Office of Asset Sales and IT Outsourcing because the Telstra-1 Share Offer documents were not available in Braille or other accessible formats. The complaint was not conciliated and still may go to hearing, but good progress has been made. We received our Share Offer documents for Telstra-2 in Braille and other accessible formats, but still we have no guarantee that we will receive accessible documents in the future.

Last June Bruce Maguire lodged a DDA complaint against the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) because he could not get the Olympic ticket book in Braille. Mr Maguire gave SOCOG every chance to rectify the problem, but to no avail. With our help he successfully obtained an Interim Determination in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to prevent further disadvantage in the ticket allocation process, whilst the substantive matters were investigated. SOCOG snubbed HREOC's Interim Determination.

The matter was heard in September and a decision was handed down quickly by Commissioner Carter. It received extensive media coverage. Commissioner Carter found that SOCOG had unlawfully discriminated against Mr Maguire in failing to provide him with Braille access to the Olympic ticket book.

Commissioner Carter found that SOCOG directly discriminated against Mr Maguire, and stated that there was also a breach of indirect discrimination law. He ordered that Mr Maguire be assisted by SOCOG in the purchase of tickets in the second ticketing round, and implied that the ticket book should be made available to Mr Maguire in Braille. Commissioner Carter fully accepted the evidence brought by Mr Maguire and his witnesses, emphasising that Braille is paramount for blind people as our literacy medium, and totally discounted evidence brought by SOCOG: the comparative value of other alternative formats and media, the onerous cost of Braille production, the adequacy of the telephone help line for vision impaired persons, and the low value of the Olympics as a sporting event for blind spectators.

Of course we are delighted with the outcome of the Maguire case: a convincing victory for Braille confirmed by mostly positive media coverage and a high level of public interest. We thank Bruce Maguire for his courage and tenacity in lodging the complaint against SOCOG and in seeing the matter through to finality. Together with the Telstra-2 Share Offer Documentation case, it seems that a precedent has been set for the provision of widely available public documents in accessible formats.

One of our most complex matters this year has been a series of cases involving Marlene Massingham. Last November her seeing-eye dog was unlawfully retrieved by employees of the Lady Nell "Seeing-Eye" Dog School and Rehabilitation Centre. The School claimed that Marlene Massingham had breached her contract with the School: she had changed her address without notification, the dog was poorly kept and badly used. We advised Marlene throughout this matter, starting with her successful injunctive action to prevent the dog from being given to anyone else and to have it returned to her care and use.

The Lady Nell School proceeded with a court action to retrieve the dog under the contract. Already, one of the School's employees had been convicted and fined $1,000 for the assault of Marlene when taking her dog. The School's court action was an abject failure. Judge Phelan found that Marlene Massingham worked her dog well, and that the dog was kept in good condition. He awarded costs and damages against the School.

Every year we report on the range of social security issues which arise for people who are blind or vision impaired. These issues relate to various entitlements, more and more the treatment of compensation payments. Much concern has been expressed over the year about proposals to change the structure of disability pensions in Australia. Unfortunately, we are unable at this stage to give reassurance about this issue, although we will fight hard against any changes to the means test free status of the blind pension.

The matters I have covered provide an indication of the range of individual advocacy which we undertake as part of the National Advocacy Service. Individual advocacy is a vital part of our work, demonstrating the difference we can make for individuals who request our help. More broadly, individual advocacy informs systemic advocacy. For example, our work in access to the environment and telecommunications is driven by a steady stream of member complaints and queries.

Membership growth this year took our numbers past 2650. Our Regional Branches continued their work, with access to the built environment being a common theme.

With our official name change to Blind Citizens Australia, a new logo and corporate identity were introduced. As part of this, a review of material sent to prospective members and new members was undertaken. I thank Karen Knight, with support from Maryanne Diamond and Sandra Knight, who did the work to design and produce kits for prospective members and for new members. These kits are proving popular, and they present a modern and professional image of our organisation.

We have continued to produce Blind Citizens News in multiple accessible formats, and its high standard has been maintained by Lynne Davis as editor. It continues to be a "must read" for many members, staff of blindness agencies and officers of government departments.

Our Horizons weekly radio program has continued to keep listeners apprised of news and developments. We thank Neville Kerr for his continued contribution as the program's producer and presenter. This year we celebrated our 800th program with the introduction of a new theme from "Future Road" by The Seekers, and we thank them for permission to use it.

We also thank Barry Chapman who keeps our web page current, looking good and sounding great. Our arrangements for archiving Horizons on the Internet, accessible through our web page, are now well established. Personally, I find the Internet a very convenient environment for listening to Horizons.

We continue to maintain good relations with many national and international organisations. Our leaders are associated with twenty organisations, on most of which we are directly represented. In the blindness field they are the Australian Blindness Forum, the Australian Braille Authority, the Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies, the Australian Council for Radio for the Print Handicapped, the International Council on English Braille, the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities and the World Blind Union. Of course we maintain bilateral relationships with the blindness agencies as well. We support the employment by ACROD of a Policy Officer specialising in blindness, in association with the Australian Blindness Forum. We also strongly support participation by Australian and New Zealand Blindness Agencies in the DAISY Consortium, doing our part to develop the standards for the production, exchange and use of next-generation digital talking-books.

We have continued our involvement in the World Blind Union, and this year I attended an Officers' meeting in South Africa. I am grateful for the privilege of representing Australia in WBU, and I shall continue to work hard to make that involvement widely beneficial. Hosting of the Fifth General Assembly and Second Blind Women's Forum in November 2000 in Melbourne is a major undertaking, but an exciting prospect. It is a wonderful chance for us to bring world-wide expertise and media attention together for the benefit of blind people and service agencies throughout Australia. Our collaborative arrangements with blindness agencies to organise these events are working well, and we soon hope to be able to announce participation by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.

Our income for the year was $751,485 and expenditure was $728,316. These figures show a 20% increase over the previous year. We had a surplus of $23,169. Our accumulated funds are $144,603, of which $86,692 is represented by fixed assets.

Last year we received $46,000 from blindness agencies, led by $20,000 from Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. This figure was down from the previous year, because the Royal Blind Society contribution was late. We thank those agencies for their financial contributions and for other in-kind support which we appreciate. We received $23,536 from members through our appeals and from the PACC program. We also made a profit of $8,000 on our first national lottery, but these figures will show in next year's report. This support from members is strong and very much appreciated.

Further details of income and expenditure are given in the Annual Report, and are provided for Braille readers in a separate volume.

We continue to receive $165,000 per year from the Office of Disability for the National Advocacy Service. We record our appreciation to staff of the Office of Disability for their advice, support and cooperation. 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 $69,000 per year from the Victorian Government for our State-wide advocacy and information service. Our priorities this year have been pedestrian access and forums in regional Victoria. The work has been led by Maryanne Diamond who joined our staff last November.

We convene and host the DDA Standards Project with funding of $105,000 per year from the Attorney General's Department. Overall progress on DDA Standards has been disappointing. The Transport Standard moved a little closer to adoption, and we do hope for good news by year's end. We are also encouraged that the Government has amended the DDA to allow for a Disability Standard on Accessible Premises.

Last year we received a grant of $100,000 from the Department of Communications, Information technology and the Arts for the Telecommunications & Disability Consumer Representation project. This is an important piece of work for us, because telecommunications are of fundamental importance to blind people. We are pleased that funding has continued for another year, and that Gunela Astbrink has joined our staff as the new Policy Officer.

We have made good progress on our project Researching Enhanced Audio With Digital Television. John Simpson has led this work, with technical support from Dale Simpson. The final report will soon be available, demonstrating the extent of deprivation experienced by blind television viewers and providing suggestions for the future.

We have made very good progress with our project "Making E-Commerce Accessible" for which the research has been carried out by Tim Noonan. His discussion paper has just been released, full of background information and identified problem areas.

We were very pleased to learn that the Attorney General has requested HREOC to conduct an inquiry into the impact of electronic commerce and new technologies on people who are older and people who have a disability. Due to the extent of the work we have been conducting in the areas of E-Commerce, digital radio and television and telecommunications technologies, we are in an excellent position to provide major input into this inquiry.

We continue to support the United Blind Persons of Fiji to raise funds in Fiji and develop the organisation. Last year our $1,000 contribution was matched by $2,900 from AusAID. UBP has used this money to employ a part-time fundraiser, publicise the organisation and hold forums for its members. Last year we provided UBP with an office computer, and recently it received a grant in Fiji for a JAWS screen reader.

We are now at the end of the three-year teacher-training project in Viet Nam. We have supported teacher-training courses in six provinces and Braille literacy classes in sixty districts. All trainees have learned to read and write Braille as the top priority, with attention also being given to mobility, daily living skills and vocational training.

Our Vietnamese partner is the Viet Nam Blind Association (VBA), and we have developed a very good relationship with this organisation. I make monitoring visits to Viet Nam twice a year, and I appreciate the partnership with VBA and the support of its leaders. Our representative in Viet Nam is Miss Tran Dan Phuong, and she is my interpreter and guide when I visit. Miss Phuong has worked for Blind Citizens Australia for five years now, and she continues to do a very good job.

With 125 teachers trained and more than 1000 blind people receiving the gift of literacy through Braille, I am well satisfied that our work in Viet Nam is making a real difference to blind people. I express appreciation to AusAID for providing funds and to our Vietnamese partners who contribute to the success of the project. I thank Helen McAuley from ACROD for her administrative support. Especially I thank Miss Phuong for her excellent work and attention to detail.

As we come to the end of the year we can look back on many achievements: the identity card, the new publicity and welcome kits, our new name, and some advocacy successes. Our communication media are strong and we are making good use of the Internet. But we must recognise some challenges ahead: our growth outstripping our funding, the demand for our advocacy growing by volume and complexity of issues, the Government's emerging welfare reform agenda and the constant battles to maintain employment and manage the new technology. Access, to the built environment and to cyberspace, is emerging as a national priority.

I thank our President, Michael Simpson, for his support and advice to me. I continue to be impressed by and grateful for his mature and committed leadership of Blind Citizens Australia. I thank my wife, Carmel, for her support this year. I thank my close friends for their encouragement.

I have pride and satisfaction in commending to you the Annual Report for 1999 of Blind Citizens Australia.

The Company Secretary reports that three members were reappointed to the Board of Directors of Blind Citizens Australia. They are Peter Johnson, Helen Freris and Leighton Boyd. Sondra Wibberley and Kym Hand retired as Directors.

The proposals to revise the Memorandum and Articles of Association were approved by the members. As a result:

• Blind Citizens Australia now includes blindness prevention among its objects
• future elections for the Board will be via a postal ballot of all members
• the National Convention will be held every two years
• State Conventions will be held in the alternate years
• the size of the Board will be reduced to seven persons serving three-year terms
• Blind Citizens Australia retains its structure as a national association of blind individuals having equal participation by right.

This year several young people, including myself, were able to attend our first Convention under the Leadership 2000 scheme. I found it an exciting and a thought provoking experience and I was able to take away much that I can use in my community.

To begin with, I felt the newby's mix of anticipation and anxiety. Could I manage to get around in a totally new environment? And would I be able to make some mature contribution to the discussions? Before we left home we were told unequivocally to "get in there and participate". It was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought "sit at the back and observe the experts" would be far more appropriate. But by participating I gained much that I would not have gained any other way.

I found being in an environment which was designed to enhance my access rather than limit it was extremely liberating. The hotel staff were particularly good at both asking whether I needed help before giving it and giving it appropriately when I needed it. For this we can thank the Brisbane Branch who did much to train and prepare both the staff and volunteers before Convention. I also enjoyed having appropriately formatted materials. I often feel isolated in large groups and gained a lot from BCA's roll call procedure. Each person in the room was asked to give their name before most meetings. It seemed rather awkward when there were over 100 people on the convention floor, but having much the same knowledge of who was there as sighted people have gave me more freedom to express my opinions.

The women's forum, held at the Gazebo Hotel on the day before Convention, had as its theme "The importance of caring for yourself". I found the sessions on women's health and leadership very informative and I especially enjoyed talking about make up and clothes with other vision-impaired women. These are areas that have concerned me greatly.

The main convention consisted of discussions about new adaptive technologies, access, and current government policy. I learned a lot. The convention business meetings taught me a lot about the way BCA works. Having the opportunity to participate as a voting member in the decision making process gave me a deep appreciation of the complexity of the decisions that are made by our leadership. I am grateful to everyone who has worked over the last 25 years to bring BCA to its current peak position in the blindness field.

Social events were also an important highlight of the convention and I'm sure that many returned to work a little worse for wear on Monday morning. This year the convention dinner was combined with the annual White Cane dinner held in Brisbane. Graeme Innes was awarded the David Blyth award and we were therefore able to celebrate the advances blind people have made towards access and equality. Sadly the dinner also gave us an opportunity to reflect on the ways ignorance and thoughtlessness by groups in our society still impinge on our wellbeing and our enjoyment of many social occasions.

I am still a student and employment is an area of concern to me. I really enjoyed talking with many people who do a variety of jobs well and it has increased my confidence. I think, on behalf of all the high school and tertiary students in BCA, I can urge everyone to think carefully about our next issue of BCA News, which is on employment. Your ideas and your positive and negative experiences will help us immensely.

I also gained a lot from being able to discuss access problems in my community with other blind people. I have been frustrated by the ways many of us manage to combine committee work with our busy lives and seem to create positive changes until a couple of years pass and once again the pavements are cluttered with sandwich boards and clothing racks and appropriately formatted materials become hard to come by. To misquote, it seems that the price of access is "eternal vigilance". I am now more aware of what has been achieved in other towns and cities and of what BCA's current guidelines are. I hope this will help me pursue more positive change at home.

I have gained a lot from the Leadership 2000 program and would like to thank everyone who made it possible.

The following is a summary of the resolutions adopted at this year's convention. Please contact the national office if you require a full text of the resolutions.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia:

1. Work to establish links with key people and appropriate organisations in East Timor, with a view to providing assistance to blind children, women and men in that country;
2. Make an approach to AusAID, possibly through an accredited Australian overseas development agency as intermediary, to obtain funding for one or more aid projects in East Timor;
3. Seek to establish a national association of blind people in East Timor, with advocacy and service delivery as its twin foci; and
4. Call on the World Blind Union, through its Officers and its National and International Members which are active in international development, to support the establishment of such an organisation styled as the East Timor Association of the Blind.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia, through its National Policy & Development Council, should establish a working party to:

1. Determine the extent of employment by blindness agencies of staff members who are blind or vision impaired;
2. Examine the employment-related policies and practices used by blindness agencies and their positive or negative impact on the employment of people who are blind or vision impaired; and
3. Provide a report with recommendations for consideration by the Council.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia should:

1. Collaborate with the Australian Blindness Forum and other organisations as appropriate, to ensure that the Postal Concession for the Blind is maintained in Australia;
2. Approach the Australian representatives to the Universal Postal Union to ensure that Australia adopts a strong stand of support and demonstrates leadership to maintain the Postal Concession for the Blind; and
3. Express appreciation to the Australian Government, through the Department of Family and Community Services, for the Postal Concession for the Blind and work with the Department to update the specification of the concession, with expansion to include people with print disabilities and provisions for electronic media.

Resolved:

1. To express congratulations and deep appreciation to Bruce Maguire for lodging, with commitment and determination, his disability discrimination complaint against SOCOG for not making its Olympic Games Ticket Book and Souvenir Program available in Braille. We note that the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has upheld Mr Maguire's complaint, firstly granting an Interim Determination which SOCOG has ignored, and secondly finding that SOCOG has directly discriminated against Mr Maguire and that breaches by SOCOG of indirect discrimination law have also occurred.
2. To call on NSW State Government Minister, Michael Knight, as SOCOG President, to direct SOCOG staff to comply with Commissioner Carter's orders in the Maguire case and to publicly state that mass-distribution Olympic Games booklets, programs, maps and transport information will be made available in Braille and other accessible formats.
3. To express appreciation to OASITO for the provision of the Telstra-2 Share Offer documentation in accessible formats. We note, however, that no guarantee has been given that this will occur in the future. We support our members who lodged DDA complaints after Telstra-1 documentation in accessible formats was not provided, and we call on the Commonwealth Minister for Finance, having responsibility for OASITO, to provide a written commitment to the provision of accessible Share Offer documentation in the future.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia should support the recommendations of the Australian Braille Authority made in April 1999 that:

1. The Australian Delegation to the Second General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB), meeting in November 1999 in Baltimore USA, should support the adoption of the Unified Braille Code (UBC);
2. If the ICEB adopts the UBC, then Australia should adopt it; and
3. If the ICEB does not adopt the UBC, then Australia should adopt American Braille Codes.

Resolved:

1. To congratulate the Australian Government on its 1998 amendments to the Copyright Act which streamline the copyright clearance procedures for published works reproduced in accessible formats;
2. To commend the Australian Government for introducing into the Parliament amending legislation which, among other things, extends the Copyright Act to include, under its Statutory Licensing provisions for reproduction of published works in accessible formats for people with print disabilities, electronic formats; and
3. To call on the Australian Government to make a radical simplification of its Copyright Act provisions for reproduction of published works in accessible formats, in accordance with the Objects and key concepts of the Disability Discrimination Act: in particular, the concepts of Appropriate Adjustments and Unjustifiable Hardship. We submit that the Copyright Act should allow the free and unfettered reproduction, exchange and use of published works in accessible hardcopy and electronic formats; unless and until the free distribution is so widespread that it has a significant negative impact on the market demand for the published work and the financial return to the owners of copyright or intellectual property.

We note that the Commonwealth Government has placed "Welfare in the 21st Century" on its Reform Agenda. We also note the Government's stated concern that the number of Disability Support Pension recipients is growing steadily and is set to overtake the number of registered unemployed people within a few years. We also note that this growth rate does not apply to blind pensioners. This Convention calls on the National Policy & Development Council of Blind Citizens Australia to monitor closely the community debate on these matters, and to encourage and empower Members, Branches and Organisational Members to participate as appropriate. This Convention confirms the long- standing and well-developed policy position of Blind Citizens Australia that the blind pension must be retained free of the income and assets test, and non-taxable, and that there are substantial community benefits from this arrangement. We urge other disability groups to see the blind pension as a benchmark to work towards, rather than as a tall poppy to cut down.

Resolved to request the Board of Directors of Blind Citizens Australia:

1. To make every endeavour to maintain an individual advocacy service provided under a national auspice;
2. To seek additional funds from the Commonwealth Government to support the under-resourced individual and systemic advocacy service currently provided; and
3. To make applications for State-based funding of advocacy and information services, similar to the arrangement in Victoria, from both State Governments and State Offices of the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia shall maintain its separateness and autonomy as Australia's national association of the Blind. We note the Generic Outcomes inserted into the contracts of all national peak bodies funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services; in particular, Outcome Three: "Work together with other relevant peak bodies and with FACS, to streamline and simplify the present range of interests and to achieve a reduction in the number of funded organisations". We confirm our commitment to participate actively as a member of the National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations, ACROD and the Australian Blindness Forum; and we confirm that the development of strategic partnerships with other organisations is appropriate. We stand proudly on our record of high achievement since 1975 for people who are blind or vision impaired, as a specialist self-help organisation providing advocacy and information for Australia's community of people who are blind or vision impaired.

Resolved:

1. To confirm that Blind Citizens Australia should develop a pro forma Dog Guide Agreement to be used between dog guide users and dispensing agencies, which gives fair recognition of the rights and responsibilities of both parties;
2. To commend the National Policy & Development Council for establishing a working party to draw up an appropriate Dog Guide Agreement, and to commend the Working Party on the completeness and fairness of the draft it has prepared for consultation with dog guide users and discussion with dog guide agencies; and
3. That, when it is finalised, Blind Citizens Australia should seek to have the pro forma Dog Guide Agreement accredited by the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools For The Blind.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia:

1. Should continue to show leadership in DDA Standards development by expressing a willingness to continue to host the DDA Standards Project and provide the Project Convenor;
2. Endorses the Draft Transport Standards, as approved (subject to minor amendment and legal clarification) by the meeting of Commonwealth and State Transport Ministers last April in Adelaide, and urges the Commonwealth Government to move quickly to adopt the DDA Transport Standards;
3. Urges the Attorney General's Department to proceed with development of a Disability Standard for Electronic Delivery of Commonwealth Communication and Information, incorporating Electronic Commerce;
4. Approves the recent amendment of the DDA to allow for the making of a Disability Standard on Accessible Premises;
5. Commends the Australian Building Codes Board on the recent amendment of the Building Code of Australia to include the mandatory provision of Tactile Ground Surface Indicators in proximity to stairs, ramps and escalators; and
6. Urges the Australian Building Codes Board to develop strong amendments and additions to the Building Code of Australia to incorporate comprehensive disability access, such that this would enable parts of the Building Code to form the basis of a Disability Standard under the DDA on Accessible Premises.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia nationally, and its Branches and Organisational Members as appropriate, make representations to the Commonwealth and State/Territory Ministers for Education seeking improvements in educational services and opportunities for students who are deafblind.

Resolved that Blind Citizens Australia request its Branches and Organisational Members as appropriate to work more closely with relevant organisations in their States/Territories to improve the range and quality of services for seniors who are deafblind.

Blind Citizens Australia invites the Australian Deafblind Council to join with it to call on the Commonwealth Government, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in particular, when considering classification of disability types and their descriptions to specifically recognise deafblindness. We assert that such recognition of deafblindness must be written into relevant legislation, referring to the specific needs of deafblind people being different from those of people with a single sensory loss. Furthermore, this Convention requests Branches and Organisational Members of Blind Citizens Australia to work for the implementation of this resolution with their relevant State or Territory Governments.

From time to time people have complained about the use of the term "dog guide" (see, for example, the letter from Louise Pearson in this issue). The following explanation of the use of the terminology was sent by Bill Jolley to the vip-l internet mailing list and is reproduced here for the wider readership of Blind Citizens News:

In Australia dogs for guiding blind people are produced by various Guide Dog Associations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and now Adelaide. Also, "Seeing-Eye" Dogs are produced by the Lady Nell organisation, with a base in Melbourne, offices in a number of States and a very active division in Queensland. It is out of recognition of and respect for the legitimacy of

the Lady Nell organisation that the term "Dog Guide" is used when referring to ALL dogs used for the purpose of guiding vision impaired people.

Are we mostly concerned, as blind people, with what kind of dog we are using or what kind of guide we are using? That is, a "guide dog" means that the word "dog" is the noun and the word "guide" is the adjective, to be compared with a "hearing dog", a "police dog", a "guard dog" or a "pet dog". On the other hand, "dog guide" means that the word "dog" is the adjective and the word "guide" is the noun, to be compared with a "sighted guide", a "sonic guide", etc.

As a blind person I am much more concerned about what sort of guide I have, rather than what sort of dog I have. Accordingly, I think that a "dog guide" is more important to me than a "guide dog", notwithstanding from which organisation I may have obtained my mobility aid. Finally, I would want the particular agency to think about me more importantly than the dog; that is, the dog is there to guide me, rather than me choosing among different dogs the one which will act as my guide. This is a question of where the emphasis is placed and for too long we as blind people have let the big agencies control the language to suit their public relations programs.

I don't mean to be facetious, but simply to confirm that the term "dog guide" is used for good reason and without any cultural cringe.

There is a new contact arrangement for people with a disability when getting in touch with Centrelink. As a result of lobbying from the disability community over concerns about Centrelink's phone management system the National Disability Advisory Council worked with Centrelink to implement a separate 13 number for Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients. On calling this number you go straight through to a Customer Service Officer. Of course there are still delays but they are far less than with the general contact number.

The Customer Service Officers are located within the general call centres around Australia. However, they are located in a separate unit within those centres and they receive specific training on disability awareness and disability benefits.

The contact number is 132717

T.E.A.C.H. Pty. Ltd. supplies and, most importantly, supports a wide range of products for people with vision impairments.

Despite being the smallest company in the business, Jeremy Miller and Kate Moody share 25 years of experience with technology for vision impaired people.

Products available include:

JAWS FOR WINDOWS, the leading Windows Screen Reader from Henter-Joyce, for WIN'95/98 and WIN NT

Vocal-Eyes (DOS) & Window-Eyes Screen Readers from GW Micro.

ASAP (DOS) and ASAW (Win'95/98) Screen Readers from MicroTalk.

DECtalk EXPRESS, "Rolls-Royce" External Synthesiser.

DoubleTalk External and Internal Synthesisers - excellent voice quality and value for money.

DECtalk ACCESS32 Software Synthesiser for JFW and Window-Eyes.

MAGic 6.1 from Henter-Joyce, for WIN'95/98 and WIN NT

GALILEO Professional Stand-alone Reading Machine

RAINBOW Personal Stand-alone Reading Machine

ARIA Braille Keyboard Palm Top Computer

COLUMBUS Talking Compass

FRANKLIN Talking Dictionaries and Thesauruses

T.E.A.C.H. is an authorised distributor for PULSEDATA Pty Ltd.

If you would like any more information about our products or a demonstration, please contact Jeremy Miller or Kate Moody at:

T.E.A.C.H. P/L

PO Box 106

Balmain, NSW 2041.

ph 02-9555-8333

fax 02-9555-9870

email teach@curie.dialix.com.au

web www.ozpages.com/TEACH

LIST OF USEFUL WEBSITES OF OUR MAJOR SUPPLIERS

Blind Citizens News accepts material in the following categories:

• Information about new services, facilities or events of wide interest among blind and vision impaired people is accepted for inclusion within the news content.

• Announcements, for sale notices and other advertisements from individuals and small non-profit organisations may be included in a "Notice Board" section, provided that they do not exceed 25 words and are targeted to a national readership. A charge of $20 will apply for each notice.

• Advertising on behalf of government, commercial or community organisations that is considered to be relevant to the general readership will be included under the heading "Advertisements". Advertisers must provide a copy suitable for inclusion in all formats of the publication and the following rates will apply
• Full page (320 words large print) $375
• Half page (150 words large print) $200
• Quarter page (70 words large print) $105

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

• a credit of up to 25 words on the front cover;
• 2 print pages for the sponsor's message (equivalent space in other formats).

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 (computer disk and email) copies to members, libraries, service agencies, government departments and equipment suppliers throughout Australia. Blind Citizens News also appears in full on the internet website of Blind Citizens Australia.

For further information please contact the Editor.

The theme for the next issue of Blind Citizens News is "Employment, Underemployment and Unemployment". The closing date for the issue is Friday, December 17, 1999. Articles, letters and other contributions 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 contribution 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 on your RPH station, on a Community Station near you, or over the Internet. 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 over the Community Radio 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

6.05 pm Monday;

repeated 7.00 am Friday

Adelaide

5RPH 1197 kHz

9.15 pm Wednesday,

repeated 6.00 pm Friday

Perth

6RPH 990 kHz

10.30 am Friday;

repeated 5.30 pm Saturday

Hobart

7RPH 864 kHz

12.30pm Friday

Mildura 3MPH 107.5 MHz

8.30 pm Wednesday,

repeated 6.30 pm Sunday