December 2, 2025 • 13 mins
Today is International Day of People with Disability, and to mark the occasion Sam caught up with one of this year's ambassadors, Santiago Velasquez Hurtado.
Among many other things Santi is the co-founder of Hailo, a public transport app to ensure bus passengers who are blind or have low vision are picked up and dropped off without the worry of hailing the bus or working out when their stop will be.
He talks about what it means to be an ambassador, why IDPWD is such an important day for the disabled community, and what needs to change to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:13):
Santi, welcome back to Talking Vision. Thank you very much
for your time.
S2 (00:18):
Sam. As always, it's a pleasure to be with you
and especially this week that on the 3rd of December
is International Day for people with disability. What a year
it has been.
S1 (00:28):
Absolutely. Yeah, very special week. And um, a great way to,
as you've said, celebrate as we head to the end
of the year. Now, let's just get a bit of
an overview for people out there about the day itself.
S2 (00:45):
International Day of People with disability is a United Nations celebration,
if you will slash, uh, Awareness Day. And obviously it
has become, uh, not just a United Nations thing, if
you will, but it's a day where we can celebrate
the diversity that makes this world what it is with
(01:07):
the objective of not just saying, hey, yep, cool people
with disabilities exist, but with a longer term Plan of
making sure that we all understand diversity. We understand that,
you know, there are tall people in this world. There
are people who are blonde. There are people who are blind.
There are people who use wheelchairs and so on and
(01:27):
so on and so forth. And that's the 3rd of December.
So on the 3rd of December this year and every
year we celebrate International Day for people with disability. And
the week before, actually it was International Week for people
with disability. So it's interesting that they happen in two
(01:48):
sort of different time frames. But I guess one builds
up to the day. But it's very exciting.
S1 (01:53):
It's very exciting. And another very exciting thing that you're
involved with is you're one of the ambassadors this year.
That's pretty cool. It's the first time, as I understand it,
you've been an ambassador. So tell us what that involves
and how you got involved there.
S2 (02:13):
It's a bit of an interesting story because I got
an email this August from the Federal Government Department of
Social as well as aging DSA, and they asked me
if I wanted to be an ambassador. And I thought
for a second that it was a scam. Fortunately it wasn't.
I did my due diligence, but you know, when you
(02:34):
get those emails that sound too good to be true.
S1 (02:36):
Yeah, exactly, I don't know. Yeah, well, there you go.
S2 (02:40):
To cut the story short as to what it is,
it's this year. The government is or has selected rather
six ambassadors with the intent of showing what people with
disabilities can do, how diverse we are, and what representation
(03:01):
across the world and across Australia is able to do
for the broader society. So there are six ambassadors. I
have a vision impairment, so I'm representing sort of that community,
which is an honor. And there are people who are
of short stature, somebody who uses a wheelchair. Hidden disabilities. Amputee.
(03:22):
And we're all in different industries. But the main goal
is the Australian government wants to put its hat in
the ring of. We live in a global society. We
are all different. But those differences don't change what we
can and cannot do. And with the longer term objective
(03:42):
of if we have exposure at the local level, at
the federal level, if we have exposure, you know, in
multiple facets of society, then people will be more accustomed
to seeing us. So when we go for employment, for education,
(04:04):
it'll just be normal. It'll just be yep. He has
a vision impairment. That's fine. He can be a barista.
He can study engineering, he can do whatever. So the
objective is just showing the world that, yes, we're different,
but at the same time, we're the same.
S1 (04:19):
Absolutely. And, um, you know, this might be a bit
tricky to pin down to one sort of major thing. Sunti.
But what does it mean to you to be an
ambassador and have the opportunity to have your say and
spread the messages you have always championed in quite a
(04:43):
few different aspects of society? And now as an ambassador
for for International Day of People with Disability in Australia,
what's that sort of mean for you, and what do
you really want people to take away when they are
involved with this day and all the events that are
(05:05):
going on around it?
S2 (05:06):
It's a very interesting question and I have two different answers.
In the first one is it's an honour, right? It's
an absolute honour to be recognised for this position. Right.
And I'll do my best and put my best foot
forward to make sure that whether you have or don't
have a disability, you are recognized equally. Right. And you
(05:31):
have access to the same opportunities as everybody else in
the other hand. And this is where my conflict, I guess, starts.
Because the reason why this exists is because or what
I mean by this, I mean the reason why the
ambassadorship exists and why International Day for people with disabilities
exist is because of the lack of representation that we
(05:54):
have for people who have disabilities, because of all the
inequalities that exist. It's because of all the systems, processes, services, products,
you know, and you keep going that are not accessible,
are not inclusive. So amazing in one hand, frustrating in
the other hand, because it shouldn't be this way. Uh, although,
as we all know, progress takes time. It takes effort.
(06:17):
So from my point of view, hoping that this isn't
just an ambassadorship position where I, you know, do a
few photo ops and stuff. I'm keen to do more,
but I'm keen to work with the other ambassadors, work
with the Australian government to champion a project to do
something that, whether it's small or big, it will actually
(06:40):
have an impact because at the end of the day
we can talk all we want, but if we don't
put it into action, we won't have results. So if
you are listening and if you have something that you're
passionate about, if you have something that you think the
government should know, if you have something that they should
work on, reach out to your local member. Reach out
(07:02):
to those who might be able to help. Don't be
shy in terms of saying or asking for things, because
at the end of the day, if we don't ask,
nobody's going to come knocking on our door and say, hey,
would you like this?
S1 (07:13):
Mhm. Yeah for sure. And that's um, where it's all
about fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress, which
of course is the theme of this year's Is International
Day of People with disability. And they're not just words
on a website. They are very important mission statements and
(07:37):
things like that that these sort of days are really
looking to champion. And what are you hoping to see
come from that message and that theme for society more broadly?
You've gone into this to some extent already, but what
do those particular words mean from your standpoint?
S2 (07:59):
I think for me to keep it short and simple
and sweet, if you will, the idea that if a
child is born with a disability or if somebody acquires
a disability later on in life, the words basically, my
long term aspiration for our world is for somebody who
(08:19):
has a disability to be able to pick what they
want to study and to be able to have the
support from the school, from their family, from their friends,
from their peers to do so without any hesitation. The
ability for somebody who is going to high school to
also work at a McDonald's or as a barista, just
like their regular sighted peers or their regular non-disabled peers,
(08:43):
because that's something that we don't have in the disability community.
I don't know many people in the disability community who
had a part time job while in high school, who
had a part time job while in uni, so they
could also have the same experiences as those who did
right and longer term, right. You know, having the ability
to have people who have disabilities just be completely integrated
(09:06):
into our world. Right. Um, I guess a good example
I like to give is a hundred years ago, if
you would have said women should be allowed to vote,
should be allowed to do PhDs, should be allowed to
do many, many things. The answer would have been no.
Are you nuts? And now that's common, right? More work
still needs to be done. And I'm not a woman,
(09:26):
so I won't pretend to speak about that particular topic.
But progress has been made and that's what we need
to do for the disability community to make more progress
so that small things, such as going out and about
and having accessible navigation all the way through to studying
complex things at university, or applying for a job or
(09:47):
buying a house, all of those things are very easy
to do because the world is just it's just accessible
and it just works for everybody.
S1 (09:55):
Um, but there are some things that still need more
work to be done around them. And one of those
things is, of course, public transport, a topic very close
to your heart and something very closely involved with your
passion project, your work, more importantly with Halo. So give
(10:16):
us a bit of a Halo update. What's the latest
from that side of things that, um, you can let
our listeners know about?
S2 (10:24):
The latest and greatest is that we need testers beta
testers for iOS and Android applications in the Melbourne area
region because there have been a few delays, but we're
near the end in terms of good news. It should
be coming very, very soon. But if you are somebody
who is frustrated by buses leaving you behind because you
(10:46):
can't see them to hail them, or if you're frustrated
because you don't know when to press the bell to
be able to get off, because you can't look at
a map just like myself. Or if you have issues
knowing whether the bus in front of you or the
one behind it, or the one behind it at a
multi-stop platform is the one you want. Let us know.
Go to Halo h o Co or you know, reach
(11:07):
out through to the podcast and let us know that
you want to be a tester. We would love your feedback,
and the idea is to basically make public transport a
little more accessible. And for those of you who don't
know what Halo is, as somebody who is blind, I
was just frustrated that, as I said, buses kept leaving
me behind. Trams had their own issues. Trains had their
(11:27):
own issues. So I said, if we can electronically hail
a bus, a train, a tram from our phones, and
the driver gets an alert on their console as they
approach you. Hailing them and or pressing the bell at
the appropriate time will become. Or well, actually has become
a thing of the past. Making public transport more accessible
and not having any issues with either, you know, being
(11:50):
refused service because you have a dog guide or being
left behind on the curve because the bus didn't see you.
So if anybody lives in the greater Melbourne region and
if you want to be a tester, let us know.
But also, even if you don't, let us know that
you want hailo in your region, the more support we have,
the more advocacy we have from the community for better
(12:11):
public transport, the better we can make this country. And
just remember, you know, think about the amazing things that
you can do when you have freedom. Uh, so if
more things are open to you because of the public
transport that already exist, just imagine what you could do.
S1 (12:26):
Yeah, that's a perfect note to end on. And if,
as Santi said, you head along to Halo Dot, you
can find out a lot more about Halo and how
the app can help you, or somebody you know who
might just need that extra help with getting around on
(12:48):
the local public transport network. So that's Halo to find
out more. Or if you'd love to hear more from
Sandy from his other side of things as ambassador for
International Day of People with disability, you can of course
head to IDP. To hear his story and those of
(13:13):
all the other ambassadors for this year's International Day of
People with disabilities. Or maybe just find out a bit
more about the day more broadly. Well, Sandy, thank you
very much for your time today. Always great to have
you on talking vision and happy International Day of people
with disability.
S2 (13:35):
Thank you, Sam, for having me. Happy International Day for
people with disability. To everybody who is listening.
Santi, welcome back to Talking Vision. Thank you very much
for your time.
S2 (00:18):
Sam. As always, it's a pleasure to be with you
and especially this week that on the 3rd of December
is International Day for people with disability. What a year
it has been.
S1 (00:28):
Absolutely. Yeah, very special week. And um, a great way to,
as you've said, celebrate as we head to the end
of the year. Now, let's just get a bit of
an overview for people out there about the day itself.
S2 (00:45):
International Day of People with disability is a United Nations celebration,
if you will slash, uh, Awareness Day. And obviously it
has become, uh, not just a United Nations thing, if
you will, but it's a day where we can celebrate
the diversity that makes this world what it is with
(01:07):
the objective of not just saying, hey, yep, cool people
with disabilities exist, but with a longer term Plan of
making sure that we all understand diversity. We understand that,
you know, there are tall people in this world. There
are people who are blonde. There are people who are blind.
There are people who use wheelchairs and so on and
(01:27):
so on and so forth. And that's the 3rd of December.
So on the 3rd of December this year and every
year we celebrate International Day for people with disability. And
the week before, actually it was International Week for people
with disability. So it's interesting that they happen in two
(01:48):
sort of different time frames. But I guess one builds
up to the day. But it's very exciting.
S1 (01:53):
It's very exciting. And another very exciting thing that you're
involved with is you're one of the ambassadors this year.
That's pretty cool. It's the first time, as I understand it,
you've been an ambassador. So tell us what that involves
and how you got involved there.
S2 (02:13):
It's a bit of an interesting story because I got
an email this August from the Federal Government Department of
Social as well as aging DSA, and they asked me
if I wanted to be an ambassador. And I thought
for a second that it was a scam. Fortunately it wasn't.
I did my due diligence, but you know, when you
(02:34):
get those emails that sound too good to be true.
S1 (02:36):
Yeah, exactly, I don't know. Yeah, well, there you go.
S2 (02:40):
To cut the story short as to what it is,
it's this year. The government is or has selected rather
six ambassadors with the intent of showing what people with
disabilities can do, how diverse we are, and what representation
(03:01):
across the world and across Australia is able to do
for the broader society. So there are six ambassadors. I
have a vision impairment, so I'm representing sort of that community,
which is an honor. And there are people who are
of short stature, somebody who uses a wheelchair. Hidden disabilities. Amputee.
(03:22):
And we're all in different industries. But the main goal
is the Australian government wants to put its hat in
the ring of. We live in a global society. We
are all different. But those differences don't change what we
can and cannot do. And with the longer term objective
(03:42):
of if we have exposure at the local level, at
the federal level, if we have exposure, you know, in
multiple facets of society, then people will be more accustomed
to seeing us. So when we go for employment, for education,
(04:04):
it'll just be normal. It'll just be yep. He has
a vision impairment. That's fine. He can be a barista.
He can study engineering, he can do whatever. So the
objective is just showing the world that, yes, we're different,
but at the same time, we're the same.
S1 (04:19):
Absolutely. And, um, you know, this might be a bit
tricky to pin down to one sort of major thing. Sunti.
But what does it mean to you to be an
ambassador and have the opportunity to have your say and
spread the messages you have always championed in quite a
(04:43):
few different aspects of society? And now as an ambassador
for for International Day of People with Disability in Australia,
what's that sort of mean for you, and what do
you really want people to take away when they are
involved with this day and all the events that are
(05:05):
going on around it?
S2 (05:06):
It's a very interesting question and I have two different answers.
In the first one is it's an honour, right? It's
an absolute honour to be recognised for this position. Right.
And I'll do my best and put my best foot
forward to make sure that whether you have or don't
have a disability, you are recognized equally. Right. And you
(05:31):
have access to the same opportunities as everybody else in
the other hand. And this is where my conflict, I guess, starts.
Because the reason why this exists is because or what
I mean by this, I mean the reason why the
ambassadorship exists and why International Day for people with disabilities
exist is because of the lack of representation that we
(05:54):
have for people who have disabilities, because of all the
inequalities that exist. It's because of all the systems, processes, services, products,
you know, and you keep going that are not accessible,
are not inclusive. So amazing in one hand, frustrating in
the other hand, because it shouldn't be this way. Uh, although,
as we all know, progress takes time. It takes effort.
(06:17):
So from my point of view, hoping that this isn't
just an ambassadorship position where I, you know, do a
few photo ops and stuff. I'm keen to do more,
but I'm keen to work with the other ambassadors, work
with the Australian government to champion a project to do
something that, whether it's small or big, it will actually
(06:40):
have an impact because at the end of the day
we can talk all we want, but if we don't
put it into action, we won't have results. So if
you are listening and if you have something that you're
passionate about, if you have something that you think the
government should know, if you have something that they should
work on, reach out to your local member. Reach out
(07:02):
to those who might be able to help. Don't be
shy in terms of saying or asking for things, because
at the end of the day, if we don't ask,
nobody's going to come knocking on our door and say, hey,
would you like this?
S1 (07:13):
Mhm. Yeah for sure. And that's um, where it's all
about fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress, which
of course is the theme of this year's Is International
Day of People with disability. And they're not just words
on a website. They are very important mission statements and
(07:37):
things like that that these sort of days are really
looking to champion. And what are you hoping to see
come from that message and that theme for society more broadly?
You've gone into this to some extent already, but what
do those particular words mean from your standpoint?
S2 (07:59):
I think for me to keep it short and simple
and sweet, if you will, the idea that if a
child is born with a disability or if somebody acquires
a disability later on in life, the words basically, my
long term aspiration for our world is for somebody who
(08:19):
has a disability to be able to pick what they
want to study and to be able to have the
support from the school, from their family, from their friends,
from their peers to do so without any hesitation. The
ability for somebody who is going to high school to
also work at a McDonald's or as a barista, just
like their regular sighted peers or their regular non-disabled peers,
(08:43):
because that's something that we don't have in the disability community.
I don't know many people in the disability community who
had a part time job while in high school, who
had a part time job while in uni, so they
could also have the same experiences as those who did
right and longer term, right. You know, having the ability
to have people who have disabilities just be completely integrated
(09:06):
into our world. Right. Um, I guess a good example
I like to give is a hundred years ago, if
you would have said women should be allowed to vote,
should be allowed to do PhDs, should be allowed to
do many, many things. The answer would have been no.
Are you nuts? And now that's common, right? More work
still needs to be done. And I'm not a woman,
(09:26):
so I won't pretend to speak about that particular topic.
But progress has been made and that's what we need
to do for the disability community to make more progress
so that small things, such as going out and about
and having accessible navigation all the way through to studying
complex things at university, or applying for a job or
(09:47):
buying a house, all of those things are very easy
to do because the world is just it's just accessible
and it just works for everybody.
S1 (09:55):
Um, but there are some things that still need more
work to be done around them. And one of those
things is, of course, public transport, a topic very close
to your heart and something very closely involved with your
passion project, your work, more importantly with Halo. So give
(10:16):
us a bit of a Halo update. What's the latest
from that side of things that, um, you can let
our listeners know about?
S2 (10:24):
The latest and greatest is that we need testers beta
testers for iOS and Android applications in the Melbourne area
region because there have been a few delays, but we're
near the end in terms of good news. It should
be coming very, very soon. But if you are somebody
who is frustrated by buses leaving you behind because you
(10:46):
can't see them to hail them, or if you're frustrated
because you don't know when to press the bell to
be able to get off, because you can't look at
a map just like myself. Or if you have issues
knowing whether the bus in front of you or the
one behind it, or the one behind it at a
multi-stop platform is the one you want. Let us know.
Go to Halo h o Co or you know, reach
(11:07):
out through to the podcast and let us know that
you want to be a tester. We would love your feedback,
and the idea is to basically make public transport a
little more accessible. And for those of you who don't
know what Halo is, as somebody who is blind, I
was just frustrated that, as I said, buses kept leaving
me behind. Trams had their own issues. Trains had their
(11:27):
own issues. So I said, if we can electronically hail
a bus, a train, a tram from our phones, and
the driver gets an alert on their console as they
approach you. Hailing them and or pressing the bell at
the appropriate time will become. Or well, actually has become
a thing of the past. Making public transport more accessible
and not having any issues with either, you know, being
(11:50):
refused service because you have a dog guide or being
left behind on the curve because the bus didn't see you.
So if anybody lives in the greater Melbourne region and
if you want to be a tester, let us know.
But also, even if you don't, let us know that
you want hailo in your region, the more support we have,
the more advocacy we have from the community for better
(12:11):
public transport, the better we can make this country. And
just remember, you know, think about the amazing things that
you can do when you have freedom. Uh, so if
more things are open to you because of the public
transport that already exist, just imagine what you could do.
S1 (12:26):
Yeah, that's a perfect note to end on. And if,
as Santi said, you head along to Halo Dot, you
can find out a lot more about Halo and how
the app can help you, or somebody you know who
might just need that extra help with getting around on
(12:48):
the local public transport network. So that's Halo to find
out more. Or if you'd love to hear more from
Sandy from his other side of things as ambassador for
International Day of People with disability, you can of course
head to IDP. To hear his story and those of
(13:13):
all the other ambassadors for this year's International Day of
People with disabilities. Or maybe just find out a bit
more about the day more broadly. Well, Sandy, thank you
very much for your time today. Always great to have
you on talking vision and happy International Day of people
with disability.
S2 (13:35):
Thank you, Sam, for having me. Happy International Day for
people with disability. To everybody who is listening.
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