03 May 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:16):
It's just gone 5:00 and depending on when and where
you're listening. Have you voted yet? If you're sick of
hearing the elections and about the elections, you've come to
the right place. Peter Greco saying, great to be here.
Here on radio. Radio 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, online
at VA radio, VA radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin

(00:38):
through the Community Radio Plus app, look for Vision Australia,
Radio Adelaide. Also our friends listening through 103.9 hyper feminine
Esperance in Western Australia. More friends through Disability Media Australia
supporting us as well. You can catch us on that
particular website powered media, media and also through print radio

(01:01):
in Tasmania. People listening there as well. I'll mention a
bit more about that before we wrap up. Glad to
be here. This program come to you from Garner land
rather than elections. We're going to talk about golf ball
with Brittany Watson. We're going to talk about netball with
Paul Binky. We'll catch up with Aaron Chair from Guide
Dogs Saint International Guide Dog Day during the week. How

(01:24):
did that go? David Mitchell will continue talking about Candida
or Candida and some interesting breakthroughs in the treatment of that.
We'll also catch up with Belinda Helier from Brewed by
Belinda the Brew. That is true. Talking about flowers or
florals or petals that can be used with tea or
in tea look. So catch up with Martin Stuart from

(01:46):
Blind Cities Australia. They're celebrating 50 years. You'll be invited
to their conference coming up in June. Also having a
look back over advocacy over some of that time. And
Catherine Carey will join us from Work Skills. This is
a great event. It was happening in Adelaide during the week,
but also moving to Newcastle next week, so you'll be

(02:08):
able to attend that if you're in Newcastle or Hunter area.
Brittany Watson is vice president of the Goalball Victoria. Brittany
is on the line. Brittany, good to catch up.

S2 (02:22):
Nice to catch up with you too, Peter.

S1 (02:24):
Now you've got some very exciting news. You're off overseas
very shortly.

S2 (02:28):
Uh, yes. Um, in two weeks, I'm flying out with
the Australian bowls team to compete in Finland before they
go on to Sweden. Um, so there's a selection of
six that goes through to Sweden, which is a sanctioned event.
So to get points up to head to the Paralympics,

(02:48):
and I've been lucky enough to make the top eight,
which are going to a club tournament in Finland beforehand.

S1 (02:54):
Okay, well don't be modest, Brittany. You've made it though. Uh,
lucky is not the word. Uh, now tell me, what
is the word, though you're a bit of an overnight sensation,
aren't you? You've only recently come to the sport.

S2 (03:04):
Yeah. Um. It honestly does feel like it's been overnight.
I always explain it. I've been playing for a hot minute, and, um. Yeah,
I started, uh, roughly around this time last year, actually.
So I've been I've been watching my partner play goalball
for the last two years. And then I thought, oh,
I should give it a go. Like, let's just see
how it goes. Um, basically fell in love with the first, uh,

(03:28):
trap of the ball. Um, I did an international tournament
with Victoria in New Zealand, played in two state titles,
one in Victoria, one in New South Wales, and then
got to represent Victoria um, at the AGC. Um, which
is where I got noticed by the Australian goalball team.

S1 (03:45):
Now, when you really love something, sometimes it's hard to
kind of put it into words as to why you
like it, why you love playing. Can you do that
with goalball? Is it just one of those things?

S2 (03:54):
Yeah. Uh, definitely. I think, um, not being bubble wrapped
is probably the best way I describe it. Um, when
you're out and about in the community. I find, um,
everybody is very cautious of you walking around. And be
careful of this. Be careful of that. Don't run off
the train tracks or just anything silly, um, that they

(04:16):
like to kind of bubble wrap you in. Um, and
then you put some eyeshades on and you jump on
the go ball court and you throw yourself in front of,
you know, this 1.25 kilo ball coming at you and
you dive on the floor, you can run around, you
can have all the fun that you want without anybody,
like being fearful of your life.

S1 (04:35):
That's a fascinating insight. And I guess some people would have, uh,
I've been able to identify that. Doesn't think that's the
kind of a new way of looking at it.

S2 (04:43):
Yeah, I think, um, a lot of the other sports
as well, which are all very fun, um, as well, uh,
being adapted, um, you always get that ear of like, oh,
it's so good they let you play, but in goalball
it's very much, uh, no, this is our sport. Like
you come into our world and let's be rough and tumble.

S1 (05:01):
Yeah. And, uh, you know, I think we've all got
a bit of that in us that, you know, we
all like to rough and tumble. I mean, I guess
in a sense it takes us back to where we
were really little.

S2 (05:11):
Yeah. Exactly right. Um, there's nothing more freeing than being
able to, you know, not that I do backflips, but,
you know, to roll around on the floor to, um,
to be active and keep that fitness up and again
in a safe environment as well.

S1 (05:25):
It's interesting sport, isn't it, because as you said, you
put on the shades. So, uh, I mean, obviously we
speak about the different categories of, uh, of, uh, blindness
and blind sport. B1, B2, B3, etcetera. With goalball, there's
no such thing in a sense. There's anything like like
you're all in the same boat.

S2 (05:40):
Yeah. I'm deaf. We're all blackout. I hated, um, so
your category doesn't really mean anything. Um, it's one of
those benefits that I really enjoy. We've got a couple,
like father son high in goalball at the moment. So,
you know, the dads, uh, are sighted so they can
see fully and then the visually impaired, but they get

(06:00):
to play together like they get to, you know, like
the old days of throwing the ball back and forth. But,
you know, instead of catch it's block and, you know,
it brings everybody to, you know, our game. So there's
no need to be like, oh, be careful of, you know,
throwing it at their face or be careful of, you know, this.
It's come on, let's all play together. Let's all be

(06:20):
blindfolded and you get to interact with, like, family and
play those games that you may thought that you never
would have been able to.

S1 (06:27):
Sporting cliche, but it's kind of a level playing field.

S2 (06:30):
Yes, yes, we all love a cliche. That definitely is one. Um,
so I always find, um, especially, uh, in a lot
of other sports as well, the B1 category, um, they
tend to be left out, but in this one it's
always like, no, no, I want the B1 on my
team because they're tracking skills are amazing. Um, they never

(06:50):
let the ball past.

S1 (06:51):
What about along those lines then in terms of, uh,
what that kind of thing is done for you in
terms of, I of being able to listen better. I mean,
I'm sure you're hearing is probably exactly the same as
it was two years ago. If you measured it on
a Richter scale, if you like. But I guess your
ability to listen better is probably improved.

S2 (07:06):
Yeah. Um, you definitely get to fine tune, um, your hearing. Uh,
so I lost my sight when I was 22, so
about ten years ago. And I always found it really
funny that we never have. We never had, like, a rehabilitation.
It was always, you know, you know, you find out
you're losing your eyesight or you lose your eyesight. Um,

(07:26):
they say, you know, go to Vision Australia and Vision Australia. Like,
you know, we'll give you know, we'll give you an OT.
But there's no like, rehabilitation services. So finding goalball, which
was designed for rehabilitation of World War Two veterans, I
found it really good because it forced me to use
my hearing, um, instead of, you know, trying to pretend.

S1 (07:48):
Yeah, that's a great point. And, uh, the the trip
coming up. Uh, what what are you most looking forward to?
I mean, I guess, yeah, that's part of the great
thing about playing sport. I mean, you talked about New
Zealand as well. Like you're playing, you get fitter, you
make make friends, etc. that social interaction and that sort
of lived experience that you can share. But you've also
got chances like travelling.

S2 (08:08):
Yeah. Um, definitely. And it's always really amazing to meet, um,
like different, uh, people that are blind or low vision, um,
across the pond and in different locations, um, you know,
to see what life is like, you know, for them
outside of, you know, our bubble in Australia. So I'm
very excited to meet more people, um, to get more stories,

(08:28):
to find out, you know, just more about the world
in the blind and low vision aspect.

S1 (08:33):
You talked about the bowls often. And in fact, I
think every time I speak to a bill, I say,
that's the best named sporting team in the universe. The bill.
That's such a cool name, that double entendre. Uh, of
course we have this in Australia represented, uh, or being
represented at Paralympic Games. And this kind of trip coming
up is maybe the first step to hopefully 2028?

S2 (08:54):
Yes. Yes, definitely. That is a this is all a
stepping stone to um, LA Paralympics in um, 2028 hopefully, um,
young enough and fit enough by the time. But we
also are guaranteed a spot in the 2032 Paralympic Games. Yeah.

S1 (09:11):
Good point.

S2 (09:12):
Yeah. So, um, all of this is very much in
lead to those Paralympic Games, um, in Brisbane. So, um,
you know, I gotta keep up with the squats and
the burpees and make sure enough, um, to, uh, keep
the team going.

S1 (09:27):
Brittany. I'm not great at maths, but you said you
lost your son at 22. Ten years ago. You're still very,
very young. Believe you me, you've got plenty of years
ahead of you.

S2 (09:35):
Yeah. What's. What's the eight years on top of what
I am now?

S1 (09:38):
It's nothing.

S2 (09:39):
Nothing? Nothing at all.

S1 (09:40):
10%. Always a little bit more.

S2 (09:42):
Yeah.

S1 (09:43):
I bet you we talked about the bells. And obviously
we wish them well. And we'll keep across the results
in the next few weeks. But the man, the Australian
goalball team, they're just back from a pretty successful time
overseas as well.

S2 (09:53):
Yes. No, definitely they are. So my partner, Dan Pritchard,
he is part of the Aussie storm. Um, so that's
the Australian men's goalball team. They had a sanctioned competition
in Berlin. Um, so that goes to points, uh, for
them towards the Paralympics. Um, they came out with a

(10:14):
bronze medal. So they came in as the underdogs? Definitely. Um,
so if anyone goes back and listens, you can hear
the commentary, uh, being very surprised.

S1 (10:23):
Um, okay.

S2 (10:25):
Um, how well they played, um, and it was in
one of the competitions they beat Brazil. Um, who is
the world number one? They, um, came out, um, you know,
with very, very good defensive, um, skills in goalball, and
they beat the world's number one. So they're definitely doing
something right. And then they had another competition in Lithuania

(10:48):
and they came out with a bronze medal again. So
they've come home with two bronzes.

S1 (10:52):
So with those two countries, pretty much in Europe, Germany
and Lithuania, they're very big with gold. Well, after we
talked about Brazil being number one. So I guess it
is a worldwide sport in terms of the countries that
do well at it.

S2 (11:03):
Oh, definitely. Um, I think Europe, um, being so close together, um,
they definitely have a great advantage of being able to play. Um,
so even in Finland, when we're going, we're playing club tournament.
So this is basically like New South Wales versus Victoria,
but it's Brazil versus Germany because, well, they're basically that

(11:23):
close anyway.

S1 (11:24):
Yeah. Yeah. That's right. It's a very good point. And
what about uh, just going back to your trip to
New Zealand, what's goalball like in New Zealand? Because they're
a close neighbour and are in some sports. They excel
as far as the sort of Paralympic level goes, for example,
wheelchair rugby. What's their standard of goalball like.

S2 (11:41):
So their standard. So their their elite team that they
have um is very very powerful. They're very very tall
and wide place that they have.

S1 (11:52):
I'll show you how to find that. Call them what.

S2 (11:55):
They are, but in a very, very good way.

S1 (11:57):
Athletic wise.

S2 (11:58):
In a very athletic way. That makes it very hard
to bounce the ball over the top of him. Um,
but I definitely find, um, they're developing at the moment. Um,
so when we go over, we go over as, uh, Victoria, um,
and we go over as the youth to, you know,
develop our younger members, our newer members, to give them

(12:18):
that taste of international competition and then also help New
Zealand with their development as well. Um, they actually for
the first, I believe it is for the first time,
don't quote me on it. Um, but they sent an
elite team in the women's and men's division to our
Australian Global Championships last year.

S1 (12:36):
Fantastic. Well, for people listening who think goalball. Yeah. I mean,
can you kind of sum it up in a few
words as to how to play the game? And then
we'll let people know if they want to maybe get involved. Maybe,
as you said, if you've got a parent who might
have sight and a child with a vision impairment. Yeah.
If you slap on the goggles, anyone can play.

S2 (12:53):
Yeah, definitely. So I guess in a nutshell, we always
describe it as reverse dodgeball. We have three on each side. Um,
there's nine meters of net, and you basically have three
people on the court. You lay on the floor to
block the ball coming at you. Um, and then you
pick it up and then throw it as hard as
you can back, um, at the other team. Um, so

(13:15):
you definitely are. You're active, you're up and down on
the floor, and you get some frustration out when you
get to throw it as hard as you want.

S1 (13:22):
That's a good point. Two and 1.25 kilo ball. Did
you say?

S2 (13:26):
Yes, sir. The senior ball is 1.25 kilos. Um, so
it's quite heavy. So it doesn't come at you as
fast as what you think it would. Um, it's not
a normal, um, basketball. And the ball does have bells
in it as well. That's. So it's very, very audible.

S1 (13:41):
Do you have any protective equipment or clothing?

S2 (13:44):
Uh. Yes, sir. We basically just like volleyball. So it's
elbow pads and knee pads. Um, and then for uh, women,
we have chest protectors and then a box for males, um,
for all obvious reasons. Um, and then as long as
you defend with your head back and your arms forward,
your face is perfectly fine.

S1 (14:01):
And I guess that's part of the technique and the
sort of stuff that you learn as you as you play.

S2 (14:05):
Yeah. It only takes one face hit for you to, um,
remember that you need to put your head back.

S1 (14:10):
Uh, keep your head out of it if people, particularly
in Victoria. But I guess I know what the game
is played all around Australia. But if people wanted to
find out more, it's kind of a a central place
we can go to get more information.

S2 (14:20):
Yeah. So, um, in Victoria, I definitely our website is
all up to date with our upcoming events. So just
search Victorian Goalball Association. Another way to find out all
the information is following Goalball Australia or Victorian Goalball Association
on Facebook. Um, and we're constantly updating Goebbels Australia's constantly sharing, um,

(14:41):
different states as well.

S1 (14:42):
Well, Brittany, congratulations on your rise to fame in the
last year or so. Let's hope it continues and we'll
certainly keep in touch with the team as they go
to Europe. And then also congratulations to the to the
men's storm. Not quite as good a name as the bells,
but still a very good congratulations to them on their
recent performances as well.

S2 (15:00):
Uh, no worries at all. Thank you Pete.

S1 (15:02):
Brittany Watson there, vice president of um Victorian goalball but
more importantly, a member of the Belles as they jet
off to Europe, hopefully for higher honours. Let's find out
how the C6 netball competition is going and speak to
one of the long time participants and coaches, Paul Black. Paul, welcome.
Great to catch up with you again.

S3 (15:22):
Yes, it's going well. Thanks. Peter. How are you?

S1 (15:25):
I'm going especially well also. Um, so far the weather's
been pretty good for Netballers. I know often during the
winter they get pretty crook Saturdays, but so far, so good.

S3 (15:33):
Well, funny you say that. We've only played one round
and it was, uh, borderline, uh, too hot. Yeah, probably
it was too hot, but we, we played, um, some
of the games were only a half and we played
three quarters, but it was, it was, uh, yeah. Pretty hot.

S1 (15:52):
Unseasonal, as I like to say.

S3 (15:54):
Yeah. Well, we don't normally start looking for the heat
policy when we're talking winter netball.

S1 (15:58):
Oh, these things are set to try us. Paul, you've
got to be flexible and agile.

S3 (16:02):
Oh, well, yes. I don't know about flexible and agile.
It's not really my my forte these days.

S1 (16:08):
How's the competition looking in terms of teams and players?
How are the kind of numbers stacking up?

S3 (16:13):
It is a little bit hard to tell given we've
only yeah, of course one game. But um, I'm pretty
sure tango are going to be very hard to beat. They've,
they've got a very solid team again this year. Um,
there's been a couple of new coaches with probably with
Metro Jets and South Adelaide. So I'm not sure what

(16:33):
sort of impact they'll have, but we haven't seen a
lot of lot of the netball so far.

S1 (16:37):
And players I guess the players are pretty keen. I mean,
some of the girls have been playing a long time,
and I guess you're always looking for new players to
join the comp as well.

S3 (16:45):
Yeah they do. They do play for a long time
I think. Heather from Newton Jags was saying um, he's
going to play her 400th game probably next year. Not
this year. But yeah she's been around for a long time.
And yeah I know some of the contacts girls have
been there for, you know more than ten years. So

(17:06):
they do tend to keep playing which is good. Really good.

S1 (17:10):
It's a wonderful, uh, comment on their, um, ability on
their loyalty. And I just, I guess how much they,
they love the game.

S3 (17:17):
Yeah. They love they love playing netball. But it's it's
good socially too for them. It's, um, you know, some
of them don't have a big, um, social calendar. And
netball is certainly an important part of it. So, you know,
they get to see people they play with and against
and it's a good outing.

S1 (17:34):
I know it's obviously, you know, a competition if you like.
And that's really, really important. But you know we never
should lose sight of the other benefits of playing sport
just for health and fitness. As you say, that social interaction,
I mean that you kind of can't put a price
on something like that.

S3 (17:49):
Oh, no. I think it's super important to play sport
and particularly team games. It's, uh, you know, it's how
you make a lot of lifetime lifelong friends.

S1 (18:01):
Now, the games are generally on a Saturday afternoon, aren't they?

S3 (18:03):
Yeah, always. Well, nearly always Saturday afternoon about 1245 up
at netball SA. Occasionally we we might have a night
game if it's a, if it happens to be um
inclusive round or something like that. But uh, I haven't
seen anything on the schedule yet for this year.

S1 (18:24):
And of course, occasionally if there's an interstate match the
rubies play, then that can sometimes throw the scheduling out
a bit as well.

S3 (18:31):
Well, it can, because the last two years the rubies
have been in the middle of finals for our competition,
so does make it a bit awkward. But you can't, uh,
can't be rushing, uh, Netball Australia into, you know, programming,
I guess.

S1 (18:48):
Uh, Paul, that's very diplomatic. Uh, yeah. Well, what about
in terms of your own, uh, involvement? Paul, I know
you're involved with a number of different sports for people
with disabilities and have been for a long time. Uh,
how long have you been, uh, saddling up?

S3 (19:01):
I've coached over ten years with with contacts at, you know,
in the C6 competition. Yeah. Probably been involved with the basketball.
More like 15 years, but, um. Yeah. Been around a while.
You must love to hang up the boots, I think.

S1 (19:18):
Yeah. No, I never, never. I got to drag you out, Paul.
I've got to carry you out in a box.

S3 (19:23):
No, it gets very cold out there on training nights.
I'm not sure about that.

S1 (19:28):
Uh, I can appreciate that. Actually, it's a really good point.
And I guess, obviously it's great for the girls. We're
talking about C6 in particular, great for the girls that
they play, but which also, you know, give a very
big nod and shout out to the volunteers and all
those that are involved to kind of make the games happen,
the coaches, the support staff, the umpires, etc..

S3 (19:47):
Yeah, look, it's every sport's the same. You can't play
without umpires, coaches. Well, you know, we add a little
bit to the game, but I'm sure the girls could
manage without us at times. Um, but you every week
you need a coach, a manager, a timer, a scorer.
You know, it's not a one person job, that's for sure.

(20:09):
You need you need a group of people that you
know can come out and support the girls each week. Otherwise,
it just doesn't doesn't happen.

S1 (20:19):
And generally speaking, the the sort of umbrella club if
you like, in contacts or tangos or uh, South Adelaide,
the sort of generic club can be very welcoming and
inclusive as well. It's kind of part of their, you know,
sort of social duty, if I can put it that way.

S3 (20:34):
Well, Or most most of us are linked to a
Premier League club. Um, and, you know, we're very much
a part of that club. We, we expect to be
treated very much the same as other teams. And, um,
you know, and they, I know contacts, you know, does
a fabulous job with our girls. Um, and just, you know,

(20:58):
I can't really speak for the other clubs, but I
know some of them are, are very good with, you know,
the making it accessible financially. Um, that's that sort of
thing because it's, um, well, it's not cheap. And, um, even,
you know, we've got to pay every time you go
in the door at netball SA. So it all adds

(21:19):
up and they, some of the participants come from a
long way away. They put in a lot of effort
just to get there.

S1 (21:26):
And sometimes maybe having to catch a couple of buses etc.
to get there.

S3 (21:30):
Yeah, I, I'm not sure about buses so much, but
just just arranging rides and.

S1 (21:35):
Yeah.

S3 (21:36):
You know, and and the car park at netball SA
is quite daunting if you get there at certain times. So, um,
it's a busy place. Very busy place.

S1 (21:47):
Hey, Paul, we heard, I think it was last year
regarding some upgrades to, uh, the courts there or the,
the centre there. Is that started yet. Is there anything
to report there?

S3 (21:56):
No. There's been some designs and concepts put forward that
I've seen. You know, they've shown those, but, um, I
have no idea about a start date. I, they haven't
actually advertised that at all. So we're all waiting to see, uh,
when that might be because it could mean a fair
interruption to either a summer or winter season, I would think. Yeah,

(22:20):
that's for sure. Uh, yeah. And there's not. It's not
like you can move any of the competitions somewhere off site.
I wouldn't, wouldn't think, you know, they're, they're occupying, you know,
36 courts or something. It's a busy place, so I'm
not sure what they'll do. But anyway, that's why we have, um,
corporate bodies and people running the show, not me. That's good.

S1 (22:44):
When you retire, Paul, go into politics. You're very diplomatic. Uh,
you talked about the rubies. Um, any news regarding that
at this stage? Uh, I mean, I'm assuming there'll be
a a team selected and they'll go to a competition
later on in the year.

S3 (22:56):
Yes, the rubies will certainly go ahead. I know they've
advertised and and coaches and managers have all been to,
you know, selection meetings sort of things or. But, um,
they haven't announced anything yet. So we'll just sort of
wait on that.

S1 (23:12):
Let's not pre-empt anything, Paul. Let's all keep it nice
and tidy.

S3 (23:17):
Yeah. That's right.

S1 (23:18):
Paul, before you go, you are involved with basketball. I
know I noticed earlier in the week that the teams
for the pearls and the boomerangs to go to the
various games later on this year were selected.

S3 (23:29):
Yeah. That's right. Um, there's a few few South Australians involved, Jane,
in the in the women's team, which is fantastic. And
then we have, uh, my memory, um, we have Zach
and Keenan, the brothers there in the men's team, and, and, uh, Josh,
he's a new member of the team, and I think

(23:51):
I'm forgetting one. I'll be in trouble.

S1 (23:53):
Well, that's okay. Well, I'll.

S3 (23:55):
Look.

S1 (23:55):
I'll look it up and let people know. But from
a personal point of view, it must be great when
when people like that get selected and they're going to kazahkstan,
which is, uh. Well, I guess probably not top of
the parade as far as the tourist destination goes. But again,
a great life experience.

S3 (24:11):
Yeah, I was a bit bit surprised when that that
was the destination. But I know very I know nothing
about it. So, um. Yeah, it seems like a very
long way to go to play basketball.

S1 (24:24):
Well, the games, of course, they're very big. And, you know,
we've got this sort of consistent, uh, push if Push.
If you like to get athletes with intellectual disabilities back
into the Paralympic movement. So I guess an event like
this can kind of play a bit of a role
as far as that goes.

S3 (24:37):
Oh yes. I think the push to get it back
into Paralympics is is picking up a bit of steam,
I think. So, um, let's hope they've been out of
it for, for a very long time. So yeah, they're
due to get back in. It's over 20 years I
think so.

S1 (24:54):
Well of course yeah. I think sadly Sydney was when
they were there. And then that incident happened with that
basketball team and whether the rest is kind of history,
which is very, very sad that so many were impacted
by the action of so few.

S3 (25:07):
Well, it was one, one country that has caused it
all and I just don't know. Look, I don't know
why the whole of the world was basketball. World was
penalized because of what one country did. But, um, yeah,
it's a bit sad. Very sad.

S1 (25:23):
Anyway, well, let's get back to.

S3 (25:25):
That one and.

S1 (25:26):
Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. Well, well. Good luck. Well, we'll
keep in touch with the, uh, with the, uh, competition
throughout the year. It's always good to catch up. And also, uh,
find out when the rubies play. Good luck to all
those that have got their hats in the ring as
far as selection for various roles go. Keep up the
great work. It's always great to catch up with you. And, um, well,
if ever you go on to politics, I'd be happy

(25:46):
to be a campaign manager. Paul.

S3 (25:49):
Uh, yeah. Good timing with that. Sort of, uh.

S1 (25:52):
Yeah.

S3 (25:53):
That's right. But, uh, no, you won't. You will never
see me in politics. All right, that's good.

S1 (25:58):
I didn't really want to be a campaign manager anyway.
So you you let me off the hook as well?

S3 (26:03):
Yeah, well. That's right. Careful what you wish for.

S1 (26:06):
Exactly. All the best, Paul. Keep up the great work. Seriously.

S3 (26:09):
All right. Thanks, Peter. Great talking with you, Paul.

S4 (26:11):
Thank you. There. I got something about him.

S1 (26:13):
Anthony. Paul, uh, saddling up for the, uh, contacts, the
netball team in the competition. Good luck to all the
teams we'll keep across the competition throughout the year. And
also when the the mighty rubies play the South Australian
team talking netball. Love it! And also good luck to
the pearls and the blue rings. We actually tried to
get to one of the coaches or one of the
players on, but didn't have much luck. But we'll keep

(26:35):
trying because they don't go away for a few weeks yet,
so stay tuned for more.

S5 (26:40):
Hey guys, my name is Gian Taylor. I'm a member
of the Australian Aussie Paralympic goalball team and you're listening
to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia
radio network.

S1 (26:55):
International guide Dog Day during the week. Let's find out
how Guide Dogs Saint celebrated the day and speak to
their CEO, Aaron Tier. Aaron, good to catch up as always.

S6 (27:05):
Hi Peter, good to catch up with you too.

S1 (27:07):
How's it going? The adrenaline's still pumping.

S6 (27:09):
Ah, yeah, it was a it was a huge day. Peter.
As you know, we celebrate International Guide Dog Day not
only for what it is, but also we call it
Guide Dogs Day. And it's a big fundraiser for us
as well.

S1 (27:21):
How did that go? Because you had a sort of
a call centre set up, which is a bit sort of, uh,
of going back to some of the old fundraising events
of years gone by, what was that like? And the atmosphere,
I reckon, would have been pretty electric.

S6 (27:31):
Oh, absolutely. Um, you know, the day started with us
taking the dogs, and they had to see some of
the businesses that were supporting us around in our office
and around the area. Um, you know, thanking them for
their support. A lot of them were they were providing
coffees and stuff like that, and they donated a dollar
per coffee to Guide Dogs. And it was a fantastic
effort for some of those small businesses. And, uh, when

(27:53):
we got back to the call centre, all our corporate
partners volunteered to, um, to jump on the phone as well.
And so we had a real mix of people out there.
We even had a, uh, a group of optometry students
that volunteered to come in to help out. And, uh,
you know, we had a very special guest, uh, we
had the honorable Lord mayor, uh, Doctor Jane Lomax-smith came

(28:16):
in and said hello to the dogs and jumped on
on the phone calls for a bit as well.

S1 (28:20):
Things like that are so important. I mean, you talked
about the businesses. I know a lot supported you and
many of them were involved in hospitality. I guess it's
kind of a good way for them to be aware of,
if they're not of the rights of guide dogs, and
you know how they can go into premises like that to,
you know, totally without any, any inhibitions or any apprehensions.

S6 (28:42):
That's exactly right. You know, um, uh, one of the
things that we really focus on, on International Guide Dog
Day is to remind people of access rights and to
make sure that our clients and anyone that's got a
guide or assistance dog understands that, you know, they can
get in and around anywhere any anyone else should be
able to get to. So that's a that's a great thing. And,

(29:04):
you know, it's a fun way for people to really
understand that as well. You know, with us bringing our
dogs here and, you know, 99% of people that are
there and they melt when they see a guide dog.
So so they really get to understand how well behaved
the dogs are and how well trained they are. And
they they're not they're not an imposition on any business. Really.

S1 (29:23):
It's a great point, isn't it? Because if you're learning
in a fun way, rather than sort of being lectured to,
the message is probably getting through a lot better. And
also you're kind of accepting it a lot more sort
of cordially.

S6 (29:34):
That's right. You know, and and particularly in this way,
you know, we really try to build that relationship as
much as possible. Sure. You know, you really need to
sort of like slap a wrist, you know, if something
really terrible happens. But I think the key thing is
to continually provide that message and continually engage with people
to let them know what it's really like.

S1 (29:53):
Fantastic. Now, another thing that happened was, uh, a few, uh,
prominent buildings around the place were lit up again. That's
a great way to kind of get the message out
to the broader public, uh, in a very, uh, sort
of welcoming way as well.

S6 (30:07):
Yeah, it's been great now that the city's been really,
you know, supporting us at Guide Dogs now over the
years and for as long as I've been here, I
think we've been trying to to make sure that there
are reminders in and around the city for people to
have a conversation starter, people, you know, still today sort
of say, oh, I saw that the, uh, the train
station was lit up in the oval was lit up

(30:29):
or whatever. And, and it gives you an opportunity to
talk about, you know, why and what International Guide Dog
Day represents and the amazing work that the guide dogs
actually do.

S1 (30:38):
Yeah, and a great point there, because things like the
entertainment center, the festival center, and there are ways where
people are blind or low vision. People with guide dogs,
you know, go virtually any time, any day.

S6 (30:48):
Exactly right.

S1 (30:49):
Yeah. So it's a great way to get that message across. Now,
I know when we spoke to you a couple of
weeks ago, you just launched your most expensive, uh, dog toy.
How did that go? Because I think when we spoke
to you, uh, it was about $2,000. And the last
I read, there was well over 10,000. So I suggest
that went okay.

S6 (31:06):
Yes, yes. Um, you know, between, um, little Frankie donating
her toy rope to us to to crowdfund and the
dollar matching that our corporate sponsors provided on the day
we raised over $200,000.

S1 (31:20):
Are you kidding?

S6 (31:21):
Yeah. On the one day. And there's even more good news.
Because we didn't really get to our our target yet. Um,
our corporate sponsors have agreed to dollar match any donations
today as well. Up to $250,000.

S1 (31:35):
Fantastic. And I mean, you know, that's potentially maybe five,
five guide dogs.

S6 (31:40):
Absolutely, absolutely. And people sort of don't realize how much
it costs to, to to, you know, bring bring a
guide dog match to a handler. So, um, yeah it's great.

S1 (31:52):
What about in terms of the difference that can make
to a person's life? I mean, that's probably. Well, not probably.
That is the most sort of important and powerful messages
in terms of the ability to be able to get
around independently, those sort of things. You kind of, well,
you can, but you can't really put a price on it.

S6 (32:08):
That's right, that's right. I mean, we say all the time,
you know, that it costs over $50,000 to, to to
raise a guide dog. But, you know, we say that
the outcomes are priceless. process, really. You know, we don't
just focus on the handler. Him or herself as well.
Because now the handler actually in our lives with the
family and and or friends and, and have to get

(32:30):
around and engage, uh, so that they can, they can
actually participate like everyone else.

S1 (32:35):
Now people can participate and also donate their guide dogs.
Guide dogs is the website. But I guess there's a
lot of work that goes into getting a guide dog
to that point. And people, as in members of the
general public can get involved with that as well in
the in the various guises that take it from zero
to to being a guide dog.

S6 (32:56):
Yes, yes. And I think you know that it takes
a year and a half to two years to actually
get from, from start to finish to get a dog matched. Um,
and that first 12 months is really critical in terms
of puppy, you know, volunteers helping us out to, to, um,
home and do the initial basic training for the puppy. Um,
and then they come in for the intensive training for

(33:17):
the next to last six months or so. So yeah,
it takes a long time and a lot of effort
and a lot of volunteer help.

S1 (33:24):
One of the things that we often can forget, well,
maybe we shouldn't, but to some of us that maybe, uh,
you know, live in a city like Adelaide, your guide dogs,
they're saying, don't tell us a bit about the work
that goes on in the NT.

S6 (33:36):
So the NT, um, as you know, it's a quite
a difficult market to to support. So we do fly in,
fly out work. We've got orientation and mobility instructors. We've
got one orientation mobility instructor actually um local. Um but
we fly in and out our um, occupational therapists and
depending on the demand there, um, we're always looking to

(33:58):
expand our services there. Uh, at the moment, it's a
thing we don't have any any dogs in the NT, but, um,
certainly if there's an opportunity to, to, um, for someone
that wants to have a dog in the end zone,
certainly we can do that too, because.

S1 (34:11):
I guess, you know, there are people who are blind
or have low vision that that, you know, live all
over Australia and that sometimes can be forgotten by the,
the big cities. And I guess, you know, Adelaide's kind
of a mid-sized city, but sometimes we can be sort
of all consumed by what goes on in town, rather
than the sort of challenges that can face people who
don't live in those areas.

S6 (34:29):
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, that's why we've always had
at least one person stationed in the NT to be
the the person that engages with our clients and to really,
you know, be the liaison person with the government departments
there as well to, to gauge demand. I've been up
there a few times as well to, to talk to the,
the government of the day, um, to look at what

(34:50):
their programs are. And we were actually, um, an integral
part of them, looking at those NDIS specialist sort of
support grants that were then sort of, uh, rather than
being individually sort of, uh, provided like they normally are. Um,
they were sort of like grants that were actually provided
to certain communities that didn't, didn't have the ways and

(35:12):
means to to actually apply and access the funding.

S1 (35:16):
Yeah, that's very important, isn't it? Because, you know, hopefully
that means the funding gets, you know, right to the
way that it can be best used.

S6 (35:23):
Yeah. Where it's needed. Yes.

S1 (35:24):
Yeah. Where it's needed indeed. Aaron, as you said, there's
still a chance for people to take part if they've
heard about it. I don't know if they've been on
another planet, but they can still go. Dog day was
on the 30th. If people do want to take part
or help out, and I guess you're always happy for
people to help out in any way they can. How
can we find you.

S6 (35:41):
Jump online to to our website sort of thing. Um,
as ANC dogs. Com.au and yeah, so just jump online
and uh, touch base with us and we'll work out
something that you can help us out with.

S1 (35:55):
Terrific. Aaron I'll let you go and have a rest.
You probably need it. It's been a pretty hectic month
for April, but, uh, well, I'm sure it doesn't really
get much, uh, slacker in a little while, but maybe
just a chance to kind of catch your breath.

S6 (36:07):
No, no, thanks, but it's all worth it.

S1 (36:09):
I'm sure it is. That's Aaron Chair there from my
guide dogs assignment guide dog. Stay calm. If you want
to donate, there's still a chance for you to donate
to that particular campaign or indeed the the day, the
International Day. And I'm sure we'll speak to Aaron many
more times in the future. It's that time of the

(36:30):
month where we catch up with David Mitchell, the best
health commentator in the universe. David, good to catch up.

S7 (36:36):
Ah, you're a lovely man. So the right sort of thing. Hello, everyone.
Don't leave him.

S1 (36:41):
I respect the truth. I often say I only speak
the truth on this program. Hey, David. Last month we
got an email from Julia regarding, uh, yeast and maybe
some of the things that can be done. And you
gave us a great. Well, quite a lengthy sort of
history of, um, what was happening. Do you want to
kind of recap on that and then maybe kind of
finish off?

S7 (36:59):
Yes, indeed. Right. We sort of rushed to try and
get it all fitted in. Uh, but I thought it
was a bit squeezed. And I also thought that the
interesting thing is that, um, we were we really started
with talking about thrush or Candida or the yeast syndrome. Uh, that, uh,
Doctor Krook developed back in the 60s and 70s. What

(37:19):
we're actually talking about is, is that there is within
our bowels, there are millions and millions of different bacteria
and yeasts and so on. But if you get the
wrong ones, or we get a predominance of one that
is greater than the that is so-called healthy, then we
become unhealthy. And crook was probably one of the earliest
people to write about that was to say, hey, it

(37:41):
was all due to Canada, which is a little, little
yeast that ferments things in the bowel. And he developed
that into a big scenario where you could kill it
off with, with nystatin, a relatively good drug, uh, safe drug,
I should say, and that you had to go on
a yeast free diet, which was absolutely awful in the
long run. What we've now discovered, number one, was that

(38:03):
the symptoms that that he was describing can be related
to a A predominance of quite a big range of
both yeast and bacteria within the bowel that ferment food
in some way, shape or form, and create a whole
range of symptoms that could go anywhere from chronic fatigue
to depression to anxiety, to irritable bowel, to some forms

(38:26):
of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, to aches and pains,
to liver diseases, to food allergies and a whole range
of other things. And bit by bit, the concept of
thrush and candida moved into dysbiosis, meaning an abnormal balance
of certain bugs with the predominance of bad ones. And

(38:46):
then more latterly, finding different specific bacteria from various tests
that were involved. But the new buzzword is gut fermentation syndrome,
which is interesting because it also can occur in the
bladder that the particularly the yeast strains, can actually ferment

(39:06):
Carbohydrates into alcohol so you can actually get pisshead or
drunk without even drinking because you're doing it yourself. In
the case, in the case of the bladder, it doesn't
get absorbed, the alcohol doesn't get absorbed, but it does cause, uh,
an irritable bladder or interstitial cystitis or cystitis type symptoms,

(39:27):
as well as all those other symptoms. And in the
bowel it will cause fermentation but also cause drunkenness. And
it can cause a, uh, excess production and excess delivery
of relatively toxic chemicals to the liver, that it can
actually lead into liver disease and even cirrhosis, and that

(39:47):
many of the people were accused of being alcoholics or
secret drinkers, when in fact they actually had their own
little brewery inside their inside their bowel that was causing it.
And that's now the concept that we're getting into is
that accepting Excepting there's a multitude of buggies and whether

(40:09):
there is some consistency or some easy way or small
way of dealing with it. And there is. And that's
where we we came up to last. Last time we
were speaking was that concept of the poo transplant, that
it's been found in almost all the conditions that I've mentioned,

(40:29):
and certainly in terms of of the buggies that we're
talking about. And I might add and put it in
brackets here, we're talking about things like Hospitium difficulty, Dientamoeba fragilis,
Inanna hominis, Blastocystis hominis and Candida and some other species
that sort of names that, that rock it around. All

(40:50):
the research are the types of buggies that are most
significant in there. And there is a generalized umbrella concept that,
number one, both the bacteria and the yeast tend to
ferment and fermentation comes from carbohydrates. So part of the
deal is that it's not so much a yeast free environment.

(41:12):
When we talk about we're now talking about a lower
carbohydrate intake and an increased protein. And guess what? That
happens to be the dinosaur dude concept. But I wrote
about 20 years ago, that's really the starting point for
people that have all these sorts of bowel and other
irritations that they think are food related, and that can

(41:34):
obviously include many, many of the people that have gluten problems.
It is actually the the high GI rated carbohydrates or
simple carbohydrates that have the greater amount of gluten that
also causes same, uh, gut fermentation syndrome. So cutting back
on that and substituting more protein as, as the the

(41:57):
answer can make in itself a lot. There has been
quite a bit of money spent in both in making
and in advertising and in buying probiotics. And they have
a relatively small place because they, in a sense, not
killing the bugs or removing them. They've got nowhere to go,

(42:17):
nowhere to grow. So they just keep on going out,
out the other end. So there is a a what's
the word? A space where some forms of antifungal and
antibacterial prescription drugs can be used. Things like I mentioned
statin if if it's considered to be more of a
straight sugar fermented, carbohydrate fermentable bit first, or it can

(42:41):
be getting into the more what are called anaerobic bacteria,
which will often use a a compound called flagyl or
another one called fasigyn that that have a part in
Giardia was one of the common ones there. Then it
went on to the all the other weird and wonderful
new discoveries that were made of bacteria, and some more
exotic ones. Antibiotics were being used and sometimes I was successful.

(43:08):
Sometimes they were. What's the word used and had an effect.
But it was temporary and so it required repetitive ones.
But the problem with the stronger antibiotics is they tend
to kill off some of the other good bugs. So
you would end up with making things worse. And lo
and behold, then came the discovery of what we were

(43:29):
calling the poo transplant. That if you can take from
a very healthy person a portion of their poo way
up inside their bowel, both in the or I should say,
either in their small bowel or large bowel, that they
can take a sample, take it out, give it a
bit of a feed, and then they can put it

(43:50):
back into someone who has one of these gut fermentation
syndromes with remarkable success. It's it's becoming in the end.
I think the chosen way to go. You might have
to jump a few hurdles to get to that stage
of try another trial and error type stuff, trying all

(44:11):
these other bits and pieces that I've mentioned, but the
one that many people looks like being the go. The
good news is that whilst the the original one was
a matter of having a colonoscopy, putting the flexible tube
up inside a healthy person's backside and taking some specimens
high up inside and then using it a new colonoscopy on.

(44:38):
The inside of someone else that was not almost that
very expensive. But it you know, it's inconvenient and uncomfortable
for the better word. Now they're getting to the stage
where they can actually put the poo inside little capsules,
with the outside of the capsule being The chemically adjusted

(44:59):
so that it can get through into either the small
parts of the small bell or into the large bowel
when they will release the poo boom. And as it
splashes around, metaphorically speaking, it is starting to grow. And
lo and behold, that's exactly what is seen to happen.
So whilst it's unlikely that you'll find anyone in Australia

(45:20):
that will will offer you a capsule to treat your
irritable bowel or gut fermenting bowel. But it's coming. In
the meantime, it certainly can be done by just the
local bit. And I do point out, and I mentioned
a couple of times there, the person that is donating
it has to have a very rigid check up to

(45:41):
make sure they haven't got any bad bugs there in
their bowel that they'd be spreading, and they haven't got
anything else wrong with them, that they might be in
some way affecting or creating a rejection. We often hear
about transplants. Yeah, things get well. They make sure that
the gas withdrawals have been quite brilliant and fastidious. And
so was our TGA Therapeutic Goods Administration in overseeing it

(46:05):
and setting up the criteria. It seems to be the
way to go in so many different ways. So there
is therefore that great light. It's no longer on the horizon,
but is getting closer and closer and bigger and bigger
and being more successful as a means of dealing with
this brewery, or bring your own brewery or gut fermentable syndrome,

(46:30):
of which the Candida, the thrush, was a part of it,
but only a part of it.

S1 (46:35):
Hey David Howard, the marketers go here. We've got some
poo in capsules. Would you like some?

S7 (46:42):
I want to know about it.

S1 (46:44):
Exactly. David, just quickly. Um, Julia kind of mentioned this
in the email. Uh, cooking doesn't kind of destroy it.
That's the point.

S7 (46:53):
Yep, yep.

S1 (46:54):
That's right. You can stay a little bit more if
you like.

S7 (46:57):
No no, no. I'm happy with that.

S1 (47:00):
Yeah. All right. So? So, yeah. So cooking doesn't actually
kill it off all the way, if I can put
it that way.

S7 (47:05):
No it doesn't. No, that's that's that seems to be
the thing about it that any the bowel is, is
an amazing thing. Not only is it a great brain,
but it's a great factory. Multitask, multi-talented multitude of chemicals
that we rely on that are all manufactured in inside

(47:26):
our bowel. And we just need them to do the
quality inspector needs to be around all the time to
make sure that he's making the right stuff in the
right way, and that it comes with a long term warranty.

S1 (47:38):
So before you go, yeah, your your Latam was absolutely splendid.
When you name those bugs, I assume they were Latin names.
Were they. Yeah. Yeah. Well I, I, I know they're
looking for a pope, so, um, I'm happy to be
a referee.

S7 (47:53):
Thank you. But I did love that movie, The Conclave.
If people haven't seen it, it's worth seeing because it's
so much like what we think does happen, it seems.
I think I think it's pretty close to real and
that the baddie that in real life that's that's been
banned from going. He was found to have his finger
in the till with the with the Vatican's money. He's

(48:16):
been banned. Well, there's a baddie like that just like
that in this, that conclave movie that's around. Check it out.
It's really good. Ralph Fiennes is wonderful in his acting,
and so is Isabella Rossellini, who's the head nun. She
is fantastic.

S1 (48:34):
David Mitchell, health commentator and movie critic. David, we'll catch
up next month. You take care.

S7 (48:39):
I will feather yourself and everyone listening.

S1 (48:42):
So join us each month. And if there's a topic
you'd like David to cover, get in touch and I
will do it for us. Every time I hear that,

(49:02):
I feel like a cup of tea. I can't drink
tea into the studio. I'll get into trouble for that.
But we can't talk about it. And the best person
to talk to with is Belinda from Brew by Belinda.
The brew. That is true 97. A old port road
at Queenstown. Belinda, great to have you back with us.

S8 (49:18):
Thank you for having me again, Peter. I love our
monthly chat.

S1 (49:21):
Yes, it's very nice. And so do some of our
listeners because a couple of people we should, uh, shout
out to. Um, first of all, um, Felicity says that
Earl grey tea is her favorite tea. You spoke about
Earl grey last time, so Felicity was very pleased to
hear about that. And now we actually, uh, enjoyed the
segment and thought maybe in the future if you could
talk about French Earl grey.

S8 (49:42):
Yes. Of course. Yeah, we can talk forever about Earl grey.
It's such a beautiful tea. And yes, as we know,
French Earl grey, you know, is one one sort of
style of that of that t, so we can definitely
chat a little more about that in the future.

S1 (49:57):
All right. We'll put that on notice for future discussions.
Now of course, next week, next Sunday, May the 11th,
is Mother's Day. And flowers are very synonymous with Mother's Day.
What about flowers and tea? Can they kind of go together,
or can flowers go in tea?

S8 (50:11):
Absolutely. Um, blended teas often contain petals from flowers. Or
you can make tea just with flowers like rose petals
or rose buds like you can make a rose tea. Just, um, brew,
brew those up on its own. Or you can blend,

(50:32):
you know, petals with, you know, actual tea, like caffeinated tea.
I'm actually drinking a white tea blended with Rose right
as we speak. So yes, it can be blended. They
can be blended into tea or or drunk on their own.
But I guess flowers do add such a beautiful vibe
to TS, and I guess it's a bit of a

(50:54):
combination of like the kind of sensory effects that they bring,
but also the health, you know, the health benefits that
some of these, um, petals and flowers can have.

S1 (51:04):
So what do you say? Petals? You actually mean the
petals of the of the actual flower itself?

S8 (51:09):
Yes. So there are some flowers that are safe and
edible and some that are not. But the ones that
are safe, um, and that we often use in tea
blending are things like rose. So that can be little
tiny rose buds, which are absolutely so pretty or petals.
We also use things like calendula petals, um, lavender petals,

(51:32):
blue cornflower petals, often little jasmine petals and buds are
used in tea. That's quite popular. And then there's also
things like Chrysanthemum, which, you know, um, Chrysanthemum tea is
quite popular. So yeah, you can use different parts of
the flower. Sometimes it's the whole flower or bud, and

(51:54):
sometimes it's just the petals, and sometimes you're using them
for sort of like the actual flavor that they bring
to a tea. But other times you're using them sort
of more for, you know, the visual element that they bring,
like the color and some and the aroma. So sometimes
it's about sort of a sensory addition that you're bringing

(52:16):
to the tea. Other times it's about an actual flavor
that it brings to the tea, and then other times
it's actually about the health benefits that those beautiful petals have.

S1 (52:27):
Yeah, I guess you're quite right when you say sensory.
I guess it can be the taste or the flavor, but,
you know, like like a nice meal that's served beautifully.
It's also about the look that can be sort of
impactful as well.

S8 (52:39):
Absolutely. We we eat and drink with our eyes, you know.
And so for me, when I'm blending teas for my range.
That visual element is is really, really important, like balancing color,
bringing color to the table in a blend. So I
use petals a lot in my teas to, yeah, bring

(53:02):
bring a pop of color so some flowers can have
quite a strong flavor profile. Things like rose and definitely
something like lavender is quite kind of, um, you know,
striking and pungent in its flavor. But then there are
other petals that we use in tea that don't actually
impart a lot of flavor, but are sort of more

(53:23):
used for their color and their health benefits. And I'm
thinking of things like calendula petals to beautiful yellow petals.
They have a very mild flavor. So they don't kind of,
you know, burst through with a lot of flavor, but
they have beautiful kind of healing and soothing health benefits.
And then blue cornflower petals, they don't bring, um, a

(53:45):
lot of flavor at all to a tea blend, but
they they're incredible. Striking blue color looks super pretty. And they're, um,
you know, quite rich in antioxidants. So yeah, we use
them in different ways for different reasons, but definitely visual
is big on my my list when I'm using flowers
in tea.

S1 (54:05):
Yeah. We are very artistic person as we've learnt from
the times we've been chatting to you. When you say
you also use, for example, at the moment you're drinking
white tea, would you use a more sort of subtle
or gentle tea rather than a a strong tea as
a base? Rather, you know, when you're using, uh, flowers
like this or petals like this?

S8 (54:23):
Um, it all depends on what you're creating with, um. Yeah,
the tea I'm drinking. I've used a really delicate white tea,
and I've just a touch of rose petals. It's really
about getting that balance. You don't want the rose to
overtake the very delicate white tea. So. But you also
want the rose to kind of be present in the
flavor profile. So it's all about harmony and balance imbalance

(54:44):
we any kind of blending. But then in something you know,
if I was making like, um, like a, a black
tea with some vanilla and rose, then I might, um. Yeah.
Might like, you can use something as bold as a
black tea as a base when you're blending with flowers
as well. So yeah, really, it's a bit of a

(55:04):
tricky question, but it all comes down to harmony and
balance of flavors in any blend. Um, so no sort
of rules around things. It's just kind of. Yeah. Considering
all of the different elements that you're bringing together and
how they are going to come together in a harmonious way.

S1 (55:23):
That makes perfect sense. Now, I know we always say
you're not a medical practitioner. You're certainly not qualified in
this area, but what are kind of some of the
health benefits that are associated with some of the the
petals that might be included in teas? What are some
of the general sort of claims that are made?

S8 (55:39):
Absolutely. Well, some flowers like Chamomile, um, for example, uh,
very calming to the system. They're traditionally used to sort
of aid digestion and promote relaxation. I use things like hibiscus, um,
and elderflower a lot. And they are great for the

(55:59):
immune system because they have a lot of vitamin C,
and then things like, um, lavender is very great. Um,
very good for the kind of nervous and digestive system.
Very soothing. Uh, calendula is great for kind of healing
and skin health and, um, cleansing from the inside. And
then Rose is known to be a mood boosting petal.

(56:22):
So it's high in antioxidants, but it's also known to
kind of boost the mood and uplift. And, you know,
often kind of referred to as like a bit of
a hug in a, in a mug. So.

S6 (56:35):
I like.

S2 (56:35):
That. Yeah.

S8 (56:36):
So it kind of is it really is about the
feeling that you're trying to create. And Definitely. You know,
we you know, we know that fresh flowers can uplift
our mood. Um, the aroma is, is is beneficial to
our health and wellbeing. So I think, you know, thinking
about how you bring that to tea, you know, translates
really well because, you know, I. Yeah, I feel like

(56:59):
these beautiful flowers incorporated in teas really can help create
the whole experience of relaxation and, you know, self-care and,
you know, just nourishment.

S1 (57:11):
Well, maybe with, as I say, Mother's Day coming up
rather than a bunch of flowers, maybe a, um, a
floral kind of, uh, arrangement as far as a tea goes.
Might be the thing, I guess, as you say. And
like anything, it kind of also depends on your own
personal taste as well. Like, you can kind of be
creative and also be, um, flexible as far as what
you what you use.

S8 (57:32):
Absolutely. Some people, you know love Rose and other people
really don't like it. You know, I guess it comes
from those, you know, childhood experiences and exposure to different
kinds of scents and smells and experiences. Some people love lavender,
others don't. Same with chamomile. So yeah, I guess putting
them together in your own way. It is possible and great.

(57:56):
And you know, we offer those kind of custom blends
where people can, um, create your own blend. And that's
actually something we're doing this Mother's Day, sort of, um,
offering people an opportunity to create the perfect blend for their,
you know, mother figure. So you can personalize these things and,
and create the perfect brew for you.

S1 (58:15):
Yeah. Or your mom, it's just something a little bit
different rather than a conventional bunch of flowers. Something a
little bit different.

S8 (58:21):
Yeah. I mean, I love fresh flowers, don't get me wrong.

S1 (58:24):
In case anyone's listening.

S8 (58:26):
Ah, I think in another life or even in this life, I,
you know, floristry has been something that I've been really
interested in, I think, you know, makes sense kind of
dealing with, you know.

S1 (58:37):
Making.

S8 (58:38):
Pretty things. Um, but yeah, I guess, you know, fresh
flowers have a certain lifespan. But, you know, when you do.

S1 (58:45):
Yeah.

S8 (58:45):
Great point with flowers in tea. You know, it's something that,
you know, you can enjoy for many times to come
and share with others. So that's why I like working with, um,
you know, dried flowers in blends.

S1 (58:58):
Fantastic blend. If people want to come and see you and, uh, maybe,
you know, they can come up, come up with their
own recipe and see if you can put it together
for them. Where can we find you?

S8 (59:06):
You can find me at my studio, which is on
Old Port Road in Queens Town. So 97, a old
port road, Queenstown. Um, you can catch me on the phone.
0419 839 702 or via my website. Belinda. Com.au.

S1 (59:25):
Yep. And also ubiquitous on Instagram. Belinda. Great to catch up.
I'm not sure if we'll do furniture or gray next time,
but if there's a tea that you'd like Belinda to
expand a bit on that maybe either like or you'd
like to know more about. Get in touch and like
we will for Abby will find out more about her
grand coming weeks. Belinda, great to catch up. Happy Mother's
Day and we'll catch up next month.

S8 (59:45):
Wonderful. Thanks, Peter.

S1 (59:46):
But who there from brood by Belinda. The brew. That
is true.

S9 (59:57):
On the Vision Australia network through your favorite podcast service
on 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, you're listening to Leisure Link.

S1 (01:00:10):
Stuart is certainly one of Australia's finest advocates. He's the
national advocacy Officer, Appliances Australia, and they're celebrating a very
special year. Martin, always good to catch up. Thanks for
your time.

S10 (01:00:20):
Thank you. Yes, we're preparing the 50th birthday cake okay.

S1 (01:00:24):
What are the ingredients in it? Over 50 years. A
lot of stuff has gone into it, hasn't it?

S10 (01:00:28):
Well, the ingredients that we use is firstly a love
of our community, and I mean that sincerely. You got
to have that in order to to do the work
that we do, to take the blows from the parties
that sometimes we we have to advocate with. And, you know,
return the, the some courtesies as well as celebrate. So

(01:00:53):
it's all there in our hearts and our minds and,
and our everyday actions.

S1 (01:00:57):
Button. I've got a guess if you like. Which is
I assume that you've probably got better advocacy the more
you do it, because I guess, you know, you're a
bit of a firebrand in your early days, and I
guess you're mellow. But by the same token, you learn
from your experiences.

S10 (01:01:10):
Absolutely. I think diversity explains my life from the days
of of having to fight really hard on the ground
with a lot of fervor and passion, which I've still got.
But I do it differently. But I've still got those
bows and arrows and other things available to me. But

(01:01:30):
these days I'm much more on on the inside. Not
so far out. Off side. And I deal with it accordingly.
Because once you are an advocate for an organization rather
than just yourself. Just the fact that you are in
an organization called Blind Citizens Australia seems to help the progress.

(01:01:53):
So when people call us, they're already in front.

S1 (01:01:56):
That's a great point, isn't it? Because I guess you
need kind of to have some sort of street cred,
if I can call it that, don't you, to go
to another organization and say I'm advocating on behalf of
BCA or on behalf of these people, they've got to say, oh, yeah,
we know you. We kind of know what you're about.

S10 (01:02:12):
Correct. And our name is well known. And even if
it's not the fact that you have credibility of displaying
your name and advising them that we are from Blind
Citizens Australia, if there's, for example, a dog guide slash
guide dog Denial event. And you, you come calling and

(01:02:35):
you are blind citizens Australia on behalf of a client.
They tend to listen and those cases actually are usually
very quickly wrapped up in the favor of our client.

S1 (01:02:45):
Over the time, there's been a bit of different, uh,
disputes or allocation of funding towards advocacy organizations. Sometimes you
got to almost advocate just for yourselves to stay alive.

S10 (01:02:56):
Correct. And unfortunately, we've lost out on NDIS funding to
to advocate on behalf of participants, which is a big area,
but it's a very competitive one and we have lost
funding for that area. We can listen and direct people

(01:03:16):
elsewhere when it comes to NDIS matters, but we can't
directly advocate, which is a real blow for us.

S1 (01:03:25):
That's an important thing, isn't it? Because it's sort of
all consuming, isn't it? I mean, the other thing is,
and I talked about this the other night with someone.
Not everyone that's on the NDIS has a disability, and
sometimes maybe the general community probably don't kind of aren't
kind of aware of that.

S10 (01:03:40):
Yes. And unfortunately it's becoming politicised. The NDIS and the
cost of it, the alleged cost of it. Because what's
not mentioned is the advantages. The offsets are people being
out and about, employed, educated to be further employed, etc. etc.
due to the support from the NDIS, which means that

(01:04:04):
the contributors become taxpayers and it's a significant offset to
those costs. But that's just usually not mentioned in the
political debates.

S1 (01:04:13):
Well, certainly that was one of the things that was
kind of highlighted, particularly in the early days, about how
it could kind of we're not even necessarily be self funding, but,
you know, there'd be money coming back the other way
if you like.

S10 (01:04:25):
And it does and it does.

S1 (01:04:27):
But what about over the 50 years, though, you haven't
been here the whole time? We should point that out.
But some of the kind of highlights or lowlights or
bits that you're most proud of.

S10 (01:04:36):
Well, I think of the founders, David Blythe, Hugh Jeffrey,
I think of people like Mary Anne Diamond, Joan Letterman,
Bill jolly, so many luminaries in our community who have
supported our causes, our organization, and the reason for our

(01:04:57):
existence and what we've done over the years has actually
shaped a lot of our lives. For example, the audible,
tactile lights, they've become the sound of Australia, a bit
like the sound of trams in Melbourne. Often when you
hear interviews, you hear the clicking lights in them as

(01:05:19):
a journalist is doing a broadcast nearby them and you
recognize Other work, such as the defense of the Disability
Support Pension blind. Pretty complex name these days, but that
had to be defended on three separate occasions. And every

(01:05:42):
time we've come up successfully. The last one was in
fact in early 1990s. And that will rise up again,
no doubt about it. There's a good reason for it
to be means test free. We know that other disability
groups don't have that, and there's an argument to say

(01:06:03):
they should have that. But it's a reason which we
will always defend because of the massive costs, even with
the NDIS that we incur because of a blindness or
vision impairment.

S1 (01:06:17):
Well, it's a great point you make about the audio
tactile lights. I mean, there was a time when they
didn't exist, they just did old enough to kind of
remember that probably appreciated. You know, younger people may be
coming through the system now kind of think, well, of
course they're they're like, it's kind of a given. But
there was a time when they weren't there. They had
to be advocacy to get them happening. And and now
everyone can benefit from it. And not just people who

(01:06:38):
are blind or have low vision.

S10 (01:06:40):
Correct. You know, these days, the people burying their heads
in their phones. They need that jolt, that reminder, the
same as announcements on trains that we fought for. Same thing.
You you may miss your station if you're sighted and
you aren't concentrating. You're focusing on your iPad, for example.

(01:07:01):
And that that is something that we say in order
to get them over the line, we actually will say,
these announcements are not just for us, they're for the
general community. It's the same as a ramp to a
building is not just something that benefits a person using
a wheelchair. You can have a temporary injury. You could

(01:07:24):
be an older person that requires to walk in that
way on a ramp rather than stairs. Even small children.
So it's it's it's a real advantage for the community
when we are assisted and supported with what we need.

S1 (01:07:41):
You talked about your iPads, your smart devices, etc. they
can be a bit of a pain, but by the
same token, a great bonus as well. And of course,
access to information is something that BCI has been very
passionate about or pretty much for the 50 years.

S10 (01:07:54):
That's right. We are on all sorts of reference committees education, employment,
public transport. So our messages being sent out about access
to information to your phone bills, a whole lot of
areas that we have a place in and are expressing

(01:08:15):
the views of our Australians who are blind or vision impaired.

S1 (01:08:20):
Well, it's quality of life, isn't it, Martin? I mean, okay,
you might have someone in your family that can read
a bill for you, but you don't want that. No
one really wants that. You know anyone if you're blind
or or not blind, if you don't have a disability,
you can kind of appreciate the fact that if you
can read something yourself, you know that you've got the
privacy angle, you've got the independence angle. That is such

(01:08:41):
an important and powerful point.

S10 (01:08:42):
Correct. And it's it's no accident that these technologies that
are coming forward now are happening because we've pushed and
pushed and pushed for that type of ability through technology
to remain private, to be independent and to have that
quality of life that you're talking about. Going back to

(01:09:04):
the past, we've also successfully advocated for radio stations.

S1 (01:09:13):
Yeah.

S10 (01:09:14):
And those stations are now across the country, fully licensed
due to a leading push from Blind Citizens Australia. And
whether you listen to them or not, the fact that
they're there and you've got the ability to go there
when you choose, if you choose and if something interesting

(01:09:34):
comes up, like some of your broadcast, Peter, they are
available on those networks.

S1 (01:09:41):
It's a great point you make. I was actually in
Tasmania late last year and kind of driving around. I
wasn't driving myself, but driving around and we had seven
FX on and you kind of think, well, this is
really cool. You know, you can go to another state,
sort of catch up on the the local news or
the news out of the, the Tasmanian area. And I mean,
you can do that online anyway. But, you know, sometimes

(01:10:03):
you don't have to um, we have to experience it
to sort of understand how important it is, even though
you're kind of involved in anyway, if that makes any sense.

S10 (01:10:10):
That's that's it. And in more modern times, we were
there during Covid. We were there with our conference facilities
available for people to join others and to talk about
their feelings, to express issues. And now that's morphed into

(01:10:32):
object work with AI to the future regarding employment. We've
got a new peer group, employment peer group. We've got
art peer groups. I actually host the site group. It's
a it's a group for people with acquired sight loss.
Acquired sight loss, which can I say, I had a

(01:10:54):
bit of an attitude about self-help groups at one stage
in my life thinking, ah, just inheriting each other's debts
or that sort of thing, you know? But now after
hosting this and I mean this sincerely, I have seen
the advantage, if you choose to be in one of
those groups, of being right on the spot and hearing
others speak about their lived experiences, which then adds To

(01:11:20):
others in the group's experiences and knowledge, the knowledge base increases. Therefore,
the confidence to go forward and be independent also goes
forward for them.

S1 (01:11:31):
Well, you know, everyone can kind of be a role
model or learn from another role model, as you say,
that have had that lived experience and say, okay, well,
if Martin can do it well, I might not be
quite as good as he can be, but I can
at least aspire to that as well.

S10 (01:11:43):
Well, it's sharing and caring a lot. That's the thing.
And I now do not have the attitude I used
to have to peer group. So come aboard everyone. If
we've got, you know, art appreciation peer groups, we've got
music peer groups, you know, just about every aspect of life.
We've got a peer group for it, as well as
further developments with our inform events that we have on

(01:12:06):
various subjects that come up all the time and are
advertised in our, in our newsletters, etc.. So, you know,
if you want it, we've probably got it.

S1 (01:12:15):
Yeah, those online get togethers, if you like. They were so,
so popular, which I guess just proves how important they are.
And of course, isolation can be such a deleterious thing
for people's health, particularly if you have a disability.

S10 (01:12:28):
Isolation is known for being a very destructive force energy
that comes down on people creating loneliness, creating disadvantage. Because
the more isolated you are, the less knowledge you're getting,
and therefore the less ability to have that quality of
life that we all deserve.

S1 (01:12:49):
Well, even length of life. I think there's a lot
of evidence to show that people that are lonely, probably,
you know, their life expectancy can be impacted. Martin, we
never have enough time, but it's always great to catch
up now where you have got a 50th birthday cake
and more importantly, you've got an event to share that
we have.

S10 (01:13:05):
We've got an event call our our office on our
one 800 0360. I'll say it again. One 800 0360.
To register for our 50th event. It starts on the 13th,
goes through to the 15th of June. Friday to Sunday.
We hope you can come along and enjoy all of

(01:13:25):
what we have to offer. And there may be some
online ability set up as well, so just keep a watch.
Watch this space as they say and we'll tell you
all about it.

S1 (01:13:37):
Friday the 13th that gets underway. It's got to work.

S10 (01:13:41):
Well, we're going to reverse the reverse that date and
have good luck.

S1 (01:13:45):
But good luck to you. Keep up the great work.
Always great to catch up.

S10 (01:13:48):
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks everyone.

S4 (01:13:51):
I'm Stuart.

S1 (01:13:52):
He's the national advocacy officer for Blind Australia one 800
0360 or BCA. Org or that information up with our
show notes. What a fantastic standing event was held in
Adelaide this week. And if you live in New South Wales,
it's coming to see you very soon as well. Catherine

(01:14:13):
Carey is from Impact Institute. And it's on the line. Catherine.
Lovely to meet you. Thank you for your time.

S11 (01:14:18):
Thank you. Thank you for having having me on.

S1 (01:14:20):
Now, the workability expo, is it kind of what it
sounds like?

S11 (01:14:24):
Yes, yes it is. Look at its heart. Workability expos
are designed to connect employers and people with disability.

S1 (01:14:31):
I guess there are two sides of the equation, aren't they?
Got the employee and the employer.

S11 (01:14:36):
Yes, absolutely. And in fact, it's more than that. There
is an entire ecosystem that sort of comes together when
you're talking about people with disability and employment. So there's
open employers, there's disability employment service providers and a range
of sort of government agencies and advocacy organisations that help
in this space. And then there are people with disability

(01:14:58):
themselves that are looking for employment. So the expos are
really about bringing all of those people together, all under
the one roof at the one time.

S1 (01:15:07):
Now, I think in Adelaide this week, it was the
first time you've come to Adelaide.

S11 (01:15:10):
It was indeed, and it was great. We loved Adelaide.
You guys are so lovely down there. We really, really
enjoyed it.

S1 (01:15:17):
Well, it's a bit of an idea of what the
setup was like and who came along and what people
got out of it, do you think?

S11 (01:15:23):
Yeah. Look, um, so we had, uh, well over a
thousand people come through. Wow. Which was great at about
50 organizations with us. So that was a mixture, as
I said, everything from open employers right through to all
those disability, um, employment service providers. And those organisations will
often be helping people transition to work. Um, and then

(01:15:46):
there are others that are enterprises themselves, uh, where you
can work, um, in an environment, um, within the organisation
as well. And then we had sort of government agencies
like Department of Social Services. Um, and they can help
you with things like accessing job access and that sort
of thing. So, you know, what supports are available for you,

(01:16:07):
either as an employer or as an employer. And the Ndia, um,
organisations like that are all. We're all there on the day.
We had lots of school leaver kids coming through, but
also people from all walks of life as well.

S1 (01:16:20):
I guess if you run a business, you're kind of, uh,
you know, 24 over seven worrying about your business, etcetera.
But there is a lot of support out there for
work modifications and support that you can get financially. If
you take on a person with a disability, that's probably,
you know, a message that is important, but maybe a
bit hard to get out there because people are so
busy doing what they do day to day.

S11 (01:16:40):
Yeah. Look, that's absolutely correct. Um, there is a sort
of a little bit of inertia in the system. People
don't understand that that support is out there, but we
really would encourage people to get on board. Um, and
have a look at the um, job access website. Um,
and that will give you a little bit of information.
And by and large, many of the people who are employed, um,

(01:17:01):
who have a disability only need really minor modifications. Um,
and often they're, they're not significant. Um, in terms of
the funding that is required. There's a bit of a
sort of a misnomer. I mean, obviously there are lots
and lots of variation in people with disability, but we
know the data tells us that organisations who embrace embrace

(01:17:24):
inclusive hiring, including with people with disability, they do tend
to do better overall financially once they're sort of over
that kind of hump of, you know, just needing to
think about things a little bit differently. Um, but yeah,
I understand that, um, you know, when you are busy
running a business, it sometimes feels like a little bit
extra to do, but it will pay dividends in the

(01:17:47):
long run. I can guarantee you that people with disability,
they're often more committed. They often take less sick days. Um,
they really are keen to work with.

S1 (01:17:56):
The bottom line is the bottom line. If you can
appeal to that, then you're kind of halfway there. Halfway there.
What about you said during the week and we're a
pretty big state. So size wise, uh, maybe not so
much population wise, but people in sort of more remote
areas or country areas, uh, because sometimes that can be
overlooked by by us all, by all our city slickers.

S11 (01:18:17):
Yeah. Look, we are trying to get to as many
locations as as we can. We are up in Newcastle. Uh,
this next week. I was going to say this week.
It's next week. Next, um, Friday and Saturday. Uh, we're
also going to places like Darwin. We've been down.

S1 (01:18:34):
Oh, excellent.

S11 (01:18:35):
Uh, so yeah, we've hit, you know, we're hitting the
major capital cities, but, um, you know, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra. Um,
but we still have a couple of regional ones to go.
We've also been down to Wollongong late last year. So, yeah,
we are working, uh, working our way around. But yeah,
appreciate that. There are many, many places to get to
that we can't we can't be in every place at once.

S1 (01:18:57):
What about the kind of, uh, awareness, I guess, things
like the NDIS. I mean, here we are with, uh. Well,
by the time this goes to where we've had an election,
I guess there's always discussion around employment for everyone. Uh,
kind of the awareness. I mean, we kind of touched
on the fact that maybe employers aren't as aware of
perhaps some of the support that's out there. Do you think,

(01:19:17):
you know that message about being more committed, being more loyal,
you know, less days of absenteeism? Do you think that
message gets across enough?

S11 (01:19:26):
Look, we we need to continue to put it out there.
To be fair, what I hear from employers is, is
really that they understand it, but they are concerned about
their ability to deliver. So even if they are committed
to it, they're they're a little bit nervous. They're nervous about,
you know, making sure that they're doing things. You know,

(01:19:48):
I'm using inverted commas, of course, which you can't see.
But they they're thinking that they need to do things right, um,
and need to be perfect from the get go. And
what I would really encourage employers to do, if you're
already thinking about this and you've, you've, you know, talked
to your staff and people are on board, then you
are a long way down the track, and there are

(01:20:09):
tons of programs out there that will help employers get ready.
For example, when we go to the Hunter, well, it'll
be sort of the week of, um, after this podcast
goes out on the ninth and 10th of May, we've
got an organization with us. Um, and they run a
program called Bids. Um, and that is a free service.
And they do go out and they help businesses, um,

(01:20:32):
get ready for this stuff. So there is support there.
People do just need to, to reach out.

S1 (01:20:37):
You've done a little bit of travel and more could
come as you touched on any state doing it better
than the other. Can one state learn off another? Do
they work enough together? Maybe is a better question.

S11 (01:20:46):
Yeah, it's a it's a good question. Um, I don't
like to play favorites with states, but we do. We
do love the regional areas. Um, and look, we did
we did have a great experience in Adelaide. To be fair,
we did find, uh, that in South Australia they were
a little bit more engaged. Uh, and, we had a
lot more employees. It's it's the place where we've had

(01:21:07):
the most employers. So, um, that was that was great.
And we do love going out to the, to the
slightly smaller regional areas as well. I mean, Newcastle is
is obviously a big area, but it's not it's not
Sydney or Brisbane or Melbourne. So that's one of our
favourite places to go. And we'll be there on the
the ninth and 10th.

S1 (01:21:27):
Alright. Well we'll come to that in a second. I
know that we have Matt Cook on the program quite regularly,
our Human Services minister, and one of the things I
badgered that about is the amount of people with disabilities
that the government employs. I mean, they've got a big
role to play here as well.

S11 (01:21:39):
Absolutely. That's a really good point. Um, and look, organisations
like the Ndia have actually been with us at all
of our events, not as a service provider. They are
there as a service provider as well, but they have
been with us in our employer lounges as well. So
they do employ quite a few people with disability. I
don't know what their percentage is, but I think it's

(01:22:00):
well over sort of 10 to 15% on that figure.
But interestingly, in our Newcastle event, we do have a
couple of the, um, government organisations, uh, coming along, uh,
to be with us as well. So, you know, and
they do often have, um, quotas, um, that they are
expected to hit. So it is good to see the

(01:22:22):
government organisations supporting us, um, as well.

S1 (01:22:25):
And of course, one of the things that people often
talk about, you know, who are on the NDIS is are,
you know, my local area coordinator or my planner or whatever,
they don't quite get it. Well, if you're employing people
with disabilities, hopefully they're going to get it a little
bit more.

S11 (01:22:36):
Yeah, absolutely. There's no doubt about that.

S1 (01:22:40):
Terrific. Well tell us a bit a bit more about
the Hunter. So you're on for two days. You're at
the event for two days.

S11 (01:22:45):
Yeah. Look, it is a two day event. Um, there
are some things that are only operating on the Friday, though.
I'll just. We'll kind of want to put it out there.
So for two days, the full expo is open. Um,
everyone's with us for the full two days. But if
you do want to come and see our open employers
and open employers are organizations who sort of are not
disability specific, if I can put it that way. So

(01:23:08):
all of your, your large organizations and, and even smaller ones, um,
who employ, you know, just have a percentage of everyone
in their organizations. That's what I mean by an open employer, um,
our employer lounge, where you can meet with those organizations
sort of one on one and have a conversation, uh,
that is only on operating on the Friday. Um, and

(01:23:29):
we also have a few workshops. So, again, information about
your rights or, you know, how to go about things.
We are running a little seminar program. That program is
only operating on the Friday. But if you do come
along on the Saturday, whilst, um, there won't be any
seminars or our open employers with us, there still will
be lots of organisations, um, to talk to all of

(01:23:51):
our disability employment service providers and our, our enterprises and
all our government organisations are there for the full two days.

S1 (01:23:59):
Particularly good for parents. Parents of kids with disabilities. You know,
because one of the things that we often hear about,
you know, they worry about what's going to happen to
my child, even though there might be an adult when
I when I go. And I guess if they can
be secured in employment or have a good job to
kind of be going to that kind of takes that
little bit of pressure away.

S11 (01:24:17):
Yeah, absolutely. We had, um, as I said, in Adelaide,
we had a lot of the school kids coming through,
and quite a few parents were were with them. And,
you know, parents play a really critical role in, in helping,
you know, for all of us, our job as parents
is to, you know, provide the life skills, um, and the,

(01:24:38):
you know, the capability with our, in our own children of,
you know, how do you do your tax, how do you,
you know, apply for a Medicare card? How do you
get a job, you know, how to write a CV,
all of those things. You know, that's that's really the
parents role. And it's it's no different for for a
parent with a disability, with the exception of, you know,

(01:24:58):
there are a few more things that they need to
get across and it isn't as easy for them. Um, look, people,
you know, there's no point beating around the bush. People
with disability are not employed at the rate, um, that
people without disability are. And they often need either accommodations
or they need to take a pathway. It's a bit
more of a journey, uh, that these kids are on. Um,

(01:25:21):
it's not, you know, straightforward path is often, you know,
a couple of little, you know, twists and turns, um,
that they need to go through. But we are seeing
a much greater commitment to employ people with disability. Actually,
in the 2022 census data, there was just the glimmer
of hope after sort of being stuck for quite a
bit of time, that that rate of people employment did

(01:25:42):
actually go up. Um, a couple of percentage points. It
wasn't massive. Um, but we, we are starting to see, um,
it turn around a little bit. So, uh, you know,
it's it you know, we're not going to solve this
problem overnight, but we have to all be together and
be on this journey, I think, and that's the most
important message. Talk to people, get information, understand your rights,

(01:26:05):
understand what your pathway options are and then you can
start making plans.

S1 (01:26:10):
A good note to end on Catherine, where are you
exactly and how can we find out more?

S11 (01:26:14):
Okay, so we are at, um, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, um,
in Newcastle. Uh, if you just Google the Workability Expo
is actually being held as part of the Hunter Disability Expo.
It's sort of all one big, massive event. We've joined
them in. Um, so if you just Google Hunter Disability Expo, um,
you should find it. Or alternatively, if you Google Workability Expo,

(01:26:37):
you will find us that way as well. So two
ways to go.

S1 (01:26:40):
Alright. We'll put that information up on our show notes. Catherine.
Good luck and it'll be good to catch up with
you again in the future. This sounds like a most worthwhile, uh,
tour that you're doing. Uh, keep up the great work.

S11 (01:26:49):
Uh, thank you so much. Lovely to chat to you.
You and your listeners.

S1 (01:26:52):
Kath and Kerry there from the Impact Institute there to
Workability Expo and that hundred disability expo. That's Friday and
Saturday next week, the ninth and 10th of May. I
mentioned during the program great to have people in Tasmania
listening in. Got a lovely email from Hannah from Tasmania

(01:27:13):
saying that they love. Listen to the link on print
radio down there. So Hannah, thanks so much for your
email and thank you for enjoying the program on a
saying particularly loves having Tasmanians or hearing Tasmanians on the show.
Or of course Alison Davies, who's a resident Tasmanian, is
on the third week of each month the wonderful, uh,
music therapist. So Hannah, again, thanks so much for your email.

(01:27:35):
Love to hear from you and keep enjoying the show.
Keep being in touch. If there are things that you
don't like about it, let us know. We'd try and
make it even better. Some birthdays before we go. Before
we do that, we'll actually do a couple of quotes.
Shall we keep the regular order? Mark, who's our media
watcher from New South Wales, has sent this quote through.

(01:27:56):
A number of people have said over the years build bridges,
not walls. So thanks, Mark for sending that through. And
Marika has sent this quote through that says, your vote counts.
Your vote is counted. So thanks to Marika for your quote.
So birthdays before we go. Nikita Gross having a birthday

(01:28:16):
that a wonderful goalball player. Read a few. That excellent
scientist who works in the area of infectious a reader.
A big happy birthday to you. Steven heard having a
birthday who has run for politics in the past. So Steven,
maybe get back into it. We need some good people
in there. So happy birthday to Steven Heard and Marilyn
Mills having a birthday played blind cricket. Well, a number

(01:28:40):
of years ago. I'm sure Marilyn would be very pleased
about the way a women's blind cricket has developed. And
maybe also a little bit envious. Understandably so. Happy birthday
to you, Marilyn Mills. That's it for the program. Thanks
so much for your help. Pam Green, as always, thanks
so much of yours. Reminding you that the link is
available on your favorite podcast platform. Please spread the word

(01:29:03):
about the program. Tell a few people we'd love to
have more listeners. Vicki Cousins is here with Australian Geographic.
So if you're listening through 1197 FM Adelaide, keep that
radio tuned to that particular station. Vicki is looking very,
very happy after the Woodville-west Torrens Eagles beat the crows
last week. Yes. Double thumbs up from Vicki. Be kind

(01:29:25):
to yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others. All
being well. Let's link back at the same time next
week on Australia Radio and the Reading Radio Network. This
is leisure link.

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