Media Room

See VicDeaf website http://www.vicdeaf.com.au/

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-gyGgZtFQ8

Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, has welcomed the report of the House Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into the draft Premises Standards, urging the Government to adopt the Committee’s recommendations and proceed to finalise the standards as soon as possible.

"This project has been under discussion for almost a decade, during which thousands of buildings have been built or renovated without sufficient access for people with a disability," said Mr Innes. "The Committee has now delivered a thorough and realistic set of recommendations which allow us to move forward quickly to complete the project."

The Premises Standards clarify the responsibilities of the property and building industry under the Disability Discrimination Act and provide technical details for the design and construction of buildings so that they are accessible to people with a disability.

Following extensive consultation, during which over 130 submissions were received, the recommendations made by the Parliamentary inquiry for improvement of the draft, include:

- requiring access to the common areas of apartment blocks;

- improving access and safety features on all stairways;

- clarifying and limiting some of the exemptions in the current draft; and

- ensuring a timely and effective review process on the implementation of the standards.

"I congratulate the Committee on their work and encourage the Attorney General and Minister for Innovation Industry, Science and Research to grab this opportunity to provide surety to the building industry and significantly improve access and participation for people with a disability," Commissioner Innes said.

Adoption of the Premises Standards would be accompanied by changes to the Building Code of Australia to ensure consistency.

Commissioner Innes said the completion of this work was tremendously important as it will not only benefit people with a disability, but government, the design and property sectors and, ultimately, all Australians as we grow older.

For more information on the Premises Standards see: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/buildings/access_to_premises.html

The report itself is at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/disabilitystandards/report.htm

For background information see www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/buildings/view.htm

Have you ever gone to a medical appointment and thought you did not catch everything your doctor or specialist said? Perhaps your doctor does not look directly at you, or mumbles, or has a beard or one of the many things that makes communication a challenge for some of us.

Perhaps you need a flu injection. Or maybe it is time for your annual check-up (blood pressure, blood sugar, pap smear, mammogram, diabetes etc etc) Perhaps you have a bad back? Time for a visit to the physio then. Or an appointment about your cochlear implant operation coming up.

We are seeking consumers with hearing impairment to participate in a trial to assist them at medical appointments. This trial is similar to the program of using Auslan interpreters for Deaf people but in this case, it is using a different approach (not Auslan) for people with hearing impairment. It uses a laptop operator who types everything the Doctor says for you to read, like real time captioning. Even if you have some hearing, the written text is useful to confirm what you are hearing.

This trial ends at end of June and we are very keen to get some more people to participate in the trial at medical appointments.

For a short time only (June 2009 only) the trial can cover PRIVATE AND PUBLIC (eg hospital) appointments.

This is not for Auslan-using Deaf people, as they can use NABS (National Auslan Booking and Payment System).

Perhaps you know someone eg one of your parents who might benefit from this assistance. It will not cost you anything extra to get this assistance. Privacy is assured. There are very strict privacy and confidentiality provisions, just as when someone uses an interpreter.

Further details can be provided if you are interested. 

If this trial is successful for medical appointments, this may open the way for lobbying for further applications eg workplace real-time captioning. But this trial is an essential first step.

We would really like to get some good feedback from the trial to make evaluation possible, The trial must end by end of June.

Please spread the word to get as many people as possible for this trial. Current locations where the trial is operating are Melbourne and Brisbane but we can possibly consider other locations.

PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

Once you tell me you are interested, I can provide details of how to book the laptop operator etc. Contact nicole.lawder @ deafnessforum.org.au (remove spaces before sending)

Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, has congratulated the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, on her announcement that 12 independent cinemas in Australia will now offer captions and audio description services to Australians with a hearing or vision impairment.

"This is a very important announcement for the four million Australians who are currently unable to fully enjoy the experience of going to the cinema with family and friends because they have a vision or hearing impairment," Commissioner Innes said.

"I want to congratulate Minister Elliot on her initiative and congratulate Media Access Australia and the Independent Cinema Association for their hard work in making this happen."

The major cinema chains currently offer captioning in 12 cinemas around Australia. Government funding of these 12 independent cinemas will not only double the number of cinemas providing captioning, but for the first time ever in Australia, provide audio description as well.

"I have to note, however, that this increase in the number of cinemas capable of providing better access brings us no where near the number of cinemas in countries like the UK or USA, where 15 percent of cinemas are covered," Commissioner Innes said.

The Commissioner said he was hopeful that the current Media Access Inquiry being undertaken by the Minister’s colleague, Minister Conroy, will deliver ideas on how to achieve further improvement in cinema access that would result in parity with overseas markets.

Captions are an English-language text version of the movie soundtrack, which includes not only speech but other important sounds.

Audio description is where the important visual information is presented in an audio format, such as scenery or sight gags, so that people can listen to it whilst the movie is playing.

Commissioner Innes said that, not only was this development an extremely valuable contribution to improving the accessibility of cinemas in Australia for people with a disability, but it is also something that will benefit more and more people in the community as the Australian population ages.

See Deafness Forum media release here

We are working on an agreement with Free TV and other stakeholders on captioning quality... because you asked us to.

For more information on captioning quality guidelines, go to our captioning page

What to do if you find any form of media that is not accessible to you because of your deafness
Have you ever been frustrated that a DVD or television show you really wanted to watch turned out to have no captions? Or maybe an online video without captions?
Don't get mad, get even!!
First, contact the website/provider/distributor and ask them why the media is not captioned or accessible. This is important to alert them to the fact that Deaf and hearing impaired people use their products and services too!
If it is a TV station, try filling in Media Access's TV complaint form at www.mediaaccess.org.au/complaints.
If it is a DVD, fill in Media Access's DVD complaint form: http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/index.php?option=com_chronocontact&Itemid=99
If you have any other complaints that are not being taken seriously by any agency, why not escalate it with the Australian Human Rights Commission. It is your right, after all, to have access to media, just like everyone else! all you have to do is email them on newcomplaints@humanrights.gov.au. Deafness Forum can provide advice and a template for you to use.
Web and media accessibility for the Deaf and hearing impaired is 'governed' by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and it is only by all of us standing up and saying 'this is not good enough', that we will see some change come about.
If you don't care about captions, why should they?