12 Mar 2025

On FOCAL POINT:

• Selena McMurray is an Occupational Therapist with Live Big and a mother of two children who are neuro-divergent. Selena spoke about  the role of women in the disability sector deserving attention beyond International Women's Day. 
• Rebecca Young, CEO for Access 2 Arts, with news on audio described performances during the Fringe and Adelaide Festival.
• Jonathan Ramsden is a long-time narrator with Vision Australia's Personal Support Service. Having narrated a wide variety of personal support titles over the years, Jonathan is also a much-loved narrator of Wheels magazine. You can access 360 print pages every year converted into your preferred format.  
• Mia Gardiner, from Crime Stoppers Victoria, shared tips; hints and practical action you can take to minimise and help stop retail crime.

Resources:

• Live Big: http://www.livebig.com.au
• Access 2 Arts: http://www.access2arts.org.au
• Adelaide Fringe: Call 1300 621 255 or go to https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix
• Adelaide Festival: Call 1300 393 404 or go to http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au
• VA's Personal Support Service: https://www.visionaustralia.org/business-consulting/print-accessibility/alternate-format-production
• Crimestoppers Victoria: http://www.crimestoppersvic.com.au 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:14):
Hello and welcome to Focal Point here on Australia Radio
1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, online at VA radio.org. VA
Radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin through the Community Radio
Plus app or your favourite streaming service. Welcome to Focal
Point here on Australia Radio. Peter Greco on behalf of
Phillip Napier, saying great to be here. A big hello

(00:36):
to Wendy McDougall listening in. This program comes to you
from Garner Land. Come to you very shortly. We'll speak
to Selina McMurry, who's an occupational therapist with Live Big,
has a couple of kids with who are neurodivergent. Talk
about the NDIS and the role in particular that women
play in the NDIS and indeed in the area of disability.

(00:58):
Then catch up with Rebecca Young from Access to Arts.
Always plenty happening. Right now it's peak season with the
French and the Adelaide Festival on. What can you go
to see that might be audio described. Jonathan Ramsdale will
join us. He's part of the personal support service that
Visit Australia, offer 360 print pages every year in your

(01:19):
preferred format. Jonathan helps with that. We'll find out about
Jonathan's role and Mia Gardner will join us from Crime Stoppers. Victoria.
Always lots of interesting topics to talk about tonight. Retail therapy.
No no no. Sorry. Tonight retail crime. Not quite retail therapy,
but ways that you may be able to help out.

(01:41):
We'll find out more from Mia if listening through 1190
7 a.m. in Adelaide at 8:00. For your listening pleasure.
Lizzie and Sam are here with studio one just before
we hear what's on studio one. The next catch up
of the SA branch of Blind Saint Australia is coming
up on Saturday, March the 29th, 1230. This time they're

(02:02):
heading out of India to 170 O'Connell Street in North Adelaide.
If you'd like to go along. One 800 zero. Double three. 660.
Get in touch with Kerry Skipworth while that five that
number 1800 003 660. A bit tough having to talk about food

(02:24):
and eating when I've got an hour's program to do,
but it will certainly be well worth getting along. 1800 003 660.
SA branches next catch up 1230 on March the 29th
at 170 O'Connell Street out of India. Let's find out
what's on studio lights tonight.

S2 (02:45):
Vision Australia is running its 100 K Your Way fundraising campaign.
In April, I.

S3 (02:51):
Talked to two of the ambassadors who have very different
approaches to fundraising and to blindness in general. I also
catch up with VA's fundraising and marketing manager, Ian Finlayson,
who explains what this is actually all about.

S2 (03:05):
Join us at 8:00 for Studio One.

S1 (03:08):
For International Women's Day is definitely over, but messages keep.
On for the entire year. Let's chat a bit about
it with an occupational therapist from Live Big. Selena McMurry.
So lovely to meet you and thank you for your time.

S4 (03:21):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (03:22):
These are some very interesting figures that came out of
a bit of research that you've done regarding the amount
of women that are involved with either working for the
NDIS or that might have family members, etc., or carers
or care for people who are on the NDIS.

S4 (03:37):
Yes, definitely. Um, a lot of women working in this field,
especially at live big, it's yeah, predominantly women in these
roles that are also taking on caring roles.

S1 (03:50):
Do you think it's something that is probably, you know,
a bit of a not a well-kept secret, but a
secret that many of us don't kind of realise until
it's pointed out to us.

S4 (03:59):
Yeah, absolutely. I think it's obvious when you're working in
the space. But yeah, I think a lot of people
probably don't realise.

S1 (04:05):
And if you sort of think that, I guess, you know,
as professionals you're doing that role, but you may well
have another role away from that, uh, sort of working role,
that professional role as well.

S4 (04:17):
Yeah, absolutely. So myself, I have two kids who are
both neurodivergent and I have to manage NDIS plans for
them as well. And I think that's a really common thing.
A lot of people that I work with and families
that I come across are they have kids that are
neurodivergent or have a disability, and they're also in sort

(04:39):
of those caring jobs as well.

S1 (04:41):
You talked about people that live big and the amount
of females that are kind of working in that area.
What about across the board? Are you much aware of
what happens there? And particularly, I guess, in sort of
managerial roles or roles that are kind of decision making
that are a really, really important as well.

S4 (04:59):
Yeah, I think from my past experience in workplaces, it's
still the same. It's predominantly women. Uh, there are a
lot of women in management roles. It's very much a
women led industry.

S1 (05:13):
That's got to be a good thing.

S4 (05:14):
Yeah, absolutely.

S1 (05:15):
Just a little bit about your situation if you happen
to share a little bit. So let's say you have
two children who are neurodivergent.

S4 (05:21):
Yes. That's correct. So I have a son who's 15
and a daughter who's ten. My son actually does distance
education because it was really difficult to find the right
environment for him in the school system. And that's also
a really common thing for families that I work with.
So yeah, it's it's really important that workplaces like Live

(05:43):
Big have these flexible arrangements because I really need that
from my kids.

S1 (05:49):
And I guess, you know, thankfully, in a sense, because
of technology these days, some of the disadvantages of not,
you know, turning up face to face, at least minimized
or mitigated a little bit.

S4 (06:00):
Absolutely. It's a really overwhelming environment in the school. There
are a lot of things going on, especially for kids
that are neurodivergent and just might have some other things
going on that go into school. It's very overwhelming. And then, yeah,
it's hard to regulate and manage those things. There's often

(06:20):
just not the resources to manage that.

S1 (06:22):
I've been doing this program a little while, and I've
got to say, you know, maybe in the last 10
or 15 years in terms of general awareness, it seems
to be much better of people who are neurodivergent. I'm
thinking of either things like, you know, shopping hours or
different events that are kind of got relaxed performances to
make it more welcoming. Is that a fair sort of

(06:45):
observation by me? And I guess things can always be better.

S4 (06:48):
Yeah, it's definitely improving and it's yeah, it's really good
to see that those things are happening. There's a lot
more awareness in the community. But yet, as you said,
there's obviously always room for improvement and there's still a
lot of spaces where there just isn't that acceptance.

S1 (07:05):
How or why do you think that's happened? The I
guess the better understanding how and why do you think
that's happened? And what sort of areas in particular do
you think there could be improvement in?

S4 (07:15):
I think it's just yeah, just educating people, people speaking
up more, having that voice as therapists where always advocating
and that's like a big part of our role. Yeah,
I think it's hard to say how it can be better.
I think people making sure that they're having these conversations

(07:37):
to see how they can improve things, but they need
to have these conversations with the community. The. Yeah. People
with a disability, the neurodivergent community, and actually ask them,
the people with that lived experience what we can do better.

S1 (07:55):
I guess if people can become more aware, you know,
perhaps they're going to become more accepting sometimes it's not
that people aren't accepting or aren't inclusive or welcoming. It's
just maybe more the fact that they're not aware or
what can I do to make this better?

S4 (08:09):
Absolutely. I think just that's. Yeah. Well, we just have
to keep talking. I think even though, yeah, the NDIS
can be a tricky system, it's in the media a
lot and I think that that can be helpful. They're
doing a lot of good things for people. Like if
it wasn't for the scheme, a lot of people out

(08:30):
there wouldn't be getting the support that they're getting now.

S1 (08:32):
Yeah, it's an interesting thing, isn't it? Because I guess
the stories that make the the media are those that
are not so positive or, you know, sort of bad
news stories about the NDIS, but a number of people
that kind of, you know, you know, away from the
news if you like, they're pretty happy with the way
things are going. Of course, that could be better, but

(08:53):
it does make a lot of difference to what their
life might have been. Sort of pre NDIS.

S4 (08:57):
Yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of people that probably wouldn't
be getting the support and help that they're getting without
the scheme there, and that it's always the way that
there's that negativity. And obviously there are a lot of
stories where it hasn't sort of yeah, the systems failed.
Some people, people still fall through the gaps, but overall

(09:21):
it is helping a lot more people.

S1 (09:23):
And of course, if the gaps, if you like, can
be minimised or reduced and that's got to be a
good thing. And sometimes it's the gaps that people fall
through that, you know, make for a really good story.
I mean, some of the things that happen are obviously
not acceptable and are terrible, and particularly for the individuals
and their families are not very good.

S4 (09:42):
Yeah, I think it can highlight that there's a need there.
It's just yeah, we need to make sure that when
we do highlight those gaps that you know that something's
been done about it, whether it be, you know, changing
policies or changing the way that certain things are funded
just to make sure that those people aren't falling through

(10:04):
the gaps.

S1 (10:04):
Similarly, an occupational therapist by profession, you're also a mom
and I'm assuming you self-manage your kids NDIS. What's it
like navigating it? I mean, uh, those of us that
are on it, whether we're self-managed or player managed or
whether we've got support in that area, it's pretty hard
to get your head around even after a few years
of being in it. I'm not sure I'm speaking for myself,

(10:25):
so I can't speak for others, but. Well, what do
you what do you reckon from a professional point of view?

S4 (10:30):
I totally agree with you. I, as an occupational therapist,
I do wonder how other families who don't have that
background actually navigate the system. It's taken me a lot
of years to get the plan that I think is. Yeah,
you know, that my kids should have and yeah, it's

(10:54):
it's hard for those families that don't have that background.
They don't always know what sort of things to ask for,
what questions to ask. So yeah, I totally agree. It's
it's it's a challenging thing. But now after several years
I've gotten my head around it and um, yeah, hopefully, um,

(11:15):
things will keep getting better.

S1 (11:17):
I often say I'm a Gemini by birth, so maybe
I can kind of look at both sides of an argument.
Those people that are working, whether it's the local area
coordinators or the plan managers, etc. it's probably not so
easy for them as well, because understand they can't be
expected to know everything about every disability. And if someone
comes along and says, I've got these sort of things

(11:38):
that I'd like helped out with in terms of the NDIS,
you know, if they don't kind of get it, it's
kind of understandable because as I say, you can't be
getting everything about everyone.

S4 (11:49):
Yeah, it is hard. And we work across sort of
all ages and all types of disabilities. But I guess
as therapists our job is to yeah, to really look
at sort of those areas of need. So it doesn't
really matter what the disability is or if it's something

(12:09):
that we haven't come across before. We're looking at sort
of the person's function across all of their occupations, and
you'll be able to get the information that way.

S1 (12:21):
What about in terms of perhaps more people with disabilities
being employed in their area? I know that we're not
so long ago, there was the What's My Futures campaign
that was launched, and that was kind of one of
the focuses of it to get more people with disabilities
in working, rather than just kind of being participants or
clients of the NBA. Do you think that that could

(12:42):
kind of go some way to make it work even better,
that kind of lived experience being inside.

S4 (12:46):
Absolutely. I think we need to have more people with
that lived experience working in the system. They're the ones
that understand sort of the ins and outs of it
and how it's going to affect people if they don't
get those supports. So yeah, we really need more people
employed in that space that have a disability and the

(13:07):
lived experience, because again.

S1 (13:10):
Generally, I think people with disabilities have got a pretty
good track record, if you like, if you like, as
far as sort of education standards go. So they're kind
of well fitted apart from the lived experience. They're also,
you know, scholastically qualified in a sense, to be able
to do these sort of roles. It's just being given
the opportunity.

S4 (13:29):
Exactly. They need to be given that opportunity. And people
need to recognise that that lived experience is often more
valuable than, you know, someone's degree. Not to say that
the degrees aren't important, but when people have gone through
all these different systems and there's education, they've had to

(13:49):
learn all these skills, they've had to learn how to advocate.
It's a lot. And those skills are so important. And
we need we need to have more of that.

S1 (13:58):
It's not just graduating from XYZ University, but graduating from
the University of Life or the University of Hard Knocks.
Yeah yeah yeah. Selena, I know you've spoken very openly,
which I appreciate. What about from a personal point of view?
And you are an OT, not a psychologist, if you like.
But what about when you go through those tough times
trying to work out stuff with the NDIS? And maybe

(14:21):
if you get knocked back or we have to go
back and kind of appeal and that sort of thing.
What about the sort of system as it is for
people who kind of are doing it tough going through
the NDIS? I think that could be improved as well.

S4 (14:33):
I think so. I often think, you know, I've got
all these skills to to navigate it, and I think
there's a big gap between that and people that, yeah,
they probably got even more complex stuff going on. And
they get the knock backs they don't know. Yeah, it's
it's really disheartening because they'll, you know, think that they're

(14:57):
going to be getting their support and then they'll get
knocked back. Um, and that's definitely been my experience early
on where I would not get sort of much funding.
I'd have to go push for the review. Um, sometimes
that wouldn't sort of get the result that you want.
And yeah, there's been many tears for me. So I
can imagine for families that are doing it, like, even

(15:21):
tougher than me. Than it would be. Yeah, really, really hard.

S1 (15:25):
So I guess it's not much consolation in a sense, but,
you know, people hearing you as an experienced occupational therapist
that kind of know how things work. If you shed tears,
then when we do, I guess we can kind of
have that empathy, which, as I say, probably doesn't help
us get the service that we're after. But I guess it,
you know, maybe we can kind of feel better about

(15:46):
the fact that we are a bit upset or we
do feel like we we've we've been wronged.

S4 (15:51):
Yeah, that's absolutely understandable to be upset. And you want
to get that support. You want to get the best
outcome for yourself or for your loved ones.

S1 (16:01):
I guess speaking to peers or, um, you know, just
finding a shoulder to cry on literally, or someone that
you can speak to to kind of, um, sort of
alleviate or or minimize your, your frustration. That can be
a bit of therapy as well.

S4 (16:17):
Yeah. I think talking to other people that are going
through a similar thing, friends or even groups on Facebook,
I find really helpful because you can talk to other
people that are starting to navigate this. They can share
their experiences. They can also share their tips on what
sort of worked for them. So yeah, it's definitely important

(16:40):
to get that support though, so that you feel like
you're not alone because people that have a disability often
are more isolated than other people.

S1 (16:49):
Yeah, that's so true. And I guess, you know, without
always referring to the pandemic, that's one thing that people
did kind of experience during, during the pandemic, the isolation
and what that was like. And for people with disability,
that's almost like an everyday occurrence or a regular occurrence.

S4 (17:04):
Absolutely. Definitely. During the Covid lockdowns, I actually found it
less stressful because everyone else was dealing with the same thing.

S1 (17:14):
Problem shared.

S4 (17:16):
Yeah.

S1 (17:16):
Great to catch up. We've had wonderful support from Marcella
and Juliet from Live Big for many, many years. If
people want to find out more, you've got a website
that people can go to. Have you got that off
the top of your head?

S4 (17:27):
Or it's just like BigCommerce, you. So I think, um, yeah,
we have got lots of capacity in all across all
of our allied health. So we have speech pathologists, behavior support, psychology,
occupational therapy, and we also have allied health assistants. So yeah,

(17:48):
definitely our referral information is there. We're happy to take
on people.

S1 (17:54):
So good luck. Keep up the great work.

S4 (17:55):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (17:56):
It's Selena McMurry there from Live Big. Uh, Selena is
an occupational therapist and also has two children who are neurodivergent,
sharing a bit of her personal life and very, very
powerful story. Well told. Oh, certainly plenty happening as far

(18:22):
as the Adelaide Fringe and the Adelaide Festival go. And
why mad? Let's chat about it with the CEO for
Access to Arts, Rebecca Young. Rebecca, great to catch up again.
Thanks so much for your time.

S5 (18:32):
Thanks, Peter. Always lovely to talk.

S1 (18:34):
Yeah, well, we were just chatting before coming to air
in Europe about over the weekend. How did you go?
Because the weather tested a few people, didn't it?

S5 (18:41):
Oh, it sure did. It sure did. And it's the
second year in a row that it's been so, um,
so hot. So really was a bit challenging for access
in terms of the heat. But we've been working with
Womad for a few years on some of their accessibility features.
So it was really good to go in and check
out what they've been working on and continue to help

(19:03):
make the festival more accessible.

S1 (19:05):
And more reports. So it didn't deter the crowd. It
was still a very good crowd and both for or
in fact all days of the Wiimote.

S5 (19:13):
Yes, absolutely. There was definitely people, plenty of people around
every day, lots of fun music to experience and beautiful,
restless dance theatre crew were performing every day, so that
was lovely as well.

S1 (19:26):
Must be a great buzz for them. I can remember
going back to Sally charts in the very early days
of the restless dance company, and they've come a long
way and certainly some late, some wonderful foundations. But to
get to perform at something like Waimate, which is literally
worldwide known, that's that's a wonderful achievement.

S5 (19:43):
Yeah, it really is. They are a spectacular company and, um,
you know, are putting out some incredible work.

S1 (19:51):
All right. Now, what about coming up? What's coming up that, uh,
is is, uh, sort of attracting your attention?

S5 (19:58):
Well, uh, there's a few things happening at the moment. Um,
we've done quite a bit of work with, um, fringe
on one of their, uh, shows that's outside of the CBD.
So it's, uh, down my end of town in the
Mitcham Hills. So it's the Sleep's Hill tunnel, uh, exhibit, um,
which has sort of about 5 or 6 different types

(20:20):
of exhibits as you walk through the old train tunnel,
which is lovely. Okay. And we've done audio description for
that which people can, um, listen to on the fringe
website or download to their own device to listen to.
We've also put together an access guide for it because
it is a super accessible site, which is really nice.

S1 (20:41):
Terrific. And I mean, that's kind of cool if you
can't get there or don't necessarily want to go there,
you can still kind of experience the audio description via
the French website.

S5 (20:49):
Absolutely. So we really recommend people jump on and have
a listen to that one. It's one of those sites
that you need a car to get through, because it
is off the beaten track a little bit, but not
far out of the city. But it's also a lovely,
cool place to be on a.

S1 (21:05):
Call in more ways than one.

S5 (21:06):
Yes, definitely.

S1 (21:08):
What about as far as the Adelaide Festival go?

S5 (21:10):
Well, we've got one more audio described show which is
coming up this coming weekend. Um, and it's one that
I am really looking forward to seeing. It's called Big name.
No blankets and it's them. So a rock musical about
the Warumpi band. So it's start of one of our

(21:32):
amazing First Nations rock bands. So I think the audio
description for that will be super fun and interesting. Um,
and I think it'll be a really great show.

S1 (21:43):
All right. Uh, now what about as far as your,
as in, uh, well, I think the French had access
to arts working with guitars, theater as well for a show.
Wall to wall.

S5 (21:52):
Yes. Wall to wall is an exhibition that we have, um,
in the Lyon Arts precinct at the Guild House, uh,
offices there. Um, and so we've got three of the
fantastic artists that we worked with on our exquisite, uh, yeah, project,
all exhibiting their work there. So, um, if you are
around the Lyon arts precinct, do, um, pop in and

(22:16):
and say hi to the Guild House team and check
those out.

S1 (22:18):
That is such a great thing, isn't it? Because we
spoke quite a bit about, uh, the, uh, exhibition when
it was on, you know, a little while ago, quite
some time ago now. But it's kind of great that the,
you know, the sort of exhibition and their work kind
of lives on, you know, well past the, you know,
when it was originally originally shown.

S5 (22:35):
Absolutely. And we are really pleased one of our team, Chloe,
who I don't think you've met yet, Peter, but she
has recently joined Access to Arts and she is a
fantastic visual artist. And she also has an exhibition at
Collective Haunt in Norwood, which has been getting some, um,
really great feedback and reviews.

S1 (22:56):
Now, I was lucky enough to go see Tony Doyle's show.
He threatened me that if I didn't go with a
fate worse than death, so I. I gave in and
went and it was really, really good.

S5 (23:07):
Oh, fantastic. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I went
along to an earlier iteration of it earlier in the year,
but I didn't. Um, unfortunately there's so much on at
the moment. Yeah, didn't get a chance to, um, get
to Tony's show, but I heard that it was a
roaring success.

S1 (23:23):
Well, it was sold out back and it was sold
out a number of days beforehand, I think after we
spoke to Tony on the radio, it was sort of
sold out within a few days of that. So I'm
taking all the credit for it. But in all seriousness,
it was sold out. And as a performer and actually
there are a number of them. I'll come to that
in a second. But, you know, if you can play
in front of a sold out audience, I mean, that's

(23:44):
got to be the highlight. That's kind of almost what
you're aiming for.

S5 (23:47):
Absolutely. Absolutely. And speaking of things that should sell out,
the Heartbeat Club is back on again.

S1 (23:54):
Yes.

S5 (23:54):
So that is happening on the 21st of March and
is always a roaring party. Great fun. Uh, so I
would highly encourage anyone that hasn't been, uh, to a
Heartbeat Club to get along to the one at Mod
Museum on the 21st of March, because I think that
will be a lot of fun, I think.

S1 (24:14):
In fact, I know all being well. Fingers crossed. We'll
be speaking to Tutti on Leisure link this Saturday about that,
so stay tuned for that. The thing I was going
to say about Tony Shore as well, he had six
musicians with him because it was a bit of a, oh,
a real variety show. There was comedy and some of
the poems were very, very serious, attacking some really important issues.

(24:34):
And then there was some really great folksy music as well.
So it was a really good combination of activities. But
it was at the ballroom at Ayres House. So another
great thing about the fringe, and maybe to a lesser extent,
the festival, is some of the venues that are chosen
or some of the venues that I guess have to
be improvised into being performance centres, and you get a

(24:56):
chance to go to different places that you might not
otherwise go.

S5 (24:59):
Yeah, absolutely. It's um, it's really interesting finding all those
interesting little nooks around Adelaide and venues that you didn't
realise were there. Yeah. And some, you know, amazing what
people can turn into a venue too during fringe.

S1 (25:13):
What other such one. We also went to see Julianne
Bell and Melissa who were performing. Julianne who was on
the on The Voice and now at uh, the Garage International,
which is part of the town hall. I'd never heard
of it, let alone be there or been there, but
it was a really lovely, lovely setting as well.

S5 (25:31):
Oh, fantastic. Good to know I haven't I haven't gotten
to that one yet, but I had um, I did
see that it was around, but yeah. So lots of, um,
lots of great little venues around the place and lots
of interesting stories that, you know, and shows that you
might not always get a chance to see. So really
great to see people getting out to different, um, different

(25:52):
types of shows and experiencing things new and fun and interesting.

S1 (25:56):
And that's part of the appeal of the fringe, isn't it?
It's almost like, you know, throw the dart at the
dart board and wherever it lands, go. Because even if
you don't know anything about the artist, you're going to
learn something and something different. And who knows, it could
be they're starting their their career in years to come
and think, oh, I'll wait to see them before they
became famous.

S5 (26:16):
Absolutely. And I think, you know, if people are looking
for things to do, um, the best place they can
go is the fringe Access guide, because then they can
check out all of the different shows with accessibility. And
I am a big fan of all those artists that
are putting the work in to do, um, all of
those different types of access to make sure that different

(26:37):
and new audiences can come and see their shows.

S1 (26:39):
Well, it's very, very true. And if people availed themselves
of their opportunity, it kind of makes it all worthwhile.
And speak about the access guide. I actually use the
phone to ring for my tickets for Tony Door and
also Julianne Bell. And can I say that the people
on the phone were excellent. They kind of knew what
their job was. They they knew what you wanted. They
knew how to go about doing it. It was no fuss,

(27:01):
no delay. It was a really, really excellent service. So
I can highly recommend if you struggle with the internet
as I do, and you want to just ring up
and buy tickets if you know what you want to
go to. If you ring the number one 306 [phone] 212,
double five. You'll be very well catered for My experience

(27:22):
tells me and, Beck, just before you go. Very important
for people. If they think, well, you know, cost of living,
it's a bit tough. You can use your companion card,
I think, for almost any year. Fringe show.

S5 (27:32):
I think you can use your companion card for any
fringe show and the audio description tickets if you ring
the Adelaide Festival hotline. If you want to book in
and go see Big Name No Blankets this weekend. They
have $15 audio description tickets and you can use your
companion card.

S1 (27:49):
So that's very inexpensive. I mean, as I say often
we think, oh, can I afford to go? But really
with something like that. And again, if people kind of, uh,
avail themselves of their opportunity, then chances are they'll do
it next time. If no one takes it up and
they think, oh, what was the point, we won't do it.

S5 (28:05):
Absolutely. And look, a lot of the Adelaide Festival shows
might be sort of 80 or $100 a ticket, so
to be able to get $15. Audio Description tickets to
all of those festival shows is um, is absolutely a bonus.
And you can just jump on the phone and ring
the Adelaide Festival as well, and they will hook you up.

S1 (28:23):
All right. We'll get those details up with our show notes.
And as always, people can call us here if they
haven't got those details. Bec if people want to contact
you with access to arts, how can they do that?
Probably don't expect a call straight back because you're out
and about so much.

S5 (28:37):
We are out and about so much and our tiny team.
But we do check our voicemail. So if you do
want to call, our number is 84631689. If we don't answer,
please leave a voicemail and someone from the team will
get back to you. But it might take a day
or two at the moment because we have a lot on.

(28:57):
You might get a quicker reply if you email us
at hello at Access to Arts with the number two Warrego,
and you can check out our range of fantastic shows
on our website as well. And you can filter by
different accessibility provisions like wheelchair access or audio description.

S1 (29:17):
Terrific. But we'll let you guys have a little bit
of a rest and get ready for the next show,
whatever that might be, and we'll catch up next month.

S5 (29:23):
Amazing. Thanks, Peter. Have a great fringe and festival.

S1 (29:26):
Rebecca. Young man, if you get a chance to get
out and about because there's some great things on, particularly
if it's later in the evening, it won't be so hot.
So check it out. Access to arts for you. You're
listening to.

S6 (29:38):
Focal Point on Vision Australia radio, on.

S1 (29:41):
VA radio, digital.

S6 (29:42):
And online at VA radio.org.

S1 (29:45):
Hope you're enjoying the program. We always love catching up
with some of the wonderful people involved with the Personal
Support service at Vision Australia. 360 print pages. Every year
you get a chance to put in your preferred format.
One of the narrators that does a great job is
John Ramsden. John, great to meet you and thank you
for your time.

S7 (30:05):
Peter, that's a pleasure.

S1 (30:06):
How did you get started in this caper?

S7 (30:08):
When I retired a long time ago now, in fact,
20 years ago.

S1 (30:15):
Really? Yeah. not enough to retire 20 years.

S7 (30:18):
Blah blah. Well, this is what we don't have video.

S1 (30:23):
But for both of us.

S7 (30:25):
The question obviously occurred what might I like to do
be able to do with my time? And initially I
started with the radio reading news down at Vision Australia. And, uh,
I forget for how long I did that before I

(30:48):
ended up in the studios reading books and magazines. But um, yeah.
So initially it was something I thought I should like
to do in my retirement. And frankly, I live quite
handy to Vision Australia, which made it very convenient, particularly
if I was doing the early morning news service as

(31:11):
one of the panel. So that's basically what led me
to Kooyong.

S1 (31:17):
I know you'd practice in the law beforehand and in
the legal profession. Had you had any kind of radio
experience before joining Virgin Australia back then?

S7 (31:25):
No. No, I had not. Um, indeed, I think it
was probably felt desirable that the less exposure in some
ways the better. So no, I had not.

S1 (31:38):
And as he said, he joined doing Virgin Australia Radio.
And then you kind of branched out into the personal
support service where you read different titles that people request, uh,
undertake for, uh, you know, for their benefit.

S7 (31:51):
Yeah. So it was a natural progression and I was
comfortable in the environment, got to know people in the
station and the audio session. And, uh, so one thing
led to another. And then ultimately, with reorganization of the
radio services, um, I ceased doing any of that work.

(32:14):
And for the last maybe ten years, I've been really
doing nothing other than reading books, magazines for the library.

S1 (32:23):
We've spoken a bit about it in the past, but
for new listeners turning on all the time, how does
it work? Someone sends in a charter they'd like read.
Do you get to choose what it is? There's a
David Frederick to say, this is what you're doing, John.
Like it or lump it? How does it all work?

S7 (32:39):
Yeah, well, David and Robert de Groot are really the
coordinators and determine who shall be allocated what. I think
Robert specializes in books, and although I have done a
little bit of that on occasions in the past, I
really don't these days tend to do that sort of work.

(33:02):
So it's all magazines. And that's down to David, what
the demand is and the timelines and who's available. And
for some reason was thought perhaps I was best deployed
with wheels magazine, which has been my sort of go
to mainly.

S1 (33:21):
Are you a car buff?

S7 (33:23):
Not especially. Um, I do like cars and I enjoy
reading about them, keeping up to date, so I have
a general interest, but I'm certainly not an auto mechanic
or a petrolhead or anything of that nature.

S1 (33:36):
I guess if I was guided, I must be, but
I don't read it and I don't know much about cars,
but just in terms of general trends, they've probably changed
a bit over the years in terms of becoming more
fuel efficient. And of course, now the electric vehicle is
much more, uh, uh, sort of on the scene.

S7 (33:54):
Yeah. Massive changes. And indeed the magazine obviously has been
abreast of all those developments. At one stage I recall
it was a bit of a view. I think that
diesel was a better option than petrol for the internal
combustion engine. We know that that fell out of favour.

(34:18):
And now, as you rightly say, of such massive concentration
on electric cars, although there are some cautionary notes being
sounded now as to how durable that technology may prove
to be.

S1 (34:33):
Of course, the different companies involved with electric cars as well,
you know, sort of Tesla was all the rage. And
now companies like BYD and some of they call them
mainstream companies also are having a hand in it too.

S7 (34:44):
Well, that's right, the Chinese have decided to really concentrate
on producing these affordable vehicles, and they've really changed the
the map. But as you rightly say, some of the
European makers have decided to Specialize as well. And I

(35:09):
think view is that they tend to offer much more
in the way of creature comforts and desirable finishes to
their cars. Then perhaps Tesla and the Chinese have bothered
to this stage. Anyway, it's been an interesting development.

S1 (35:28):
John, how did you go about doing it? You get
the magazine, you kind of pre-read it. You do some
leisurely reading in your own time to prepare yourself, or
do you just go in cold and do it? How
do you.

S7 (35:39):
Go in cold? I must say, I've got a certain
familiarity with the the style of the magazine, having been
doing it for so long, and a familiarity, I suppose,
with the various writers. Not that I think that matters ultimately.
So no, I just, I just do it cold and
as is in fact, I think the case with all

(36:02):
the magazines, in all probability Australian Geographic and they're the two.
I suppose that I do most. No pre-reading involved.

S1 (36:12):
Well, it's very, very noble of you because some of
us need a lot of preparation for the stuff that
we do, but that might say more about us than
it says about you. What about have you done some
titles or stuff in the past and think, oh gee,
do I really have to do this? Or this is
a bit of a drag to get through? You can
be honest with us. It's only you and me talking, John.
No one's listening.

S7 (36:32):
Oh, okay. Okay, well, I needn't feel too troubled. Oh, Peter,
one of the magazines that is in demand. I have
on occasion been asked to fill in when the more
seasoned readers are not available. Is the silicon chip. And

(36:53):
I found him. I found that a serious struggle because
I really have no knowledge. And let's be frank, little
interest in that technology. And So that was a struggle,
because even recognizing the symbols and the words and was
a big task. And so that was far from my

(37:16):
favorite past time. And the other side of it, of course,
is that if you don't have a familiarity, then you
tend to be very slow. So it doesn't really help
to get the work done. But, um, in the past
I have on occasions been asked to narrate a book
cover to cover, and the most challenging, without question of

(37:38):
those was the autobiography of an American chess master who
described move for move, about half a dozen of his
most remarkable games against fellow chess masters. And that was

(37:59):
a challenge for someone who only dabbled in chess as
a student many years ago and didn't pretend to know
anything about it. So that was a challenge, but I enjoyed.
I enjoyed the challenge.

S1 (38:11):
What about as far as your voice? You got a great,
strong voice. Any secrets to that, John?

S7 (38:17):
Yes, I suppose practice. I have a lot of a
lot of talking in my time, for one reason or another. But, um. Yeah,
I thought that probably that an area that require the
use of the voice was something I was better able
to handle than various other activities. What about.

S1 (38:38):
For example, what you drink or read before reading? Do
you have you got a routine in that area, or
are you pretty sort of flexible?

S7 (38:45):
Oh, yes. Um, at one stage in retirement, I took
up some singing with the teacher, and she used to
admonish me because I didn't temper my enjoyment of milk coffee.
And she pointed out to me that that didn't sit
well at all. It affected the vocal chords. And so

(39:10):
I try to I don't need to try and avoid
it because it's not something that's on tap, particularly down
in the studios. But no, no, just keep lubricated with
water and um, yeah, that's all there is to it.

S1 (39:25):
What about during Covid, John? Because obviously, you know, a
lot of people are isolated. You know, the sort of
service that you're providing would be almost more important than
other times of their time with Vision Australia. Did you
work through Covid or how did that work out for you?

S7 (39:38):
That's a very good question. It's, uh, a lifetime ago. Um,
I have difficulty recalling. Truth of the matter is, as
you rightly point out, if you're in a soundproof cubicle,
you weren't sort of exposed particularly, but I really don't
recall during lockdown. Good grief. I think I've chosen to

(40:01):
put those days out of mind as much as I can,
because certainly in so many ways, a sense of lost
opportunity and time. But I don't recall if, in fact
we continued and I don't think much changed. And as
I say, I guess being solitary pastime, sitting in a

(40:22):
studio with just a microphone in front of you didn't
give you the chance to spread or catch the dreaded Covid.
But I honestly don't recall what happened. If fear is
the word. I don't think my memory is going. I remember,
I just don't remember that.

S1 (40:40):
Yeah, you're just pretty worried about what you were reading.

S7 (40:43):
Yeah, well, I just do not recall. What what happened?
I'll have to ask when I'm down there tomorrow.

S1 (40:50):
I don't know, like, obviously, you know, you read, you
do what you need to do and then get on
with your day sort of thing. But you kind of
think about the impact that it's having on people. I mean,
the opportunity to have threatened to 60 print pages each
year transcribed into your preferred format. That's a huge thing
for someone who might be battling or having a bit
challenging as far as reading information goes. It's a it's

(41:12):
a wonderful service.

S7 (41:14):
Yeah. Look, I think obviously it is valuable work that
the section does. And yeah, look, I'm pleased to be
able to contribute in some small way. But yeah, look,
I think it's a really excellent service that that is offered.
And one thing I've often wondered about, to be honest,
is just how many people are able to avail themselves

(41:38):
of the service. It's interesting to know what the numbers
are in terms of readership.

S1 (41:45):
I'm sure there'd be some very regular takers, if you like,
or consumers, but then there'd be people that for one
else would want a recipe or a knitting pattern or something,
you know, read onto audio as well, so I'm sure
it'll be a movable market, as it were. Hey, John,
we're out of time. It's been an absolute delight speaking
to you. Congratulations on you and or congratulations to you

(42:08):
and all those that are involved. It's. As I say,
it's a tremendous service. Long may it continue. And thank
you for spending just a little bit of time with
us today.

S8 (42:15):
Thank you Peter.

S1 (42:16):
That's Sir John Ramsden, one of the wonderful narrators for
the personal support service. If you want to find out more,
if you know someone that thinks they could benefit from this.
Give Vision Australia a call 1300 847 466. We'll also put the
information up with our show notes. I often mention it's
a great addition to our program catching up with Meaghan

(42:38):
from Crime Stoppers. Victoria Lee is back with us for
another very interesting topic. Mia, lovely to speak to you again.

S9 (42:44):
Thank you, Peter, for having me again.

S1 (42:46):
Now retail crime. This is, uh, I guess something that
we can all kind of identify with is that as in,
you know, we can be sort of on the spot
without wanting to be there?

S9 (42:56):
Absolutely. The thing is, we're all either shoppers or, you know,
workers in retail. Everybody shops. And, you know, a lot
of us have had jobs in retail, whether that was
our first job when we were out of fresh out
of high school or, you know, we're working. They're still
you know, it's a really huge industry. And but retail

(43:16):
crime is a huge problem. And it goes beyond just,
you know, financial loss. It poses a huge risk to
the safety of the people that are working there and
to the customers. And as you can imagine, like we said,
a lot of these people that are working in retail
are young. The average age is around 23 for women
and 24 for men. So these are lots of young

(43:37):
people are working in in retail. And these incidents of
retail crime are now becoming far more violent. So many
incidents involve aggressive and violent behavior with, you know, offenders
now carrying weapons. And this is creating such a hostile
environment where these frontline workers are facing the threats or
facing verbal abuse, and they're simply doing their jobs. And,

(43:59):
you know, people might not know this thing either. Is
that retail crime actually fuels and funds other forms of
organized criminal activity. So that could be things like drug trafficking,
modern slavery. And these stolen goods are often resold or
exchanged for things like, you know, drugs, tobacco. And it

(44:20):
really does impact the community in ways that you wouldn't
even begin to understand.

S1 (44:23):
I know some of the information you sent through me,
you even talked about the fact that, you know, it
can be kind of, uh, associated with scams as well.
Retail crime.

S9 (44:31):
Well, absolutely. So, well, retail crime is something that happens
on the shop floor, you know, but these these crimes
are have such a huge sort of reach. So we've
got to do something about it because it's not just
one small thing. It's actually, you know, affecting our shoppers.
It's affecting our workers and authorities. Like for example, Victoria Police,

(44:53):
for example Crimestoppers Victoria where working together to crack down
on this. So we're noticing the the main thing that
we've noticed though is that retail crime is perpetrated by
repeat offenders in the waves, that 70% of all retail
crime is actually done by the same people or by
those repeat offenders, and these are the ones that are

(45:14):
stealing to then sell. They're stealing it to go towards
a profit, and then they're going to have that profit,
contribute to other forms of organised crime. So what we're
saying is can you send, you know, if you've got
CCTV footage, if you know of offenders that we're talking about,
then we want you to let us know because it's,
you know, we've got to get these people off the streets.

S1 (45:36):
I guess one of the good things about today, if
you like, is that there is more CCTV surveillance. So
I guess the chances are that someone at least is
going to get identified if not caught, which has got
to be a good thing as well, I guess. Help
people like Crimestoppers, help the police force as a whole.

S9 (45:51):
Absolutely. Because, you know, police have increased arrests with, you know,
the I think it's over 1133 offenders were arrested in
just January.

S1 (46:01):
Yeah, I saw that. That's amazing.

S9 (46:03):
Exactly. So. So these additional security measures with things like
surveillance cameras, they're really helpful. And they really are helping.
So what we've been doing is we've been releasing around
ten new offenders every week with footage supplied so that
CCTV footage and descriptions of their appearance and descriptions of

(46:25):
the things that they have done, and asking if people
are aware of who they are or have any information
about them because you know, somebody somewhere knows something. And
that's what we're sort of saying, is that if you
do have any information about any of the perpetrators or
offenders of retail crime that you let us know.

S1 (46:42):
You talked about, you know, often there can be someone
with their first job either still at school or at
university trying to earn a crust. And I guess getting
a bit of an introduction to the workforce, as it were.
I mean, so obviously being scared and having this sort
of thing happen to you is one thing, but I
guess the ongoing psychological damage that it can do to
the individual as well is something that we can't discount.

S9 (47:02):
Absolutely. So the rise in violence that is linked to
retail crime is just not acceptable for our frontline workers.
It's a lot of people are starting to, you know,
say things like it's just part of the job or,
you know, it's just expected now and it shouldn't be.
It should not be part of the job. Everybody deserves
to feel safe at work. And as you can imagine,

(47:23):
you know, there's lots of young people working there. And,
you know, a lot of them are women. And there
has been a significant rise in assaults on female workers
year on year. So the rise of 65.7% for assaults
on female workers. So if you're also thinking, you know,
you've got your daughters out there, you've got your sisters,
your friends, this is happening to people that we know

(47:45):
that are just trying to do their jobs. And a
lot of this, you know, they're not just dealing with
verbal abuse. They've got actual violent offenders. So they're bringing
weapons such as machetes, knives, syringes, screwdrivers, and they're ready
for a fight or a confrontation.

S1 (48:03):
That's something that has increased over time, hasn't it? As
in the people being more prepared when they come to
do a crime?

S9 (48:09):
Absolutely. I think that, you know, this offenders are becoming bolder,
more aggressive. And, you know, there's maybe a perceived, you know,
sort of lack of, of consequences. But that is so
not true. If you're stealing from a shop, you could
be on camera. Whether it's one thing, whether it's 100
things you're on camera when you're stealing in a shop,

(48:30):
and you could be the next person whose face is,
you know, on the Crime Stoppers website because it's just yeah,
it's just putting our frontline workers at risk. And it's
just something that we really need to work together as
a community to try and identify these people. And if
you are someone that is involved and has information and
wants to share, you can do so anonymously.

S1 (48:51):
I guess one of the things that we've learned from
having you on the program so fantastically over the last
year and a half has been that, you know, you're
kind of as good as the people out here are
trying to be to help you as well, aren't they?
You're very reliant. You do great work, but you're very
reliant on the community helping out.

S9 (49:07):
Absolutely. We are reliant on the community to send us information.
And the thing is, we are a trusted organization who
have been operating for almost 40 years. So we, you know,
have the trust of the community. They know that they
can come to us and remain anonymous and tell us
what they know. So we always say, we don't care
who you are. We just want to know what you know.

(49:28):
And we don't care if you've just got a small
bit of information, it's relevant and it's important. And, you know,
it could be that missing piece in the puzzle that
is an investigation. So it could be just a suspicious
act that you witnessed or you know someone's name that
you're not quite sure of. there. You know what their
real job is. You think it could be something illegal,

(49:48):
and you let us know, and then we can pass
it on to the relevant authorities.

S1 (49:53):
What about as far as the employers go or the
shop owners? I guess they're impacted as well.

S9 (49:58):
Yes. Of course. There's so many layers to retail crime
and the effects that it has. It really does affect
the whole community. And these people are doing their best
to look after frontline workers. Their CCTV footage is a
great thing that they've got. You know, there's cameras everywhere
and that's the stuff that's going to really help catch
these criminals. But, you know, the issue that they're really

(50:19):
dealing with is the organized retail crime. And that does
differ from an individual shoplifting in that it isn't just,
you know, a sort of spontaneous act or spontaneous theft.
It's it's coordinated groups of criminals and they're stealing really
large quantities of goods, and they have the intent to
resell them, and they're reselling them for profit. So it's

(50:40):
not opportunistic. It's very strategic, and it's planned. And these
people are not intending to, you know, steal something for
personal use. They might sell it online after they've stolen
it on a black market, or they can funnel it into,
you know, larger criminal enterprises. But it does impact businesses
really severely because it leads to obviously financial losses, but

(51:02):
then security costs and these things, you know, store closures
for small businesses, job losses or people, you know, leaving
their jobs because they no longer feel safe, but it
just really does contribute to a broader cycle of crime
because it's funding other illegal activities. Like I said, that
could be drug trafficking or, like you said, scams and fraud.

(51:22):
So it's really unfortunate. And then the main thing that
we're really talking about, though, is the, you know, the
greater risk of violence that these employees and customers are
facing when you go to your local supermarket and you
want to buy your your ingredients for dinner, you don't
want to come face to face with someone threatening you.

S1 (51:39):
Well, of course not. And of course, we talked about
the impact upon the employer or the the owner, if
you like. And if it's costing them money, then I
guess what they've got to do is kind of try
and pass it on. So it means we're probably paying
a bit more than we should for the items that
we buy legally.

S9 (51:54):
The thing is, it really does create this, you know, effect,
a ripple effect for so many people. And it's something that,
you know, we can help with. You know, we can
if we do have the information, anyone can play their
part in stopping retail crime, because I know that we
all know someone. Like I said at the beginning of
our chat, you know, that either works there or we've

(52:14):
worked in retail ourselves. So I'm sure everybody can, you know,
empathize with those that are dealing with this issue on
the front line.

S1 (52:22):
All right. Now, as you say, if people know something,
then do something about it. So we'll give you a
contact details in a second. I guess the other thing is, Mia, that,
you know, if you're caught up in it. Have you
got any advice about that? I mean, you know, obviously
I'm going to be confronting these people or challenging them,
but you kind of got to be supportive of the
shot work as well. So have you got any thoughts

(52:43):
about that?

S9 (52:44):
Well, the thing is, I think if you are involved
in organized retail crime in any way and you do
want to do something about it, then Crime Stoppers is
the perfect place because you can make a report anonymously
if you don't want to get, you know, if you
don't want to get involved and you don't want any
follow up questions or calls, you can let us know
what you know without you know, we don't track IP addresses.

(53:06):
You don't have to give us your name, any information
so you can, you know, stay anonymous. And this is
a great thing that people that you know, if they
don't feel safe, you know, and they want to still
do something about it, then they can report to us.

S1 (53:20):
Well, you used a very important word during the interview
that's trusted and Crime Stoppers Victoria. Crime Stoppers around Australia
are a trusted organisation. So people can feel very, very safe.
And you know that, as you said, that little bit
of information that you pass on can make all the
difference because you're very clearly people and you can piece
all these little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together and
hopefully come up with a good solution. Or at least

(53:42):
as you said, you know, getting some of these people
off the street.

S9 (53:44):
Absolutely. And if you did want to make a report
to us, you can do so on our website. And
that's crimestopperswa.com.au. But you can also call us on one 800, 333, 000.

S1 (53:57):
Yeah, I know you're very busy. So we appreciate you
spending some time. You're always choose some really relevant topics
and I guess topics that we can all identify with.
As I said, you know, we might have a a
kid sister or a kid brother that might have started
their work right now in retail, just earned a few dollars.
So we want them to be safe and and you know,
sometimes we've got people maybe returning after having families or
people who are semi-retired that want to do this sort

(54:19):
of work. So it could be anyone that's a potential
retail worker and they deserve to be safe, as indeed
we all do. So thank you for spending some time
with us and we'll catch up next month.

S9 (54:28):
Thank you so much. Peter. Speak, Ben.

S1 (54:30):
That's the Mayor Gardner there from Crime Stoppers. Victoria one 800, 333, 000.
As always, all that information up with our shadows. How
would you describe show of the week? It's coming up
this Monday evening, 955 NITV. Part of the SBS network.
Last Cab to Darwin. Rex is a cab driver who

(54:52):
has received the news that he hasn't got long to live.
He takes off on a journey to Darwin so he
can die on his own terms. Right at em. Last
Cab to Darwin on NITV. Part of the SBS network
this Monday evening, 9:55 p.m. rated M and of course,

(55:14):
with audio description. Now we had Rebecca Young on earlier
talking about the Fringe Festival and the Adelaide Festival. If
you'd like to book for the Fringe Festival, you can
ring 1300 621 251 306 Two. Double five. If you'd like to

(55:36):
ring for the Fringe Festival or for the Adelaide Festival.
The number there to ring to get good support is
1300 393 404 1300 393 404. If you miss any of those numbers, you
can always give us a call here at the radio
station or go to our show notes because they'll be

(55:57):
there as well. Some birthdays before we go. Lamorna Nightingale
having a birthday. We spoke to Lamorna last year when
she was putting on that show with the lovely Ria Andriani.
Say a big happy birthday to you Jessica Gallagher having
a birthday. What a tremendous para athlete Jessica is by
that winter and summer Paralympics. A very rare breed, but

(56:19):
a very fine athlete and a wonderful osteopath as well.
So happy birthday to you Jessica and Sean Oliver having
a birthday. That man about town. Very very talented musician
and technologist. So Sean, a big happy birthday to you.
That's it for the program. Sam, Richard, thanks so much
for your help. Pam Green, thanks so much for yours.

(56:41):
Reminding you that Focal Point is available on your favorite
podcast platform. Use Creedence Clearwater Revival grapevine. Spread the news
about how good the show is. Tell your friends about it.
On behalf of Philip Napier and a big show to
win the McDougal listening in. This is Peter Greco saying,
be kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for

(57:03):
others all being well. Focal point back at the same
time next week on Vision Australia Radio. This is focal point.