May 14, 2025 • 9 mins
Sam speaks with CEO of Assistive Technology Services Australia, Serena Ovens, about a pair of expos ATSA is holding in both Perth on 14-15 May and Melbourne on 20-21 May.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:05):
Sereno, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much for
your time.
S2 (00:09):
Thanks for having me, Sam.
S1 (00:11):
We're here to have a bit of a chat about
some upcoming expos that Azhar is involved with this month,
but before we do that, let's get a bit of
an overview of Azza itself and the work they do.
S2 (00:24):
Thanks. So Atsers, the peak industry body for the whole
of Australia, for all of the organisations, be they manufacturers, distributors, suppliers,
retailers of a massively broader range of assistive technology for
people with disability and older people. We're also though a
(00:45):
registered charity. So as well as supporting the industry and
making sure that they're doing the right thing and selling
product accordingly and bringing in things that are legal and
fit Australia's standards, we also ensure that they ethically and
equitably cater for their end users. The people that use
that at and need to have it properly scripted, well
(01:08):
looked after, maintained, repaired and supported all the way through
their independence journey.
S1 (01:14):
And following on from that, Serena, there's a couple of
expos coming up that we'd love to have a chat about.
Let's start off with the expo happening in Perth in
just over a week's time. That's pretty exciting.
S2 (01:30):
It is Sam. It makes for a busy time for us.
But we do have the Perth Expo, as you say,
on the 14th and 15th of May at the Perth Showgrounds.
And that's the first of 2 in 2 weeks, so
it'll keep us fairly busy. Perth, of course, is a
great place for us to be able to bring across
the country a lot of both local at suppliers and
(01:53):
of course some of our suppliers come across from the
other side of the country to be able to display
and exhibit a broad range of assistive technology for people
to come and try to view and see what's out
in the market, to look at all the new technology.
Also for allied health professionals as well, to be able
to again understand what's out in the market so they
(02:15):
can support people with disability in terms of any of
the assistive technology that they need. So for, um, your
cohort in particular, there will be exhibitors. In fact, Vision
Australia themselves will be at I'm not sure if they're
at Perth or they're definitely at Melbourne. We've got different
organisations that will have things like pens that can read
(02:38):
text on a page. We've got blind spots coming along
to show people the different sporting activities that they can do.
Things like vision tech that have amazing magnifiers for people
with low vision and need different types of equipment to
help them actually read lots of different activities. Our expos
are the biggest at expos in Australia, and it's really
(03:03):
great to be able to get along and see what's
out there, because you would be blown away by the
amount of new technology in the market, certainly.
S1 (03:11):
Yeah, those text to speech pens are incredible. I've heard
quite a lot about them now. Serena, what else can
people in Perth expect if they head along to the
Perth Expo? That would be unique perhaps to the Perth
event over the Melbourne one.
S2 (03:29):
Are now they would see an adaptive fashion show which
will happen on the Thursday afternoon. It's free to attend,
and I should say that so that everyone knows that
they can walk in the door and if they pre-register,
they'll be entitled to get a free coffee when they
come in as well. Not unique, but really good to
know because everyone loves a tea or coffee halfway through
(03:50):
the day when they're getting tired and walking around. The
other thing I should let you know too, is that
I believe there are limited trains to the event as well.
So public transport is on hand for you to get there.
Unique to Perth will be quite a number of your
local suppliers and support. So what we try to do
with all our expos is, as well as bringing together
(04:12):
the industry, is ensure that we can capture as many
of the local supports, the local markets, so that you
can link with people that you may not know but
are locally on the ground, can support you both at
the expo, but of course in your daily needs as well.
S1 (04:30):
Okay, wonderful. Now, Serena, let's have a bit of a
chat about the Melbourne Expo, which is taking place the
week after the Perth event.
S2 (04:41):
Yep. So Melbourne is happening on the 20th and 21st
of May. The Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week.
It's also at the Showgrounds, the Flemington Showgrounds in Melbourne.
It is our biggest expo of all the expos we
do across Australia. It is absolutely massive and we sell
out really quickly. We keep taking more and more space
(05:03):
and more and more exhibitors want space and it just
keeps getting bigger and bigger. So in Melbourne you can
expect to see the broadest range of equipment, home modifications online.
It um, automated information, pretty much anything and everything that
our industry provides.
S1 (05:24):
And I suppose similar to the Perth event, there's quite
a few unique businesses and organisations specific to Melbourne and
Victoria that will be appearing at the Melbourne Expo, but
what else can people expect if they head along?
S2 (05:42):
Yeah, there's a really big sports area in Melbourne, so
what they can see, there is a massive range of
different options for people that want to try out different
sporting events and activities. So things like pickleball, which has
become really popular again, I believe we'll have blind spots
(06:03):
on hand as well. I know that some of our expos,
and I have to be honest, I'm not 100% sure
of absolutely every different sporting event or group that will
be there. But we've seen things from basketball to rock
climbing to sailing to give people just the broadest range
of come and try events. So it's not only just
(06:23):
come and watch, but it's actually get in and give
things a go yourself as well.
S1 (06:27):
And Serena, I understand both Expos will be featuring a
seminar program to educate the wider public about the various
assistive technologies that are available.
S2 (06:41):
Absolutely, Sam. Across all our expos, we run seminars throughout
both days at set times. Some of them are quite
focused for allied health and other professionals. But broadly, there
would be quite a bit of interest for people to
attend any of those seminars. They're welcome to do so again.
(07:01):
They are also free, and you can find out what's
on by looking at either the programme on the day
when you get there, or by checking out the information
on the website that'll tell you about the different sessions
when they're running, where to find them, and decide whether
it's something you're interested in getting some understanding about.
S1 (07:19):
Just to wrap up, if people would like to find
out a bit more about assistive technology suppliers Australia, or
perhaps sign up to or register or pick up a
ticket to head along to these expos, what's the best
way for them to do that?
S2 (07:39):
Absolutely. So they can either go directly to our website,
which is Azza, and that's at org, and you can
from there, get into the independent Living expos via the
events tab. And that will allow you to jump on
(07:59):
and register your attendance at any of the events that
we have. That registration, as I said, is free for
anybody to attend any of our expos. And if you pre-register,
gives you that free coffee or tea. So I recommend
people doing that. Again our website is a.
S1 (08:20):
Perfect. I've been speaking today with Serena Ovens, CEO of
Assistive Technology Suppliers Australia, here to chat to me about
the upcoming expos at there will be involved with over
the month of May. Serena, thank you so much for
your time today. It was a pleasure to catch up
(08:42):
with you and chat about the Expos.
S2 (08:45):
Thanks, Sam. Really appreciate it and look forward to seeing
yourself and your Vision Australia members there.
Sereno, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much for
your time.
S2 (00:09):
Thanks for having me, Sam.
S1 (00:11):
We're here to have a bit of a chat about
some upcoming expos that Azhar is involved with this month,
but before we do that, let's get a bit of
an overview of Azza itself and the work they do.
S2 (00:24):
Thanks. So Atsers, the peak industry body for the whole
of Australia, for all of the organisations, be they manufacturers, distributors, suppliers,
retailers of a massively broader range of assistive technology for
people with disability and older people. We're also though a
(00:45):
registered charity. So as well as supporting the industry and
making sure that they're doing the right thing and selling
product accordingly and bringing in things that are legal and
fit Australia's standards, we also ensure that they ethically and
equitably cater for their end users. The people that use
that at and need to have it properly scripted, well
(01:08):
looked after, maintained, repaired and supported all the way through
their independence journey.
S1 (01:14):
And following on from that, Serena, there's a couple of
expos coming up that we'd love to have a chat about.
Let's start off with the expo happening in Perth in
just over a week's time. That's pretty exciting.
S2 (01:30):
It is Sam. It makes for a busy time for us.
But we do have the Perth Expo, as you say,
on the 14th and 15th of May at the Perth Showgrounds.
And that's the first of 2 in 2 weeks, so
it'll keep us fairly busy. Perth, of course, is a
great place for us to be able to bring across
the country a lot of both local at suppliers and
(01:53):
of course some of our suppliers come across from the
other side of the country to be able to display
and exhibit a broad range of assistive technology for people
to come and try to view and see what's out
in the market, to look at all the new technology.
Also for allied health professionals as well, to be able
to again understand what's out in the market so they
(02:15):
can support people with disability in terms of any of
the assistive technology that they need. So for, um, your
cohort in particular, there will be exhibitors. In fact, Vision
Australia themselves will be at I'm not sure if they're
at Perth or they're definitely at Melbourne. We've got different
organisations that will have things like pens that can read
(02:38):
text on a page. We've got blind spots coming along
to show people the different sporting activities that they can do.
Things like vision tech that have amazing magnifiers for people
with low vision and need different types of equipment to
help them actually read lots of different activities. Our expos
are the biggest at expos in Australia, and it's really
(03:03):
great to be able to get along and see what's
out there, because you would be blown away by the
amount of new technology in the market, certainly.
S1 (03:11):
Yeah, those text to speech pens are incredible. I've heard
quite a lot about them now. Serena, what else can
people in Perth expect if they head along to the
Perth Expo? That would be unique perhaps to the Perth
event over the Melbourne one.
S2 (03:29):
Are now they would see an adaptive fashion show which
will happen on the Thursday afternoon. It's free to attend,
and I should say that so that everyone knows that
they can walk in the door and if they pre-register,
they'll be entitled to get a free coffee when they
come in as well. Not unique, but really good to
know because everyone loves a tea or coffee halfway through
(03:50):
the day when they're getting tired and walking around. The
other thing I should let you know too, is that
I believe there are limited trains to the event as well.
So public transport is on hand for you to get there.
Unique to Perth will be quite a number of your
local suppliers and support. So what we try to do
with all our expos is, as well as bringing together
(04:12):
the industry, is ensure that we can capture as many
of the local supports, the local markets, so that you
can link with people that you may not know but
are locally on the ground, can support you both at
the expo, but of course in your daily needs as well.
S1 (04:30):
Okay, wonderful. Now, Serena, let's have a bit of a
chat about the Melbourne Expo, which is taking place the
week after the Perth event.
S2 (04:41):
Yep. So Melbourne is happening on the 20th and 21st
of May. The Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week.
It's also at the Showgrounds, the Flemington Showgrounds in Melbourne.
It is our biggest expo of all the expos we
do across Australia. It is absolutely massive and we sell
out really quickly. We keep taking more and more space
(05:03):
and more and more exhibitors want space and it just
keeps getting bigger and bigger. So in Melbourne you can
expect to see the broadest range of equipment, home modifications online.
It um, automated information, pretty much anything and everything that
our industry provides.
S1 (05:24):
And I suppose similar to the Perth event, there's quite
a few unique businesses and organisations specific to Melbourne and
Victoria that will be appearing at the Melbourne Expo, but
what else can people expect if they head along?
S2 (05:42):
Yeah, there's a really big sports area in Melbourne, so
what they can see, there is a massive range of
different options for people that want to try out different
sporting events and activities. So things like pickleball, which has
become really popular again, I believe we'll have blind spots
(06:03):
on hand as well. I know that some of our expos,
and I have to be honest, I'm not 100% sure
of absolutely every different sporting event or group that will
be there. But we've seen things from basketball to rock
climbing to sailing to give people just the broadest range
of come and try events. So it's not only just
(06:23):
come and watch, but it's actually get in and give
things a go yourself as well.
S1 (06:27):
And Serena, I understand both Expos will be featuring a
seminar program to educate the wider public about the various
assistive technologies that are available.
S2 (06:41):
Absolutely, Sam. Across all our expos, we run seminars throughout
both days at set times. Some of them are quite
focused for allied health and other professionals. But broadly, there
would be quite a bit of interest for people to
attend any of those seminars. They're welcome to do so again.
(07:01):
They are also free, and you can find out what's
on by looking at either the programme on the day
when you get there, or by checking out the information
on the website that'll tell you about the different sessions
when they're running, where to find them, and decide whether
it's something you're interested in getting some understanding about.
S1 (07:19):
Just to wrap up, if people would like to find
out a bit more about assistive technology suppliers Australia, or
perhaps sign up to or register or pick up a
ticket to head along to these expos, what's the best
way for them to do that?
S2 (07:39):
Absolutely. So they can either go directly to our website,
which is Azza, and that's at org, and you can
from there, get into the independent Living expos via the
events tab. And that will allow you to jump on
(07:59):
and register your attendance at any of the events that
we have. That registration, as I said, is free for
anybody to attend any of our expos. And if you pre-register,
gives you that free coffee or tea. So I recommend
people doing that. Again our website is a.
S1 (08:20):
Perfect. I've been speaking today with Serena Ovens, CEO of
Assistive Technology Suppliers Australia, here to chat to me about
the upcoming expos at there will be involved with over
the month of May. Serena, thank you so much for
your time today. It was a pleasure to catch up
(08:42):
with you and chat about the Expos.
S2 (08:45):
Thanks, Sam. Really appreciate it and look forward to seeing
yourself and your Vision Australia members there.
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