09 Jul 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:23):
Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here on this
Australia Radio 1190 7 a.m. Adelaide, online at Via radio
via Radio in Adelaide and Darwin through the Community Radio
Plus app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide also through
the Reading Radio Network. Peter Greco on behalf of Phillip Vampire,

(00:43):
saying thanks so much for your company, this program coming
to you from Ghana and come to you very shortly.
We'll catch up with Nigel Herring from Petromax talking about
the B book. It's the brow computer, a brow notetaker
and of your eyebrow, something we haven't spoken about before.
We'll find out a little bit about it, maybe a
bit more about it. We'll then catch up with Britney

(01:05):
Watson who's been overseas playing goalball. How did Britney go?
How did we go? We'll find out shortly. Will they
catch up with Maria McCoo, who's got some great lineup
of guests to speak to us via zoom or via
the telephone through July. Maria will tell us a bit
about them and what they'll be talking about. Then we'll
be joined by Janelle Miller from the Petbarn Foundation, who

(01:29):
are supporting Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, particularly through the month
of July, with some really big fundraising adventures and events
and a chance for you to get involved. So we'll
catch up with Janelle. If you're listening through 1197 here
in Adelaide at 8:00 for your listening pleasure. Lizzy and
Sam are here with Studio One. Just before we find

(01:50):
out what song studio one, the next catch up of
Blind Sisters Australia. The SA branch is coming up on
Saturday the 26th of July, 1230. Their usual time, 83
Melbourne Street is the venue. It's the latest story restaurant
at North Adelaide. Now, if you haven't been to any

(02:10):
of the threats. I picked some wonderful venues to go to.
The company is good, but the venues are really good too.
So one 800 0360 1800036 zero. That's the latest story. Restaurant
on Saturday the 26th of July, 1230. Part of the

(02:30):
SA branch and their monthly catch up. Now, normally the
second week of each month we catch up with Rebecca
Young from Access to Arts. Unfortunately, we haven't been able
to synchronize our clocks and watches to make that happen.
But all being well, we'll catch up with Rebecca next week.
In fact, they will catch up with Rebecca next month.
In the meantime, we'll find out what's on studio one

(02:52):
right now.

S2 (02:53):
What do you do for a living? We ask a
few friends about the challenges they have in finding work,
keeping it, and navigating the workplace.

S3 (03:01):
Join us at 8:00 for studio One. It's always great to.

S1 (03:05):
Talk about new products, or certainly products I've not heard
of before. and the book is such one, and Nigel
Herring is our person to talk about it. Nigel, great
to catch up again. Thanks for your time. Thank you Peter,
great to be here. Tell us about the book. As
I said, I've not really heard about it until someone
alerted me about this a few weeks ago. And you're
the person who's, um, kind of looking after it here

(03:26):
in Australia. Yes, that's the case. Look, um.

S4 (03:30):
The Bible comes from Euro Braille in France. Uh, we've
handled their products for, uh, look around 4 or 5
years now, starting with what was called the B note
Braille displays, which is a either a 20 cell or
a 40 cell braille display. And about two years ago
they introduced the the B book, which is well, when
it was first introduced, the Windows 10 tablet with integrated

(03:54):
32 cells of Braille. And um, we got on the
bandwagon very early. So first production run off of of
that machine. And um, as you can expect, uh, I
always advise people never to go with the first production
run and we discovered some interesting features and the lack
of some others. And I had a very good friend,

(04:14):
Kate Stevens, look at the unit for me as a
much better Braille user than I am, and she made
quite a few suggestions, found quite a few issues that
needed to be resolved. And over the over a couple
of years we we addressed all of those. We replaced
the hardware once we replaced the whole machine, once the
thing got upgraded to Windows 11 along the way. And uh,

(04:34):
after a couple of years, it was quite a solid machine. And, um,
we were very pleased with, uh, with its functionality and, um,
and what it can do.

S1 (04:43):
We'll have to be speaking to Kate in a week
or two to tell us her perspective on it. What's
the kind of look like? Is it 32 cells? I believe.

S4 (04:50):
32 cells. So, um, it's it's not not quite an A4, um,
size device, but along those lines and, um, quite a thin, um,
thin device, only about, uh, 26mm deep and standard braille keyboard,
plus a lot of other keys. It attempts to emulate every. Well,

(05:13):
it doesn't attempt. It does. It emulates every windows key.
So all of your punctuation, all of your function keys,
all of those keys are accessible or repeatable from the
ten keys of Braille input that it has. So what
it does is use 1 to 6 and normal key,
the braille keys seven and eight, which we're all familiar with.

(05:35):
And then the spacebar it splits into two. So it
has a left and a right portion of the spacebar.
And um, with those keys you can emulate every key
press required for windows. It also has a bunch of, uh,
command keys, which are shortcut keys for your common escape
and control shift functions and so forth. And then some

(05:56):
navigation keys for navigating the Braille display or navigating text
in a window on the desktop. So, uh, yeah, it
got quite a handful of kids and your standard routing
keys as well for cursor positioning and so forth. So
there's a little bit of a learning curve with it,
because it's not quite the standard key functionality that we've
grown up with since the 80s, with the convertible, through

(06:18):
the braillenote and focus and those sorts of devices. It
has its own key combination sequences. So there is a
bit of a learning curve there to become proficient with that.
But you know, it's achievable. It depends what you need
to do.

S1 (06:34):
Now it runs with jaws, but you can also use
Nvda with it. In fact I believe it comes with Nvda.

S4 (06:39):
That's correct. It comes with Nvda installed. But you can
put any screen reader that you wish on. It's fully
Windows 11 compatible. So any any software that you can
run on a Windows 11 machine will run on this device.

S1 (06:51):
Now, what about in terms of your if you like,
direct line to Euro browser because you've had a bit
of dealings with them as you touched on. So they've
obviously been very receptive to you and your feedback is,
I guess, without sort of telling tales out of school.
One of the things about some companies is that, you know,
you kind of contact them and say, look, you know,
this probably isn't as good as it could be. Or
could you improve in this area? And sometimes, perhaps their

(07:14):
response to your constructive criticism maybe isn't as positive as
you'd like it to be. And so without telling tales
out of school and no names, no pack drill, but
you know, probably what I'm getting at and probably a
lot of listeners would know what I'm getting at.

S4 (07:27):
Yes, you you put it very nicely and kindly look
in all the product range that, that we handle, I
make sure that the product is suitable for my requirements
in terms of being able to get support for it.
There's nothing worse than, you know, a customer coming back
to you and saying, look, this problem, I've got no
recourse back to the manufacturer. That doesn't. Yeah. Look, we

(07:48):
always determine that we've got a good relationship with the
manufacturer and that they're receptive and they give me the
same support that I want to pass on to my customers. Uh,
and that includes, uh, quite in-depth technical support as well.
We won't put a product on the market here that
we cannot 100% service in house in this country. There's
no point having a device that's got to go offshore

(08:08):
if it needs any servicing or whatever. It's that's a
ridiculous circumstance. So, um, yeah. Uh, I've been exceptionally happy
with the response that I get. I've got direct access
to their technical team, and yes, they've been exceptionally responsive
to everything that we took up with them. And in
most cases, it was addressed. Some things, you know, uh,

(08:29):
down the track we have well, we'll come along. But
in terms of the, um, the actual, uh, functionality of
the device, things that, that, that just made it just
not that comfortable to use, like, uh, what? We thought
it ran too hot, so they fixed that, but didn't
think it ran long enough on battery, so they fixed that.
And so, um. Yeah. Look, it's, uh, as I say,
there was about a two year evolution of this device

(08:51):
to the point where where we were happy with it and, um, and. Yes, look,
we mentioned Kate's usage of it, and she was a
great tester and, uh, gave me some great feedback, and
when we got the final unit after she tested that,
she didn't want to send it back, so I lost it.

S1 (09:05):
Yeah, I guess you know, I'm not I'm not backtracking.
But I guess in the companies that are in the
sort of line of work, if you like, in their defense,
it's a pretty small market. So I guess it's kind
of hard to please all the people all the time,
even though in a sense, you know, worldwide, there's not
that many of them. But, uh, you know, so I
guess that they tried a pretty fine line between, you know,

(09:27):
what's practical and what's, you know, more profitable or at least,
you know, keeps their their head above water.

S4 (09:32):
Oh, look. Absolutely, Peter, it's a very difficult line to tread.
How much are you going to put into development? How
much is, uh, the final product going to cost? What
will the market handle and so forth and so forth. And, uh, yeah,
it's quite a bit of a tightrope to walk that,
that equation. And yes, look, it's not a cheap device,
and it really is designed for somebody who wants the

(09:53):
portability but and the compactness and not having to, you know, look,
you can achieve the same thing with a with a
laptop or a tablet and a Braille display. No argument
against that. Uh, and uh, for some people that's quite
suitable and that meets their purpose. But if you want
a nice, neat package and you're mobile, you know, most
of the time rather than static on a desktop, then, um, look,

(10:16):
this is, uh, this is a very neat and compact
little device with with full windows capability and everything that
goes with that. So, um, yeah, it just does sort, uh,
of course, one of the, one of the issues as
well that we've come across in the last, uh, little
while is that most of the Braille devices on the

(10:37):
market have got fairly aging operating systems.

S1 (10:39):
Yeah, absolutely.

S4 (10:40):
And, um, that's becoming a problem, particularly in some applications
where if security is an issue and so forth, and
not being able to keep things up to date in
terms of, you know, security software and so forth. And
that's where this comes into its own in that respect, that, um, uh,
you know, you're not connecting a Braille display with its
own in-house, uh, um, uh, firmware and operating system. You've

(11:04):
got a windows device that's, uh, that's looking like all
the other equipment in an office.

S1 (11:08):
Because the proverbial double edged sword is that the technology
is moving so quickly. And if these devices are stuck on,
you know, version 1.1 type of thing, uh, by the
time it gets to 5 or 6. As you say,
the apps that you might be likely to use no
longer work with that updated version or indeed, uh, you know,
the security risk is is huge. And gosh, we've heard

(11:30):
about that over the last few weeks. Enough, haven't we really,
in terms of, uh.

S4 (11:34):
Absolutely.

S1 (11:35):
Infiltrations.

S4 (11:36):
Yep, yep. Yeah. Look and look, there's a valid argument
there in in the case of, you know, using standard
laptops in that, you know, as technology improves, you can
a couple of years, you can update the laptop and
so forth. And that's certainly a valid approach. This is
a fairly hefty economic commitment. But, you know, uh, as

(11:58):
I say, the early production runs were Windows 10, uh,
when they introduced Windows 11. Then they also introduced an
update path for, uh, for people who had the earlier device. So, um, uh,
I'm fairly confident that whatever we, uh, whatever we face
down six months, 12 months time, if there's a necessary
update upgrade that will be able to be implemented in
the device as well.

S1 (12:19):
Yeah, it's got a Braille display. Obviously, that's one of
the features. Uh, I guess with your browser history, with
other devices, you'd be pretty confident that the Braille display
is pretty good as well.

S4 (12:28):
Yes. The braille display is pretty solid. We've had there
be note braille display on the market for some time. Look,
it uses standard cells that we're all familiar with. Same
as the brownout. Same as his device. And, um, yeah,
they've been quite solid. Uh, we haven't had any, uh,
any display or pin issues, um, to date, which is

(12:48):
very good.

S1 (12:49):
What about in terms of, uh, the pricing of it?
Is it too early to talk about that? Sort of.
On a more broad scale, I guess. You know, people
are hearing this and thinking, oh, I wonder, can you
give us a ballpark figure or any sort of situation
being resolved in that area?

S4 (13:05):
Look, the, uh, in the era era of, uh, trumponomics, um, pricing, it's, um,
it's a little bit, a little bit tricky to tie down, unfortunately. Uh,
although we've maintained quite well against the, uh, the US dollar,
the Australian dollar has not done well against the, the
pound or the euro. So we've seen a bit of
a drop in the exchange there. So the current price

(13:26):
on this device is uh $10,500. So yes, it is,
it is quite an expensive device. But, um, you know,
we're looking at what I would guess is the pinnacle
of a Braille device that's currently available. So, uh, unfortunately,
it comes with that price tag.

S1 (13:40):
Sure. And I guess for people who are interested, there's
a fair bit of information around, I'm thinking in terms
of if they're on the NDIS or would like to,
you know, pass their planner or their support manager, etc..
In terms of, you know, getting an assessment as to
whether it might do the trick for them, there's a
fair bit of information around that. Um, you know, those
boffins making decisions as to whether that money is going

(14:03):
to be worthwhile? You know, can sort of, uh, deduce
the decision from the information that's available.

S4 (14:08):
Yes. Look, uh, that's certainly something that we would hope
for that, um, uh, you know, somebody would want a
real name for this device that they can make an
application through, um, through NDIS. We've also got, um, somebody
investigating like, uh, workplace modifications, uh, circumstance at the moment. So, uh, yes. Look,
I think, I think that's really going to be the

(14:29):
pathway to people acquiring this device. I'm sure, like me,
not everyone's got a got a nice $10,000 just sitting
in their pocket waiting to spend.

S1 (14:37):
No. Well, I mean, if you know this week's lotto numbers.
So you're going to share them with me, I'll be
happy to go halves with you.

S4 (14:44):
I haven't found that as successful. Uh.

S1 (14:48):
Come on, I know you. Obviously, you know, out of France.
A Euro bra, but there'd be probably a bit more
popular in Europe. I mean, I guess Australia's been dominated
by a couple of other companies. So, um, maybe, you know,
the the sort of home ground advantage of Europe that
there'd be a lot more use of a product like this.

S4 (15:05):
Look. Absolutely, Peter. And look, there's a a far greater
selection of devices available in Europe than we have here. Correct.
We've been dominated for quite some time by 2 or
3 brands. And look, historically, uh, certainly when we look
at humanware, at the pulse data and Wormald, it's been
an Australian association with that company for uh oh look

(15:26):
going on 50 years nearly. Mhm. And so um, and,
and that's where I have my roots as well. Of course. So, uh,
I got nothing bad to say about that. Uh, but uh,
it does mean that we, that we, we don't have
quite as much choice as is perhaps available in the
US or in Europe. And, um, you know, maybe sometimes

(15:46):
it's good to look a look a little bit further
afield and just see what else is available.

S1 (15:50):
Yeah. Well, if you maybe like your flavor European, maybe
this might be something to be thinking about. I guess
that's another way of looking at. Nigel, what do you
want to do from here? I mean, we'll have a
chat to Kate in a couple of weeks, so I
guess people can maybe hang out for that interview and
get Kate's sort of, uh, you know, brief impressions of
what it's like. I mean, we don't expect people to
make a decision on a ten minute interview, but if

(16:11):
people want to find out more, are you happy for
them to get in touch with you and say, look,
I've heard about this, you know, but can I ask
you a few more questions? Or can you point me
in a direction where I can get some more information?

S4 (16:22):
More than happy for that, Peter. In fact, uh, that's
the whole point of my existence. So, uh, look, uh,
we can be contacted through, uh, through the website. There's
a contact form on our website. Com.au or our phone number. Uh, 024735735.
And I'm just more than happy to, um, uh, have

(16:43):
a chat to anybody who's got more interest in that.
And I know that Kate is also happy to talk
to people as well. Um, and, uh, I think that's
a far better, uh, evaluation than mine. I mean, look,
I look at it, I look at a product from
its technical aspects and its serviceability and functionality. But in
terms of usability, I look, I can type Braille, I

(17:04):
can read Braille, but I'm not a Braille user per se.
So for me to evaluate a product is is quite
laborious and superficial from that perspective because I'm not relying
on it. So it's a much better idea to have
somebody who's, uh, foremost medium is working in Braille and, uh,
and have their evaluation of it. So I'm quite indebted

(17:24):
to Kate for her commitment to, um, to trialling this
and working through it with us.

S1 (17:28):
Nigel, thanks for spending a bit of time with us.
We wish you well, and I look forward to the
next time we catch up.

S4 (17:33):
Thank you so much, Peter. It's been great.

S1 (17:34):
It's enjoyed hearing that he heads up electronics. We've been
around for quite some time. He's got a very young voice,
but he's been around a long time. If you'd like
to find out more, you've got to those details and
if you've missed them, we'll put all those details up.
Phone number and also the website up with our show notes.
Or a little while ago we caught up with Britney Watson,

(17:54):
who burst onto the gold ball scene and was out
to make her first impression for the Australian Belles. Let's
find out how that went and indeed how the team
is going. Britney's back with us. Britney, great to catch
up again. Thank you for your time.

S5 (18:07):
Yeah. Thank you for catching up again. Um, loving this
and telling all the stories. Um, so can't wait.

S1 (18:14):
All right. How'd it go? So, uh, last time we
spoke to you, you were about to jet off overseas
for you. It was your first international trip for the Belles,
wasn't it?

S5 (18:22):
Uh, yes. It was my very first, um, international trip.
We played under the club name South Australia. Um, as
it was a club tournament. Um, in Finland, we won
a couple games. Um, we were up against some serious
competition because it was a club competition, like, I like,
I think one of the best throwers in the women's

(18:43):
competition from Israel. She was playing in the British team,
so it was a tough competition. But we did come,
I believe, uh, seventh, um, out of the ten. So, um,
we did really, really well. It was a development team
as well. So we sent aid across, um, and usually
we only send six. So, um, everybody got like, um,

(19:05):
some pretty fair, uh, court time. Um, and I think
even with sending a developmental team, um, we performed really,
really well.

S1 (19:13):
So that was the purpose of this rather than kind of, uh,
country against country, it was more like club against club
and trying to kind of improve the standard of the
individuals as much as anything.

S5 (19:21):
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, even the other teams. Um, so, uh,
Brazil's one of, you know, the top ranked team. Um,
they sent two different clubs. So you got, um, you know,
kind of like their B side and their C side
coming across as well. Um, just to experience that international competition.
So it was actually really, really good for all the

(19:42):
countries involved.

S1 (19:43):
Now, he hadn't been playing very long. The last time
we spoke to you, you said you kind of burst
onto the scene. So what was it like? Can you
tell the difference between kind of playing at home and
maybe in club and national events and then going to
something like this on kind of on the international stage,
albeit not necessarily playing for your country.

S5 (19:58):
Definitely. Um, I guess, uh, mentally, um, it is a
little bit more taxing, um, as you put a lot
more pressure on yourself, um, which can be good and
which can be bad. Um, the bad side, you know,
when you lose you, you know, you feel like you're
letting more than just yourself down. But when you have
a success, um, that is like, you just get ecstatic. Um,

(20:23):
it's pretty amazing feeling when those winds come through. Competition wise,
I didn't find it that much different. Um, especially if
you kind of train, um, and playing at that top level, um,
in Australia at camp. so I thought that was really
good to experience that. Oh, I can keep up like
I'm not. Yeah, I'm not too green. Um, I actually can, um,

(20:46):
compete in, you know, that international level. Um, but I
definitely believe. Yeah, it's that mental stress that can come
on when you know, you have your defeats and when
you have your wins.

S1 (20:57):
It's a bit like anything in life, Britney kind of.
You feel like you belong at that level. Like, this
isn't sort of, you know, beyond me. If I'm not
quite here, I know I can get here. That's kind
of the impression that you get from something like this.
I get a lot of confidence from it.

S5 (21:11):
Yeah. No, definitely. Um, I think my big win for
the competition was I did score my first international goal. Um, yes. Um, um, if, um,
anybody does go back and watch it, um, you can
hear my excitement when it happened. Um, I was not
expecting to be able to achieve, um, that I kind of,

(21:33):
you know, my mindset was like, just block the ball.
Just block the ball. Like everything else is, you know,
all good. Like having that goal during gameplay, which is
tough as it is because it was against Finland who
came third in the overall competition. Um, you know, it
does give you that confidence boost of. Yes, I do
belong here. I can get here, you know, just got

(21:56):
to keep working.

S1 (21:56):
Yeah. Because, I mean, particularly with goalball, I guess a
lot of sports these days, a lot of emphasis is
on defense, isn't it? Because it's all well and good
to do the flashy stuff and score. But by the
same token, you've got to make sure your defence is
intact so, you know, you get scored as least as
possible against you.

S5 (22:11):
Yeah, definitely. Um, I think you you spoke with Dan. Um, who?
Part of the storm. And, you know, that's how they
beat Brazil. The number one is they defended like they've
never defended before. Uh, Brazil got frustrated, started doing the
fancy stuff, and then, um, kept getting penalties. Um, so, uh,

(22:31):
defense definitely wins games in goalball.

S1 (22:34):
Brittany, what about for you and the team overall? I'm
assuming you've got a coach and sort of people there
watching you, kind of giving you feedback. You know, this
is good. Maybe you can improve in this area. Did
that kind of thing happen and sort of stuff, you know,
homework if you like stuff to take away and work
on for going forward.

S5 (22:51):
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, so we have our head coach
as well as our assistant coach. You know, they broke down, uh,
spoke to us. Uh, so there was myself, um, and
Claire Whelan. I'm from Victoria. We came over of the eighth,
so we left after Finland and didn't stay on. So
we got our conversation. We got told, you know what
we do and not need to do. I got to

(23:13):
get quicker at getting up, and I'm like. It's a
long way down though. But what? You're down. I don't
really want to get back up half the time, but, um,
it's nice to get that feedback and, you know, it
is a very good confidence boost. Um, especially with the
other ladies in the team as well, when they're giving
you really good advice and you know, No it's not.
You need to start from scratch. It's like, you know,

(23:34):
you just need to build on the good foundation you have.

S1 (23:37):
Is that kind of the recovery to get up quickly
off the ground? That's kind of a bit of kind
of recovery and sort of, uh, fitness as well.

S5 (23:44):
Uh, definitely fitness. Um, you know, I like to lift
weights and just, you know, get strong. But you got
to also have a lot of cardio. Um, an hour
of burpees is a lot. Um, so, um, it's, you know,
got a home gym now and, you know, always exercising.
So it is a lot of fitness that has to
come in with it because you can't just kind of

(24:07):
give up halfway through the game and be like, ah,
someone else go get the ball for me.

S1 (24:11):
Yeah. Now, as you said, you came home. But as
the Australian team or some players from Australia recently been
in New Zealand.

S5 (24:18):
Uh, yes. So Victorian Goalball Association for the last I believe,
three years we've been sending a Victorian based team to
the New Zealand Nationals. So we did send a team
and New South Wales for the first time. They sent
a team across to the Intermediate division as well.

S1 (24:36):
How did that go?

S5 (24:37):
Really good. So we are both Australian teams did come
out on top. Um, the New Zealand, um, they are
the New Zealand nationals, so we can't go home with
a trophy. But we do get to come home with
bragging rights. So, um, it was really good, uh, for
Victoria to win all but one game, um, that they

(24:58):
lost to. So really good. And New Zealand like it
when we go there. Um, just because it, you know,
keeps them in check, um, gives them things to work
on themselves. They don't have as big of a goal
ball scene as we do here in Australia.

S1 (25:13):
Well, I guess maybe a smaller population overall as well.
So less players to choose from in a sense.

S5 (25:18):
Yeah, definitely. They do have um, they're sometimes they're a
bit short numbers. So they do have a team called
Old Spice where I believe all of them are over
the age of 60.

S1 (25:30):
That play?

S5 (25:31):
Yeah.

S1 (25:32):
That's all right. Gives you hope for the future.

S5 (25:34):
Well, yeah. Yeah. I've always like I want to retire
at 40, but then they keep going. So I guess
we got to keep going as well.

S1 (25:40):
Yeah. Old Spice I like that. That's very good. I
thought they might have all warned that aftershave, but anyway,
we probably won't go there.

S5 (25:47):
Um.

S1 (25:48):
So what about from here then? Because of course, uh,
you know, goalball has nationals and those sort of events
to kind of keep everyone on their toes. What's what
sort of next major event for goalball now.

S5 (25:59):
So next, um, event, a bit of a smaller event.
We got the New South Wales state titles. So there's um,
kind of all the national players do go across, uh,
to New South Wales. Um, there's four of us in Victoria, um,
going up as well, um, to compete, uh, that way
we just, you know, get to play with each other because, again,

(26:19):
Australia is huge and people in Europe don't quite understand,
you know, how large Australia is. Um, so it's good to,
for all of us, you know, to compete together. But
we do have in the start of October, the Australian
Global nationals happening again in New South Wales. So that's
probably our next big major event, Australia based and in

(26:44):
I believe end of October there is the the Asia
Pacific uh games. Um which if successful we then qualify
for the World Games which then go to our sanctioned points.

S1 (26:57):
Okay. Were the games in October.

S5 (26:59):
There in Pakistan? Um, yeah. Yeah. So I do know
that we are talking with Paralympics Australia. Uh, just, just regarding, um,
safety concerns and issues just because of the region in
which it's being held, but it's a really good competition, um,
for Australia to hopefully get some points and make our

(27:20):
way to the worlds in the next couple of year.

S1 (27:23):
Yeah. The world is certainly a little bit of a
crazy place at the moment. I guess everywhere is dangerous
or nowhere is safe. I'm not sure which way you'd
like to look at it, but that's great. And from
a personal point of view, so you've taken a lot away.
You're pleased with your own performance and a lot of
things to work on. I guess that's kind of the
take home message for you.

S5 (27:39):
Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's given me a lot to work on,
but also giving me a bit more specific things to
work on. Um, it is, you know, there's only three
players on court, but, you know, there's three players have,
you know, individual things that they bring to the team.
So I've come away with knowing exactly what I want
to do and how to get there. So I got
a lot of, um, as you said, homework to do.

S1 (28:02):
All right. Well, you're just the person to do it, Britney. Now, uh,
for those people you talked about the fact that if
people want to catch your, uh, first goal that you
scored and your reaction, where do we go to to
catch up with some of the results? Where abouts do
we go? What are we looking for?

S5 (28:16):
Uh, yes. So, um, Goalball Australia on Facebook, um, they
have shared all of the pages. So it's the Finland
World Club competition. You'll be able to find it on
Goalball Australia's Facebook page, and they'll have all the links
to the YouTube live streams.

S1 (28:33):
That's a great thing, isn't it? I mean, you know,
sort of, uh, social media cops, a lot of flak
from time to time for different things. That's understandable, but
it's a great way to spread the message about a
sport like goalball or any sport or any activity for
that matter. You know, you can get some really good
resources and people can find out a lot about, you know,
opportunities that are out there. And maybe, uh, you know,
a new person might come along and think, I can

(28:55):
take on that sport as well.

S5 (28:56):
Yeah, definitely. And the bonus of it being in, um,
in Europe, in Finland is they take goalball very, very seriously.
So all the live stream is commentated, um, and audio
described as well. So very, very easy to follow, very accessible.

S1 (29:10):
Now who is your match against or who is your
goal against Courtney just so we can find it quickly?

S5 (29:15):
It was against Finland, so it was day three.

S1 (29:18):
Okay, what time of the day can you tell us
that much to.

S5 (29:22):
Oh, I couldn't tell you in Australian time. Just got
to watch all the game.

S1 (29:27):
Oh that's right. Yeah. And, uh. Well, the game's not. Well,
not that long, uh, time wise in a sense, but, uh,
you know, a few time outs, etc., which make the
game go a little bit longer, but it's all informative
and entertaining.

S5 (29:38):
Yeah, it definitely is definitely worth a watch.

S1 (29:40):
All right. We'll put that information up with our show
notes and we'll keep in touch because obviously, you know,
next couple of months in October isn't that far away.
Very important time for goalball in Australia to go onwards
and upwards with of course Brisbane in 2032. But we'd
like to do well before then.

S5 (29:55):
Yes. Um, let's bring on LA and, um, 2028.

S1 (29:58):
Terrific. Brittany, always great to catch up. Thanks for your time.

S5 (30:00):
All right. Thanks, Pete.

S1 (30:01):
It's Brittany Watson. They're one of the members of the
Australian team or goalball team that went away to the
Finland club championships and also a team visiting New Zealand
promoting the game there. So goalball in very good hands
and obviously going from strength to strength. Well, Australia got
some wonderful events during July. The chance for you to attend.

(30:22):
Let's find out a bit more about it and speak
to Maria McCoy from Australia. Maria, great to meet you.
Thank you for your time.

S6 (30:29):
Thanks, Peter. Thanks for having me.

S1 (30:30):
Now we've missed the first one this week, but you've
got three more coming up. Do you just want to
do a quick backtrack and tell about the first speaker
that we've missed out on? But I'm sure those that
caught it really enjoyed it.

S6 (30:42):
Yes. So we've got um, the winter webinar series. We've
got a program, um, webinars every Monday for four weeks
in July. And on the 7th of July, we had, um,
a great speaker, Joanne Cabo. And she's a fantastic advocate
for people with low vision and is really, really enthusiastic
and has got a lot of projects going on. And

(31:04):
it was a fabulous webinar. Lots of questions, lots of tips.
I think she really gave everyone a boost and a
and a bit of a push to, to advocate for
self as well as for us as a community. So
we've got three more similar webinars with, um, some great
speakers next Monday, the 14th of July at 9 a.m.

(31:26):
eastern time, we have Caroline Casey, international businesswoman. She's with Biovision,
and she's got lots and lots of corporate experience. Uh,
and is works with lots of multinationals and international companies.
And we're really looking forward to having hearing her speak
and asking her some questions as well. These are all

(31:47):
through zoom. So it's a web. The webinars are through zoom.
So Caroline is on the 14th at 9 a.m. eastern time.
On the 21st we have, uh, Professor David Walker. Uh,
he's Melbourne based professor and academic who's written quite a
few books. So another interesting speaker, uh, David, is has
low vision as well. And on the 28th, we have

(32:09):
Aaron Vernon, who is a gaming developer. Um, online apps,
lots of, you know, with high level technology. And Aaron
is joining us as well on the 28th. And that's
at 2 p.m. I sorry, I should have mentioned that
David is also at 2 p.m. on the Monday the 21st.

S1 (32:26):
Okay, so Caroline is the early bird on the 9:00,
but the other two at 2 p.m.. That's Eastern Standard Time. Okay, Maria,
obviously not by accident. It's a great wide range of, uh,
interests that your speakers are coming from. So kind of
something for everyone.

S6 (32:42):
Yeah, we try and, um, find speakers that are people
with the lived experience, people who are blind or have
low vision, or people who are good role models for
for the blind and low vision community, or the community
in general, doesn't specifically need to be for the blindness community,
but we do try and find speakers, both locally here
from Australia, as well as international people who are really

(33:04):
great role models. And Jordan is our, um, the guest
speaker person who who finds all the great speakers for
us each time in January and July when we offer
the webinar series.

S1 (33:15):
Air Jordan from Finland gospel I think isn't he?

S6 (33:18):
He is. He is.

S1 (33:20):
He's he's done a great job for a long time.
I've spoken to Jordan in the past, and he's certainly
a very passionate advocate for all things that Vision Australia
do and good for all things that people are blind
or low vision do. So for those that might be
aware of Maria, how did the kind of webinars work?
So you have to register?

S6 (33:36):
You do. Yes. People can register themselves. It's very simple,
straightforward process. You can go to visit the Vision Australia
website and there under the events page, and you can
register for any of the remaining three or all three
of the webinars that are coming up from next week,
the 14th or else. If people prefer not to do

(33:57):
it that way, they can contact Vision Australia's tele link program,
and I'll give the phone number and the email address
and we can register on your behalf. Alright, we'll give
people a chance. That's right. That all that means is
that you, when we register you, you'll receive the unique
link for the zoom webinar and you can click the
link or you can dial in by phone. Whatever works

(34:17):
for people.

S1 (34:18):
That's one of the great things about zoom is the
fact that if you either haven't got the technical expertise
or choose to just do it via a conventional telephone,
you can do it as well. We'll give people a
chance to grab something to either record or take down
the contact details, and we'll repeat it, or we'll say
it before we wrap up. What about in terms of

(34:38):
who can come along? As I said, it's quite a
wide range of different topics. What about who can kind
of come along?

S6 (34:44):
Our webinar series and the tele link program is for
people aged 18 and over who are clients of Vision Australia.
So the communication that went out went to a lot
of people who are clients of Vision Australia in the
last few weeks. So that's our target audience and that's
that's who the programs for.

S1 (35:01):
Got one of those emails myself, Maria. So obviously the
system is working well because I certainly got mine, which
is great. And in terms of, um, registering, once you
do that you get the link and you just tune
in on the day.

S6 (35:13):
Yes. So once if you register on. On by on
your own, you'll get the, the confirmation and the and
the zoom link sent to you to your email that
you've nominated. If we do that for you the same,
you'll get your a unique link for the specific speaker.
And then on the day you also get a reminder
in the morning and an hour before the webinar. So

(35:34):
you get lots of reminders. And it's the same link
that you get because it's created unique specifically for you.

S1 (35:40):
Well, it's very easy to kind of. Oh yes, I
remember that. And then invariably, uh, you know, 15 minutes
before you're supposed to be there, you kind of forget
or something else comes up. So those reminders are very,
very important.

S6 (35:52):
That's right.

S1 (35:52):
Yeah, yeah. Maria, tell us a bit about, uh, the
support that goes on in this area. I mean, peer
support is such an important thing. I guess the longer
we live, the more we hear about it, the more
we realize how important it is.

S6 (36:04):
That's right. Peter, um, Telelink is, uh, Vision Australia's longest
serving social and interest based program and peer support included
in that. We're celebrating 45 years this year of the program.
It commenced in 1980, in what was known what was
then known as the Association for the blind here in
Victoria and expanded nationally in 2011. And we've grown, you know,

(36:28):
progressively since then. We're a national program. As I mentioned earlier,
we're for people aged 18 and over, and we offer
different topics of interest for social support, and we offer
some different language groups for people who speak a language
other than English, who are also people with, who are
blind to have low vision, and they want to connect
with somebody that speaks their language and understands them. Our

(36:51):
program is facilitated by volunteers who are trained before they
commence on a group. Um, and we offer groups through
teleconference as well as online with zoom.

S1 (37:01):
I was going to make the point that the people
that are sort of heading up these groups, I mean,
invariably they're people with that lived experience, aren't they? And
obviously they've come through the system if you like and
are trained up in this area. But that's a very
important thing as well. They can, you know, when they
when they speak, like you can listen and know that
they're speaking from personal experience.

S6 (37:21):
Yes. So when we have a volunteer who is a
person with blindness or low vision that they have that
lived experience, and then that way they can um, it
adds a different and a more personalized and empathetic element
to the groups that they facilitate. But having said that,
volunteers who are sighted, they contribute so much to the
program that everyone does.

S1 (37:40):
Of course, I've often said, you know, obviously people like
occupational therapists and other therapists do a tremendous amount of
work and a tremendous amount of good work. But when
you do hear from someone who has been through a
similar sort of thing, and there's a sort of a
note of resonance struck that can really be a very,
very powerful thing. And you think, oh yeah, I they
get it. So that's good. They get it. They, they

(38:01):
know what I'm going through. So that's a, a great
thing to be uh, sort of associated with.

S6 (38:06):
That's right. And we get a lot of self-referral people
who here join a webinar, for example, and they want
to find out what other programs are on on a
regular basis, because Telelink is is a regular reoccurring program.
So word of mouth is the most powerful way to
bring in new people to the program and promote the program.

S1 (38:24):
Cool and progressive idea. It was back in 1980, Maria
a long time ago, but very.

S6 (38:29):
Ahead of its.

S1 (38:30):
Time. That was before mobile phones, before, uh, you know,
linking up on zoom and stuff like that.

S6 (38:35):
It was it was it was the concept of bringing
people together through the simple telephone. Yeah. Uh, and and
relieving that isolation, particularly people in regional and remote areas
who are, you know, with vision loss, um, and weren't
able to get to a Vision Australia or whatever was
their equivalent for them in regional Victoria at the time.

(38:56):
And it was connecting up people in their communities.

S1 (38:59):
So it's such a great point to make because I mean, often, again,
on this program, we talk about the fact that Australia
can be a little bit city centric and a lot
of services, a lot of things that go on are
in the capital cities, which is great for those that
live there. But there are a lot of people who
don't live in those areas or who choose not to
live in those areas who might be blind or have

(39:20):
low vision. So having that access to albeit, um, you know,
virtually or remotely can still be a very, very powerful thing.

S6 (39:27):
That's right.

S1 (39:28):
Terrific. So just give us those dates again. So pretty much, uh,
your Monday through, uh, July have been, uh, booked in.
If you, if you were a loose end before today,
you you can now we're booking these next three Mondays
and the link at Vision Australia. Got some some great webinars.
Just give us those dates and the speakers and their topic.
And then we can say well how do we find

(39:50):
out more or how can we register or get some
assistance registering.

S6 (39:53):
Sure. Um, next Monday, the 14th of July, 9 a.m.
eastern time, we have Caroline Casey on the 21st of July,
the Monday we at 2 p.m. with Professor David Walker
and the 28th of July at 2 p.m., we have
gaming developer Aaron Vernon and people can register through the

(40:16):
Vision Australia website under the events page. Uh, the Winter
webinar series. Or they can contact Vision Australia's tele link
program direct and we have A18 hundred number which is 1800 458 555,
or people can email us direct at telelink info at

(40:36):
Vision Australia. Org.

S1 (40:38):
Alright, so the 14th, it's uh, a businesswoman, so I
guess there's some good ideas there, I think. Bit of
an adventure as well from what I read. So that
should be pretty interesting. David Walker, uh, someone who's written books. So, uh,
and living with low vision. So that's a great thing.
And and then. Yeah. And then Aaron, who were into
gaming and, you know, gaming is something that is very,
very popular. So maybe if your kids or grandkids are

(41:01):
into gaming, you can maybe find out a bit more
about it and maybe join in, maybe even beat them.
Dare I say it? That's right. Just give us those
details again. So the phone number and the email address,
and we'll put that up with our show notes as well,
so people can go to our show notes and get
it from there as well.

S6 (41:17):
So the Vision Australia tele links program direct number one
800 458, 555 or the email is tele link info.
That's one word at Vision Australia. Org.

S1 (41:31):
Terrific. Maria. Sounds like there's going to be three more
fantastic events. That's like people that avail themselves to it
and just shout out a big shout out to Jordan Ashby.
He does some great work and he does great, uh,
of Jordan to have lined up these people, because I
know doing programs like this, it's not always easy to
get people on site as far as having a talk
to you guys, they're all obviously very, very busy. So

(41:52):
to be able to track them down and line them up.
But congratulations Jordan on that. Great work. That's right. And
for you too Maria.

S6 (41:58):
Thank you.

S1 (41:58):
We'll catch up again in the future, I'm sure.

S6 (42:01):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (42:02):
It's Maria marku. They're from Australia. Those events coming up.
And as I said, if you miss them, go to
our show notes and we'll have them there for you.
And also giving you the details for the phone. Number
one 804 585. What's a really big and important month
for seeing Eye Dogs Australia and indeed the foundation, as we, uh,

(42:25):
try and raise a few funds to raise a few
more seeing eye dogs. Let's chat about it with the
CEO for the Pet Barn Foundation, Janelle Miller. Great to
meet you. Thank you for your time.

S7 (42:36):
Thanks for having me, Peter.

S1 (42:37):
This is an important month, isn't it? So important time.
But I guess it's a very busy time in terms of, uh,
trying to raise the profile and raise funds.

S7 (42:45):
Yeah, absolutely. July is our annual Pet Barn foundation seeing
eye dog appeal. We've been running it for the last
12 years now, and very proudly together with Vision Australia.
We've faced very close to $9 million, which is funded.
I know it's great and it's funded almost $200, which
we're hoping to crack that mark this year.

S1 (43:07):
Terrific. To $9 million. I mean, you know, without being silly,
that's a lot of money in anyone's language. So, uh,
you know, $9 million in 12 years. That's, uh, something
to really be very proud of.

S7 (43:17):
Yeah, we are really proud of it. It's the impact
that we can make for the blind and low vision
community that we're most proud of. We can really see
the hard work that goes into training these dogs, and
the difference that it makes in people's lives.

S1 (43:29):
Now, uh, you're kind of, uh, going for over 1,000,000
in 1 year this year, aren't you? You're aiming at, uh, 1.1.

S7 (43:36):
We are. That's right. So this year, our target is
$1.1 million. And that'll fund, with some luck, over 22
seeing eye dogs, which, you know, that's that's a lot
of dogs. It's a lot of people that could have
one of those amazingly trained companions by their side.

S1 (43:54):
22 as you say that. that's, uh, you know, 50
000 each year, that it works out to exactly 1.1 million.
A quick math on the run, you know, which is
always dangerous. So, uh, well done on that. So, um,
in terms of, um, the work that they do or
the sort of benefits that they bring to people's independence
and quality of life. I mean, you know, we talk
about 50,000 for each dog, but you probably can't really

(44:16):
put a price on it when you look at it
from a quality of life or independence point of view.

S7 (44:20):
No. That's right. And I think what I love about
this appeal more than anything is that I've met a
lot of Vision Australia clients that do have a seeing
eye dog and the freedom of life that they have
to live more independently to navigate through public spaces to achieve,
you know, the fullest life that they can live is

(44:43):
coupled up with a dog. You know, for those of
us that are that pet lovers, having a dog by
your side 24 over seven, but a dog as well
trained as a seeing eye dog is, you know, we
use the word life changing, but I truly believe it is.

S1 (44:57):
The great point you make about being trained, because I
guess that's what a lot of the sort of effort
goes into, both financially and physical in terms of, uh, well,
nearly two years of work before, um, from sort of
zero to, uh, the Seeing Eye dog and the client
being put together.

S7 (45:13):
Yeah. That's right. Well, they start training these beautiful puppies
really early, around eight weeks of age. And that's where
the puppies learn basic socialization skills. And they are obviously
supported by volunteer carers for the puppy development trainers. But,
you know, two years of specialized training before they're matched
up with their client is, you know, really remarkable. And

(45:34):
they learn over 40 different commands. So they're put to
hard work and they're really up for the job.

S1 (45:40):
Okay. That's interesting. That isn't at 40 commands. I mean,
that's I don't think I know that many on my computer. So, uh,
obviously dogs are much smarter than I'll ever be. But
on a serious note, of course, the clients that, vision
Australia and the get to seeing eye dogs are or
they get them. They're based all over the country as
well aren't they.

S7 (45:59):
Yeah that's right. This is a national appeal and the
vision Australia seeing eye dogs do help clients nationally.

S1 (46:05):
Which is a great thing because you know, often, you know,
people in the sort of more rural or remote areas. Yeah.
Get forgotten. But they live out in those areas. And
if they choose to live out there, either for family
and friends reasons or just because that's the lifestyle they choose,
then they still get the the wonderful benefits of having the,
the the seeing eye dog.

S7 (46:25):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, it's your vision. Australia estimates there are
over 453,000 people in Australia who are blind or have
low vision, and that number is projected to grow by
about 25% by 2030. So, you know, that's all over
the country. And so we need to make sure that,
as you said, the blind and low vision community are supported.

(46:48):
And that's why the Petbarn Foundation appeal is national.

S1 (46:51):
And that a growing number. I guess it's due to
all sorts of reasons. I mean, you know, sadly, in
a sense, aging can impact upon your vision loss. And
I guess just, you know, different things that are happening
as far as the community goes and individuals goes, you know,
type two diabetes, uh, all that sort of stuff. That
all can be related to the fact that the, the

(47:11):
number of people who might be blind or have low
vision is increasing at a quite a rapid rate.

S7 (47:16):
Yeah. That's right. You know, we've got medicine, you know,
that's it's developing better and better. And out of that
we live a longer life. But out of that as well,
some of those, as you've mentioned, type two diabetes and
aging population, that all adds up to, um, those statistics.

S1 (47:33):
They talked about how much you love what you do
and how much the foundation do. Working with Vision Australia,
you'll recognize an award. Uh, a couple or so years ago,
I was.

S7 (47:42):
That's right. You dug deep there. Yeah, I was recognized,
which I was very grateful for. Very humbled by, you know,
I actually I say a lot that working with Vision
Australia is one of my favorite appeals of the year.
And just because I absolutely, wholeheartedly believe that Vision Australia
and Seeing Eye Dogs is one of the best charities

(48:04):
in the country that deserve all the support they can get.
Just the difference they make in people's lives with the
dogs is, um, really is something close to my heart.

S1 (48:14):
Well, it certainly sounds like it. So what are some
of the things that you're doing? I know that there's, um,
you know, kind of a, a literally a team of
people that are helping as far as this particular campaign goes.

S7 (48:23):
Yeah. That's right. Well, this campaign we've actually just, um,
you know, as we've been going in the last 12 years,
it's been incredible, actually, we've we've got some sporting stars
on board as the campaign and the appeal continues to grow,
we've we're getting more profile and awareness around the appeal.
And so we've got for those of you who like NRL,

(48:44):
we've got the Cronulla Sharks that are on board. Those
of you who like soccer, we've got Melbourne Victory. We've
also got Collingwood Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell and former Yeah
Diamonds captain Caitlin Bassett who are joining us to really
just talk about, you know, the the comparison between high
quality athletes and the training that goes into these dogs and,

(49:07):
and what it takes to be the very best at
your game.

S1 (49:09):
That's an interesting sort of comparison, isn't it? Because I mean,
as you say, you know, these athletes as far as the, the,
the human athletes obviously trained really hard to get to
where they want to get to. But the, the, the
dogs work particularly hard. And I guess, you know, without
being unkind to our sporting friends that there's a bit
of a cerebral work that goes into the dogs as well.
As you touched on earlier with the 40 commands.

S7 (49:31):
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think, you know, to be the
best at what you do, it takes consistency and training. And,
you know, I think as you said, there is a
comparison there that, um, that those dogs are just as
wonderful as our top performing athletes.

S1 (49:47):
You know, without going maybe too much, we can go
into as much as you like. How difficult is to
get people on side with things like this? Because I'm
imagining that, yeah, they probably got a lot of requests
to do things for, um, you know, for different charities
or for different organizations for different causes. It must be
a pretty competitive field out there to kind of win
the hearts and minds of athletes or people that are profile.

S7 (50:10):
Yeah. And I think that's what's really been wonderfully surprising
to me this year. As I mentioned, the appeal's been
going for 12 years and we've been gaining momentum. And
every single year, you know, fundraising is hard. Australian Australians, um,
you know, it can be difficult to day to day
living financial crisis. But I absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity

(50:32):
of Petbarn customers and our sporting stars who get on
board to make sure that we can raise the profile
not just to raise money. Obviously, raising money is a
very important part of it, but also just to make
sure that we're bringing awareness to the people in our
community who are blind or low vision because, you know,
it would be better if the world was more accessible.

(50:52):
You know, digital information not being accessible. There is some
really simple things we can do. Inclusion in, you know,
public transport, all those kind of things all add up
to making a better, more fulfilled life for those living
with vision loss.

S1 (51:08):
And the other thing is, I mean, I guess it's
the case in any sort of, uh, you know, kind
of area of disability. I mean, you know, people who
might be thinking, oh, yeah, whatever. But I mean, you
never know how you or someone you love might be
impacted tomorrow. I mean, something can happen, and all of
a sudden you're kind of in that basket, if I
can put it that crudely. And you might be the
sort of person that or someone you love might be

(51:30):
the sort of person who might say, gee, you know,
a seeing eye dog could make a huge difference to me, having,
you know, lost my sight through whatever.

S7 (51:37):
Yeah. You know what, Peter? Before I took on this role,
I've been the foundation manager for a couple of years now.
And to be completely honest, when I had, I didn't
know anyone who was blind or had low vision. And
I have, you know, been lucky enough to meet some
of the most extraordinary people I have ever met, and

(51:58):
many of them have actually told me their stories about,
as you mentioned, just living a full sighted life and
then experiencing vision loss that has then ended in being blind.
And the adjustment that I can only imagine it takes.
When that happens in your life, you know it is significant.

(52:18):
And so that's one of the other things that we
try and make sure that we communicate through the appeal
is that, you know, this is not just people who
are necessarily born blind, but it's also the people that
are getting older. It's the people that we love. It's,
you know, these are brothers and sisters and sons and daughters,
that it can happen to anyone, which is why the

(52:40):
appeal is so important to get behind.

S1 (52:42):
But it's such a great point you make about not
knowing someone who might be blind or have low vision. Obviously, uh,
living with, uh, visual impairment myself and doing this program,
I kind of maybe sometimes forget that in a sense,
I'm in a bit of an echo chamber. I mean,
I kind of think, well, why don't people know about
these sort of things? But, you know, I guess unless
you encounter it for whatever reason. And in your case,

(53:02):
it was your work. I mean, we can't be expected
to know everything about everything. So it's it's something like
this that can sometimes just, you know, raise that awareness or,
you know, trigger that memory. I remember hearing about that
on the radio the other day that, you know, all
of a sudden people are a bit more aware of, um,
either fundraising and also the work that goes into it.

S7 (53:21):
Yeah. Yeah. You're you're absolutely right. And I think, you know,
because the foundation is lucky enough to have so many
customers that are dog lovers, pet lovers, um, you know, and,
and a database that actually can reach so many millions
of people across the country and also supported by the

(53:41):
Greencross vets, um, who are the vets of choice for
Vision Australia. Seeing eye dogs. It's all of those people,
you know, if we can just get our message just
to those people, that's millions of people who might learn
a little bit more about Vision Australia and the impact
they make. And then if they can just, you know,
spare a couple of dollars that will hopefully get us

(54:03):
to our $1.1 million target.

S1 (54:05):
Great point you make about the vets, isn't it? Because
you know they are animals at the end of the
day and they do need their care. They do need
quote unquote maintenance, don't they? And you know that the
the vet, I should say, plays a huge role in that, uh,
sort of maintaining the the good health of the, of the, uh,
the seeing eye dog.

S7 (54:22):
Yeah, they they absolutely do. And the Greencross vets, they
obviously are extraordinary at what they do. I mean, vets
go into that industry a lot of the time. It
can be a really difficult practice to run. You know,
it's people And sometimes end up at the vet with
a pet that they absolutely love that is in dire straits,

(54:43):
that's eaten sock or whatever. These whatever the whatever the
animal's done. But then there's also the other side of
it where they can take care of a client's dog. Really.
You know, the obviously the seeing eye dogs are beautifully bred.
They're really well looked after. You know, they're on the
best Royal Canin food that they can get. There's you know,
they've got all of the support that they need to

(55:04):
make sure they're in the best condition. And so sometimes,
you know, when those dogs go in and they're able
to you have the privilege of servicing a seeing eye dog.
It's a really wonderful thing that can happen.

S1 (55:18):
It's a great point you make. And also, you know,
the the breeding is so important. I mean, that's come
such a long way. I know speaking to people involved
in this area, I mean, years ago, you know, there
was a lot of work that went into the breeding
racehorses to make sure that they were as good as
they can be. And I think some of those lessons
have been taken on by, you know, people that breed
seeing eye dogs as well, that the amount of work

(55:39):
that goes with it. I think I now plays a
much better role both I in AI and also artificial insemination.
So there's a lot of stuff that goes into that, uh,
you know, that that puppy that comes out and then the,
the dog that goes out into the world to, um,
to make that difference.

S7 (55:55):
Yeah. Look, look, I know very limited around the genetics
of the dogs, but what I, what I do understand
is what you have said, I think that they are
breeding these dogs to be at the top, very top
of their game. I mean, not just in terms of behavior,
but in terms of health as well. You know, like you, I,
I'm working for the foundation. I obviously I work with

(56:17):
rescue dogs as well. And you know, some of those
dogs from um, some of the backyard breeders. You can
really tell the difference between a dog that has been
potentially just bred with no thought about the genetics in
mind or whether or not it's, um, predisposition to like,
you know, other health concerns. But, you know, when you

(56:38):
see a seeing eye dog and the team are just
watching them so carefully, you can absolutely see the quality
that you get out of, you know, a $50,000 dog,
not just in health, but in behavior and socialization and
all of those things that you need to make the
best seeing eye dog you can have.

S1 (56:57):
Great message. Do you know if people want to help out?
What's the best way to help out? As far as
this year's the 12th Pet Barn Foundation, seeing Eye Dogs
Australia with Vision Australia their campaign, what's the best way
people can help out?

S7 (57:09):
You can go and visit a pet barn store. We
have a three, 5 or $10 seeing eye dog tag
that you can. You can donate. All donations over $2
are tax deductible. Or if you're not near a pet barn,
I really encourage you to jump online at petbarn. Dogs
and you can make a donation there.

S1 (57:30):
Alright, we'll put those details up in the show notes. Janelle,
congratulations on your award. Congratulations on your recognition. Thank you
for being involved for 12 years. May it go for many,
many more. And let's hope that you smash that $1.1
million target.

S7 (57:43):
Oh, thank you so much. I hope we do too. 100%
of the donations we collect will be given to Vision Australia,
so it's worth every donation. Thank you so much Janelle Miller.

S1 (57:52):
They're the CEO for the Petbarn Foundation that appeal on
at the moment. All those details up with our show notes.
And as always, if you miss any details, you can
always give us a call here at the radio station. 130847466.
A couple of bits of late breaking news from technology companies.
Pelvis Hims out of Korea have announced a beta version

(58:16):
of their browser. Now you can try this. But of
course you do that at your own peril. If you
want to find out more. If you're in Australia, give
Pacific Vision a call 130 0913 0756849 or. Office at Pacific
Ocean Post office at Pacific. I will try and chat

(58:42):
more about it in coming weeks. It's the beta version
of the new browser. It's been coming for a couple
of years. It looks like it's almost here and all
being well. Probably late August, it'll be released officially, but
if you want to try the beta, contact Pacific Vision.
That's if you're using the English version on your BS6
or BS6 mini. And if you're listening in other parts

(59:05):
of the world, then contact your local distributor or your
local Hims or, um, browse its six person and also
news from humanware. With the northern summer at the moment,
some of those conferences happening at the moment, ACB and NFB,
some big announcements being made, the Humanware announced a new
update to the monarch, which is obviously very exciting as well.

(59:29):
Our audio describe show of the week. It's coming up
this Sunday afternoon, 1 p.m. NITV, part of the SBS
network Wik v Queensland. Now this is a powerful documentary
which features some insights into the High Court's decision of
native title to the Wik people in 1996 and the

(59:51):
dramatic cultural and political fallouts. It's rated PG. It is,
with audio description. It is on this Sunday afternoon, 1 p.m. NITV.
Part of the SBS network Wik v Queensland. Very very powerful.
And obviously during NAIDOC week. Some birthdays before we go.

(01:00:13):
Scott Wright I'm having a birthday very much involved in
historians or historical work, I should say, and Scott also
very much involved with finding out a fair bit about
playing cricket. So happy birthday to you, Scott. God also
having a birthday. Granted, one of the really decent people
in the world, I can say that as far as
Joshua goes. So Joshua, happy birthday to you. Hope life

(01:00:36):
is going well in all areas of your life. And Amy,
really having a birthday, represented Australia at the Paralympic Games
in Tokyo in the sport of goalball. Amy. A very
big happy birthday to you. That's it for the program.
Sam Rickard, thanks so much for your help. Pam Green,
thanks so much for yours. Reminding you that Focal Point
is available on that favorite podcast platform of yours. On

(01:00:58):
behalf of Philip Napier, this is Peter Greco saying, be
kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others
all being well. Focal point back at the same time
next week on Vision Australia Radio and the Reading Radio Network.
This is focal.

S8 (01:01:14):
Point.

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