+++AUSTRALIAN BLINDNESS FORUM ABN 47 125 036 857.
++ABF UPDATE OCTOBER 2007.

[Contents begin]
+01. More about the ABF.
+02. Federal Election 2007.
+03. AEC Disability Action Plan.
+04. Ombudsman Reports on Social Security System.
+05. Assistance to Access ACCC Services.
+06. Investigation into Access to Electronic Media.
+07. Students with Disability.
+08. Improving VET Participation.
+09. National Unified Lifeskills Model (NULM).
+10. Workshops on Web Access.
+11. Information, Publications.
+12. National Conferences.
+13. World Blind Union.
+14. Other International Items.
+15. National Disability Services (NDS).
+ABF Background and Contact.
[Contents end]

+01. MORE ABOUT THE ABF.
Members have been notified that the first Annual General Meeting of the ABF will take place at 10.30am on 19 November 2007 at Vision Australia, 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, Victoria.

+02. FEDERAL ELECTION 2007.
- Increased benefits for pensioners: The Federal Coalition has announced that, if re-elected, the Utilities Allowance, currently paid to age pensioners at the rate of $107.20, will be increased to $500 for both singles and couples from March 2008, and extended to include Disability Support Pensioners and carers receiving the Carer Payment regardless of age. If living costs for pensioners increase faster than general inflation of wages, pensions will be topped up to ensure that recipients are fully compensated for increases.
Federal Labor has promised to match the Coalition’s commitment to increase Utilities Allowance to $500 and extend it to people receiving Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension.  From March 2008 it will pay the Allowance four times a year ($125 quarterly) rather than twice a year. Labor will also lift the Telephone Allowance from $88 to $132 a year to help with Internet connection; establish a Seniors’ Internet fund and provide one-off grants of up to $10,000 to establish free Internet kiosks in community locations. More information: http://www.alp.org.au/media/1107/msagediscfcsloo010.php 
- Additional funds for accommodation and respite: Federal Labor has promised to re-direct $962 million of the $1.8 billion in the Disability Assistance Package announced by the Coalition in June, to the CSTDA. Labor would thus cease the further development of new Commonwealth-administered accommodation and respite programs while honouring new contracts for respite services. More information: ALP Media Release at http://www.alp.org.au/media/1007/msdisc300.php; NDS News Update of 30 October at http://www.nds.org.au 
- Accessible voting.
As previously advised, electronically assisted voting at 29 locations around Australia (http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/e_voting/low_vision.htm) will provide the opportunity for people who are blind or have low vision to vote in secret. Earlier this year, the federal government passed legislation that meant the electoral roll closed on the day the writs were issued and those already on the roll had only three days to update their details (previously voters had seven days to enroll or update).
The October issue of ‘Link Magazine’ carries an election wish list from peak disability organisations. Issues nominated by NDS and BCA cover: disability employment strategy and welfare to work; CSTDA; sustainable service providers; improved services for people ageing with disability; and investment in research and development. For more information about the magazine, go to http://www.linkonline.com.au/ or contact margaret.verick@nds.org.au. 
The NSW Minister for Disability Services has released a guide to provide information on voting in all elections, including the coming federal election, for people with disability. The guide will be sent to all government and non-government disability service providers in NSW to ensure people with disability know about their rights and responsibilities.

+03. AEC DISABILITY ACTION PLAN.
Following a review of its 2004-2007 Disability Action Plan, the Australian Electoral Commission has released a draft plan for 2008-2010 for comment. The draft plan is divided into four sections: an effective electoral roll; an impartial and independent electoral system; an informed community; and management and accountability. ABF members have been invited to raise any existing concerns by emailing margaret.verick@nds.org.au by 16 November. As the ABF response needs to be lodged by the due date of 23 November it will not take into account feedback from the federal election. However, the AEC plans to meet with its Disability Advisory Group early in 2008 to discuss the final version of the plan and to consider the experiences of people with disability voting in the federal election. Information about the current AEC Disability Action Plan is online at http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/Disability.htm#covers. 

+04. OMBUDSMAN REPORTS ON SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s annual report points to the inflexibility of the social security system in dealing with issues arising from the implementation of the Government’s Welfare to Work changes. The report is available at http://www.comb.gov.au/commonwealth/publish.nsf/Content/mediarelease_2007_10 

+05. ASSISTANCE TO ACCESS ACCC SERVICES.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced initiatives to assist consumers with disability to access its services. The guide ‘Know how to complain: stand up for your consumer rights’ is now available in large print, audio and Braille versions. The ACCC will also provide access to people with hearing or speech impairments through the ACCC Infocentre phone 1300 302 502 either direct or via TTY 133 677, speak and listen 1300 555 727 or NRS Internet relay http://www.relayservice.com.au. More information: http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/802182 

+06. INVESTIGATION INTO ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC MEDIA.
Access to electronic media for people who are blind or vision impaired is to be included in the investigation into access by people who are Deaf or hearing impaired. The investigation will now include consideration of audio description services and will be completed by 30 April 2008.
This welcome announcement follows NDS, HREOC and other organisations expressing their disappointment to the producers of the Raising Children DVD that the needs of new parents who are blind or vision impaired had not been considered. Clips of the Raising Children DVD are available online at http://raisingchildren.net.au/raisingchildren.tv/tv_landing.html.
The Raising Children Network now includes a disability section on its website (http://raisingchildren.net.au/children_with_disabilities/raising_children_with_disabilities.html) to provide resources and support for parents of children with disability. Funded by the NSW Government, the new section covers common issues and concerns of parents.

+07. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY.
- Health Care Card: From 1 October 2007, 25,000 students with disability or a medical condition will be able to access a Health Care Card (HCC) following its extension to former Carer Allowance (child) care recipients. The initiative, worth $19.3 million over four years, provides Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescription items and certain Medicare services at a cheaper rate. For more information, read Minister Mal Brough’s media release at http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/minister3.nsf/content/support_01oct07.htm. 
- Assisting students in mainstream classrooms: A new research report aims to help mainstream teachers to include students with disability by identifying effective practices in the early, middle and post-compulsory years of schooling. The report focuses on the activities, interactions and materials that make classroom practices inclusive and the professional development needs of teachers so that they acquire the knowledge and skills to implement inclusive practices. The final research report of 324 pages, ‘A Project to Improve the Learning Outcomes of Students with Disabilities in the Early, Middle and Post Compulsory Years of Schooling’, and the 40-page resource for teachers, ‘Students with Disabilities in Mainstream Classrooms’, are available at http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/learning_outcomes_students_disabilities.htm. More information: Department of Education, Science and Training 1300 363 079.

+08. IMPROVING VET PARTICIPATION.
NDS has proposed ways to boost the participation rate of people with disability in vocational education and training (VET). A higher VET participation rate would increase the employment and career prospects of people with disability and help alleviate Australia’s skills shortage. The NDS VET briefing paper ‘Improving the workforce skills and participation of people with disability’ (http://www.nds.org.au/Members/employ/open/training/FactSheet.pdf) recognises that Disability Employment Network (DEN) services provide the main pathway for people with disability into apprenticeships. It recommends changes that would reduce red tape, increase incentives, foster partnerships between DEN providers and Group Training Organisations and reward accredited training outcomes.

+09. NATIONAL UNIFIED LIFESKILLS MODEL (NULM).
During September, presentations on the development of the NULM and its proposed initial implementation for the 0-5 year range were made to Minister Mal Brough’s Disability Adviser and to the Department of Family, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Information was also provided to the Shadow Minister for Ageing, Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas. While there is evident interest in the concept, more needs to be done before the NULM can be launched in 2008. 

A presentation on the NULM was made to the 2007 BCA Convention in October. A two-day Summit, ‘Building Skills for Life’, will be held on 8-9 November at Renwick Centre in Sydney, with key representatives from around Australia and New Zealand who are directly involved in the development of lifeskills for children who are blind or vision impaired. A national parent summit is planned for April 2008. For more information, email Errol Ingram at errol@nulm.org or go to http://www.nulm.org.

+10. WORKSHOPS ON WEB ACCESS.
- Writing for the Web: Canberra 16 November
Vision Australia is partnering with respected usability and accessibility expert Dey Alexander to offer unique ‘Writing for the Web’ workshops. Dey is co-convenor of the Web Accessibility Network of Australian Universities and is a regular presenter on useable and accessible web writing to the education, corporate and government sectors. Focusing on excellent content writing, these practical workshops complement the Vision Australia Web Accessibility Workshops. Further information is available at http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=685.  
- Web Accessibility: Brisbane 21 November 
This full-day workshop is targeted at web-development team leaders, corporate communications professionals and business manages, along with content authors and web programmers and designers and contract managers. Further information is available at http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=684. 

+11. INFORMATION, PUBLICATIONS.
- Income tax returns: The ATO is aware that people with disability may have had difficulty in lodging their tax returns by the due date of 31 October. The ATO has advised that people with disability, particularly if they have been affected by the late release of alternative formats by the ATO, should contact its call centre on 13 28 61 to find out about lodging the return at a later date.
- AIHW publication: The ‘Disability Support Services 2005-06’ report presents information collected from over 9,000 service outlets throughout Australia funded under the CSTDA. Approximately 217,000 Australians or one in every one hundred people, access disability support services, with service users most likely to be males aged around 30 years. More information: Media release at http://www.aihw.gov.au/mediacentre/2007/mr20071026.cfm and the report at http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10488 
- National Recreation Guidelines published by NICAN (http://www.nican.com.au/education/rec_guidelines.asp) aim to provide a starting point for any organisation to assist in the personalisation and adoption of consistent, meaningful and individualised recreation opportunities for people with disability. 
- Alternative format production: The August 2007 issue of ‘LiveWire’ (http://www.quantech.com.au/august2007) identified AltFormat (http://www.AltFormat.com) as a resource that will help people stay in touch with developments from around the world. AltFormat is an independent website focusing on how developments in the production of alternative format materials are transforming the education of students of all ages who have a vision impairment or dyslexia.
- Automatic speech for PowerPoint presentations: PowerTalk is a free program that automatically speaks any presentation or slide show running in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows. Speech is provided by the standard synthesized computer voices that are provided with Windows. More information: http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/. 

+12. NATIONAL CONFERENCES.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare will host a one-day conference on ‘Disadvantage and Diversity’ in Canberra on 6 December to focus on some of the welfare issues facing Australia. Topics covered will include disability and disability services. A conference registration form will be available shortly. More information: Alison Diamond, phone 02 6244 1287, email conference2007@aihw.gov.au. 
- 2008 National Conference of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities will be held in Melbourne on 11 to 14 April, immediately after the Fourth General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille on 6 to 10 April. More information and the call for papers (closing date for submission of abstracts was 5 October 2007) are available at http://www.e-bility.com/roundtable/. 

+13. WORLD BLIND UNION (WBU).
Below are extracts from the WBU E-Bulletin, provided by its First Vice President, Maryanne Diamond. 
- WBU General Assembly 2008: The Swiss Federation of the Blind and Visually Impaired will host the Seventh WBU General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland from 15 to 23 August.
- International Children’s Congress: The WBU Children’s Committee and the Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE), in partnership with UNICEF, ICEVI and Save the Children, plans to host ‘Listening to the Children’, the first International Congress for Blind and Partially Sighted Children, from 25 to 29 March 2008 in Pontevedra, Spain. The congress will aim to provide a forum for a group of teenagers who are blind or partially sighted from around the world to reflect on their current status and make their demands and needs known to decision and policy makers.

+14. OTHER INTERNATIONAL ITEMS.
- United Nations: Progress on signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be checked at http://www.un.org/disabilities. 
A handbook for parliamentarians on the UN Convention, ‘From Exclusion to Equality – realizing the rights of person with disabilities’ is available as a PDF file of 163 pages from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/documents/ipuhb.pdf - it is hoped that a more accessible format will be available soon.
UNICEF is on calling all young people to contribute their ideas to the child-friendly text of the UN Convention (http://www.unicef.org/voy/media/Child_friendly_CRPD.pdf). The Call to Action and questionnaire (responses by 9 November) are available at http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_cfc_questionnaire.php.
- Asia-Pacific Photo Competition: The International Labour Organisation (ILO), Disabled Peoples’ International and Irish Aid invite all photo enthusiasts to participate in an Asia-Pacific Photograph Competition under the theme ‘Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities’. It is open to all residents over the age of 18 in the Asia-Pacific region. Closing date for entries is 12.00noon (Bangkok time) on 21 November 2007. The awards will be announced on 29 November 2007 in Bangkok. Prizes are first US$1000, second US$500 and third US$250. The invitation to participate and competition rules can be provided by emailing margaret.verick@nds.org.au. 
- International Council on English Braille (ICEB) will hold its Fourth General Assembly on 6 to 10 April 2008 in Melbourne (immediately before the Round Table Conference listed above). The ICEB call for papers closes on 15 November 2007 and abstracts should be in the hands of Eileen Curran, National Braille Press, 88 St Stephen Street, Boston MA USA by that date. 
- 24th Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities has been rescheduled to 14 and 15 April 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii – go to http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/ for more information.
- Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC) is a national network focusing attention, expertise and action on disability issues in developing countries and building a national platform for disability advocacy. ADDC has welcomed the announcement from the Minister for Foreign Affairs that the Australian Government will form a long-term partnership with Australian non-government organisations to help improve or restore vision for up to 12 million people in South East Asia and the Pacific. Further information about ADDC, plus news and resources, can be found at http://www.addc.org.au, or by contacting the ADDC Coordinator, Paul Deany at info@addc.org.au, phone 1800 678 069. 
- Proposal to eradicate avoidable blindness in Asia-Pacific
The Australian Government has announced it will form a long-term partnership with non-government organisations to help improve or restore vision for up to 12 million people in South East Asia and the Pacific and help strengthen health systems in the Asia-Pacific especially through training for eye health and vision care professionals. Fully accredited Australian NGOs with disability experience and skills will be invited to partner AusAID to implement the $60 million plan over the next 10 years. A new strategy to outline how disability in the region will be tackled in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, recently signed by Australia.
While welcoming the government’s commitment, Vision 2020 Australia called for additional funding to enable a comprehensive program to treat or prevent the 75% of blindness that is avoidable.
NDS News Update of 15 October reported on the ALP plan to eliminate avoidable blindness in the region.
More information: http://www.vision2020australia.org.au/assets/content/1817/Minister_Downer_Media_Release_23Oct07.pdf; http://www.vision2020australia.org.au/news-events-news.cfm?id=1817&t=/foreign-minister-funds-blindness-prevention/ 

+15. NATIONAL DISABILITY SERVICES (NDS).
- CEO Meeting: This year the NDS CEO Meeting will be held in Canberra on 28 and 29 November in the new five-star Hotel Realm. A new format will improve the interaction and networking among participants, drawing on their own expertise and experience. The program and registration form are available on the NDS website at http://www.nds.org.au/conferences/CEO2007/home.htm. 
- Inaugural Children’s Conference: The first national conference on children and young people with disability and their families, ‘Every Child Matters’, will be co-hosted by NDS and Families Australia in Melbourne next year. It will identify issues, share solutions, celebrate successes and help services to better respond to needs across four themes: family wellbeing; one community; our voice – listen, strengthen, share; policy, practice and priorities. The conference on 14-15 May 2008 falls within National Families Week and ends on International Day of Families. The Call for Papers closed on 26 October 2007. For more information, visit http://www.nds.org.au/conferences/CYF2008/home.htm or email margaret.verick@nds.org.au. 

+ABF BACKGROUND AND CONTACT.
The Australian Blindness Forum (ABF) was first formed as an unincorporated body in 1992, funded only by its members. On 23 April 2007, the ABF became an Australian public company limited by guarantee, funded by its members and governed by a board of directors. The purpose of the ABF is to operate as a peak body representing the blindness sector for the benefit of people who are blind or vision impaired. The Project Officer (Australian Blindness Forum) is located at the ABF’s registered office, 33 Thesiger Court, Deakin ACT 2600. Contact Margaret Verick, phone 02 6283 3214, email margaret.verick@nds.org.au. 
[Update ends]