On Tuesday, 1st September BCA Inform focused on the Australian Government’s recent commitment to mandate audio description across television and streaming services. Deb Deshayes, BCA CEO hosted the session and opened it by noting that while the announcement is significant and worth recognising, it remains a statement of intent until legislation and implementation details are confirmed. The session involved a vibrant panel discussion with John Simpson, Emma Bennison and Lauren Henley who all bring extensive experience and a strong track record of work in this space.
The panel emphasised that sustained community involvement will be essential to ensuring the announcement leads to strong and practical legislation. John highlighted the importance of a coordinated voice that presents audio description as a right rather than an optional extra. Emma and Lauren stressed that personal stories could help decision makers understand the everyday impact of audio description. The panel also cautioned that, without continued advocacy, the issue could lose momentum or result in legislation that does not meet the needs of the community.
The discussion also considered the need to engage allies beyond the blind and vision impaired community, including other disability service organisations and stakeholders who can help promote audio description more broadly. Participants noted that audio description can be harder to advocate for than captioning because it is of less use to the general public, making education, awareness raising and clear messaging especially important.
Several practical next steps were identified: BCA will develop a Q&A document to help members explain audio description issues when speaking with MPs and others. BCA will also collect member stories and feedback about audio description experiences to inform the campaign.