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

Contents
+01. More about the ABF.
+02. Federal Election 2007.
+03. National Unified Lifeskills Model (NULM).
+04. People.
+05. Information, Publications.
+06. National Conferences.
+07. World Blind Union.
+08. Other International Items.
+09. National Disability Services (NDS).
ABF Background and Contact.
[Contents ends]

[Update begins]

+01. MORE ABOUT THE ABF.
The first Annual General Meeting of the ABF was held at Vision Australia in Melbourne on 19 November. It is planned that future annual meetings of ABF members will be held in conjunction with BCA’s National Convention.

+02. FEDERAL ELECTION 2007.
The new Labor Government’s disability policies were previously announced in the following documents:
- Disability and Carers http://www.alp.org.au/download/now/071107_disability_and_carers_policy_doc___with_header.pdf 
- An Australian Social Inclusion Agenda http://www.alp.org.au/download/now/071122_social_inclusion.pdf 
- Labor Ends the Blame Game on Disability Funding http://www.alp.org.au/media/1107/msdisc210.php 
- Making Ends Meet – Federal Labor’s Plan for Older Australians, People with Disabilities and Carers http://www.alp.org.au/media/1107/msagediscfcsloo010.php?mode=print 
The following Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries have responsibility for policy areas of interest to the blindness sector:
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations – Julia Gillard 
- Employment Participation – Brendan O’Connor
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs – Jenny Macklin and Bill Shorten (Disability and Children)
- Health and Ageing – Nicola Roxon, Senator Jan McLucas
- Human Services – Senator Joe Ludwig
- Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector– Julia Gillard, Senator Ursula Stevens
The full list of the Labor Government’s Ministry can be read at http://www.alp.org.au/download/now/ministry_list.pdf and the Prime Minister’s announcement at http://www.alp.org.au/media/1107/pcpme290.php.  

+03. NATIONAL UNIFIED LIFESKILLS MODEL (NULM).
A presentation on the NULM was made to the 2007 BCA Convention in October. A two-day Summit, ‘Building Skills for Life’, was held on 8-9 November at Renwick Centre at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children in Sydney. Key representatives who are directly involved in the development of lifeskills for children who are blind or vision impaired attended from around Australia and New Zealand. 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.

+04. PEOPLE.
Jeremy Muir is the new CEO of the Australian Federal of Disability Organisations (AFDO). He moved to Melbourne from Brisbane where, most recently he was the Operations Manager of Disability Services in the organisation ‘Life Without Barriers’. For more information about AFDO, go to http://www.afdo.org.au/taxonomy/term/41. 

+05. INFORMATION, PUBLICATIONS.
- Blind Citizens Australia.
The BCA AGM and National Convention were held in Melbourne in October with the theme ‘Forging Links Beyond Tomorrow’. The Convention’s 125 attendees (with many others listening to the proceedings live from home on their computers) explored topics such as peer support, education, employment, parenting, sexuality and relationships, and self advocacy. For further information and the convention proceedings go to http://www.bca.org.au/convention/conv2007.htm. 
BCA has developed an obstacle notice for use by people who are blind or vision impaired. The notices can be left at the site of obstacles, such as overhanging branches, wares for sale and parked motorbikes, along a path of travel. It is hoped that homeowners, shopkeepers and motorists who find the notices will become more aware of the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired. For more information or to request copies of the obstacle notice, email BCA at bca@bca.org.au or phone 1800 033 660 or 03 9372 6400. 
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission hosted a roundtable with representatives from the Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA), Government, the disability sector, Film Finance and Media Access Australia (MAA). Final agreement was reached on the form of access information to be provided on DVD slicks and broad agreement on the content of an AVSDA Accessibility Framework – go to http://www.avsda.com.au/dvdaccess.asp. A commitment was made to MAA developing a sound business case.
HREOC’s website at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/complaints_information/index.html provides information on how to make a complaint. This can be done in writing by post or email; by downloading a complaint form in PDF or Word; or by completing the online complaint form. For more information or to discuss a complaint, contact the Complaints Infoline at 1300 656 419 or 02 9284 9888, or email complaintsinfo@humanrights.gov.au. 
- Taskforce on Care Costs (TOCC), in its final report ‘The Hidden Face of Care’ just released, found that the current government services and workplace support for working carers is inadequate, leading to reduced level of workforce participation. To read the report go to http://www.tocc.org.au/media/Final_TOCC_2007_Report_The_Hidden_Face_of_Care_16_Nov_2007.pdf. 
- IDEAS (information on disability and education awareness services) has a new website at http://www.ideas.org.au/ which provides ‘a high quality accessible web portal for people with disability, their families, carers and other supporters to search for information that promotes their independence’.
- Bankers’ Guiding Principles: Work has now been completed on the Australian Bankers’ Association Guiding Principles on Accessible Authentication and will be released at the end of November or early December. The Guiding Principles have been developed to provide guidance to financial institutions adopting stronger authentication technologies as part of their banking services while, at the same time, ensuring that all customers, including people with disability and older people, are able to access and manage their finances independently, securely and effectively.
Information about accessibility of banking services can be read at http://www.bankers.asn.au/Default.aspx?ArticleID=916. 
- Blind or Deaf Jurors: NDS has responded to the NSW Attorney-General’s Department invitation to comment on the four recommendations in the NSW Law Reform Commission’s ‘Report 114: Blind or Deaf Jurors’. The full report is available at http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/lrc/ll_lrc.nsf/pages/LRC_r114toc. 
- Sydney Festival 2008: The audio version of the Sydney Festival program – January five to twenty six – is now available from Vision Australia’s Accessible Information Solutions by phoning 02 9334 3333. Copies are available free of charge to anyone with a print disability.

+06. 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/. 
- SPEVI Biennial Conference: The 2009 Biennial Conference of the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment will be from on 6-9 January 2009 in Adelaide. The theme of Challenges and Choices will focus on vision impairment, adaptive technology, early intervention and partnerships. For more information, contact Jessica Bosnakis of All Occasions Management on phone 08 8354 2285 or email Jessica@aomevents.com. 

+07. WORLD BLIND UNION (WBU).
- 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 2008: The WBU Children’s Committee and the Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE), in partnership with UNICEF, ICEVI and Save the Children, will 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. For more information, go to http://www.worldblindunion.org/appdocumentos/ingles/Listening%20to%20the%20Children%20article.doc. 
- WBU Pacific-Oceania Sub-rebgion
The following news on the sub-region has been provided by its Chair, Kevin Murfitt.
Launch of Recycled Equipment Exchange: At the Regional Assembly of the WBU Asia-Pacific Region in China in April this year, Andrew Daly, Executive Director of the Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia (RSB), with the support of Australian delegates, presented a proposal to create a web-based equipment recycling scheme. This proposal was endorsed by the Regional Assembly and it was agreed to conduct a pilot within the Pacific-Oceania subregion. The website (http://www.rsb.org.au/wbu/) has been created and is hosted by RSB to provide a mechanism for recycling surplus equipment between WBU members in the Region. For more information, email adaly@rsb.org.au or kevin.murfitt@visionaustralia.org. 
Louis Braille Bicentenary: The WBU is encouraging celebrations world-wide to commemorate Louis Braille’s bicentenary in January 2009. In Australia, Vision Australia has submitted a proposal for a commemorative stamp to be issued. 
Education For All (EFA) campaign launched by the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) in partnership with the WBU is gaining momentum. The goal in the region is to create a provide access to education with a target of 100% access for all children by the year 2015. The Chair of ICEVI Pacific, Frances Gentle, is leading the implementation of the campaign in the region. It will be highlighted at a forum in Fiji early in 2008.

+08. OTHER INTERNATIONAL ITEMS.
- International Day of Disabled Persons – 3 December was established in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly to promote awareness of disability issues and the abilities of people with disability. It is celebrated worldwide on 3 December each year. The day unites disability organisations, people with disability, businesses, governments and communities in celebrating the achievements of people with disability and aims to promote an understanding of disability issues, and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and well being of people with disability. Celebrations in 2007 will include the inaugural National Disability Awards – finalists will be recognised at a gala awards ceremony in Canberra on 3 December 2007. William Rowland, the President of the World Blind Union, has called on governments, the public and private sectors and civil society to continue and increase their efforts so that people who are blind or partially sighed can participate in and benefit equally from your programs. For more information about the day, go to http://www.idpwd.com.au/. 
- Proposal to eradicate avoidable blindness in Asia-Pacific.
The new Labor Government has promised to undertake a pilot program in the South Pacific and priority countries in South East Asia, establishing at least 10 Vision Centres and at least one Service Centre as well as providing support to the Pacific Eye Institute and training crucial eye and vision personnel. To read the media release, go to http://www.alp.org.au/media/1107/msida070.php. 
- 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) will host its 2008 international conference, ‘Disability, Disadvantage and Development’ in Canberra on 29-30 September. The themes to be explored include social impact (education, access to services, gender); economic impacts (work opportunities); international conventions and other legal instruments and the relationship between disability, disadvantage and poverty. Visit http://www.addc.org.au for updates or email Paul Deany, ADDC Convenor at pdeany@cbmi.org.au or Neva Wendt of Australian Council for International Development at nwendt@acfid.asn.au. 
- Braille 1809-2009 – the writing with 6 dots and its future: Under the sponsorship of UNESCO, World Blind Union, French National Committee for the Social Promotion of Blind and Partially Sighted People, this international conference will be held in Paris from 4-8 January 2009 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. A call for papers has been issued and closes on 31 January 2008. For more information, email ch.coudert@avh.asso.fr or Catherine Munoz-Smith at the WBU office at caterine.munoz-smith@wbuoffice.org.

+09. NATIONAL DISABILITY SERVICES (NDS).
- National Disability Workforce Project: NDS will conduct a two-year national project to establish a clear picture of the workforce capacity challenges the non-government disability sector faces and to trial a range of employee retention strategies with nominated pilot services in every State and Territory. For more information, read NDS News Update of 12 November.
- 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 updates 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]