05 Apr 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:06):
Hi I'm Elise Rossetti OAM Olympic gold medallist and head
of performance strategy at Paralympics Australia. And you're listening to
leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S2 (00:40):
It's just gone 5:00. And with all the talk about
tariffs and trade only a warm welcome brings you to
leisure link here on Vision Australia Radio 1190 7 a.m. Adelaide,
also on the Reading Radio Network through the TuneIn radio app.
Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide. You can also find
us via Radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin. Our friends

(01:02):
listening through 103.9 hyper feminist rates in Western Australia, and
also listening on the Disability Media Australia network. They're a
website as well. Powered media, media electric. Is there lots
of other great information as well? Peter Greco saying wonderful
to be here for the next 90 minutes. Please forget

(01:24):
all about the talk of tariffs and trade. Just a
very warm welcome to you and some great guests such
as this program coming to you from Garner Land. We'll
catch up with Alice OAM, gold medalist at the Olympic Games,
now also involved with Paralympic Australia, telling us about the
Paralympic athlete Barry Grant. A great chance for athletes will

(01:46):
hear that. Good news very very shortly. We'll catch up
with Kelly Schultz from Nobull me accessible voting. Kelly would
like to find out your experience or maybe what you'd
like to see happen. Max Taylor will join us. A
young student from high school who's looking to design a
handle to make cooking safer for people blind or low vision.

(02:06):
A chance for you to get involved with Max's research.
David Mitchell will join us, our health commentator. David's topic
is Candida or Candida? Say it however you like. Belinda
Hellyer will join us from Brewed by Belinda the brew.
That is true. Talk about Earl grey tea. Looking forward
to that. Then we'll catch up with Doctor Andrew Wilson,

(02:27):
who will talk to us about a number of people
being still very reluctant to talk about their mental health issues.
Will find out much more about Doctor Andrew, who's a psychiatrist,
and will then be joined by Monica Ferrie, who will
talk to us about a really interesting blood test that's
just been made available for sickle cell disease for youngsters.

(02:48):
This can be early diagnosis, which can mean better outcomes.
It's always great to go behind the scenes and find
out what's going on as far as our Paralympic athletes go.
It's really great to welcome to the program, Elise Rechichi,
who's the Olympic gold medalist, but also heads up our

(03:11):
Paralympic strategy at Paralympics Australia. Elise, lovely to meet you.
Thank you for your time.

S1 (03:16):
Thank you, Peter, for having me.

S2 (03:17):
How's the role going? I guess you know, Brisbane is
kind of the end goal at this stage.

S1 (03:22):
Yeah. It's a very, um, extremely exciting time in, um,
sport in Australia, but particularly Paralympic sport. As we head
towards the Brisbane 2032 games, I'm sure you would have seen,
you know, with the, with the federal government announced last
year of a big increase in investment into para sport.
There's lots of exciting work underway to really set us

(03:42):
on a course to winning well at our best games
ever in Brisbane, so I'm very excited and privileged to
lead a great team, um, along with our partners who
are doing great work to bring that to life.

S2 (03:52):
Something like $54 million. That sounds a lot of money,
but I guess there's lots of areas that are needing it.

S1 (03:57):
There are and um, and, uh, there was a very
significant piece of work done by, uh, the sector, which
was largely informed by a very, um, over 160 current
and former para athletes who um, collectively, ah, identified many
barriers to entry and progression for para athletes trying to
enter into and progress through sport in Australia. So the

(04:20):
54 million is designed to address some of the systemic
and structural challenges as we head towards, uh, Brisbane to
enable para athletes to really make the most of their talents.
And very excitingly, one of the initiatives announced this week, um,
is the launch of the Para Athletes Barriers Fund. And
so while most of the work is, you know, around

(04:41):
building a sustainable system over the medium to long term
for para sport, uh, we recognise that we need to
do more to support our current, uh, para athletes. So, um,
the announcement of that fund this week, uh, is a
really exciting step. And we hope that that will enable
them to overcome some of the individual barriers that they experience.
At the moment in para sport.

S2 (05:02):
There's a bit of a saying in sport, isn't there,
that talent isn't enough. And I guess, you know, sometimes
finance can play a role as well.

S1 (05:09):
Yeah, definitely. And, um, we know that in the course
of our journey, you know, towards Brisbane, um, that in
addressing these big structural and systemic challenges that our future
para athletes will have a much, hopefully a journey that is, um,
you know, with far fewer barriers, um, you know, including
the financial barriers. Um, and so that's why, you know,

(05:29):
the the launch of the Para Barriers Fund this week
is designed to not only overcome some of the individual
barriers that our current athletes are facing, but to, as
you said, to alleviate some of that financial pressure as well.

S3 (05:40):
But for very kind of like holistic or.

S2 (05:42):
National approach, isn't it, in terms of the collaboration with
the states and territories. And it's very much a, you know,
Australia first, uh, policy, if I can put it that way.

S1 (05:51):
It really is. And I'm glad it's sort of being
seen that way, because it truly is, um, a new
way of working for the Australian high performance sport system
that is really founded on purposeful partnership, where you know
every organisation, be it the Australian Sports Commission and the AIS,
all of our state institutes and academies of sport, all
of our Nsos and of course Paralympics Australia are playing

(06:13):
a role, each investing in and collectively working together to
really deliver this as a truly system wide response to
support our para athletes and as I said, support our
hopefully our goal of best games ever in Brisbane.

S2 (06:25):
I guess it kind of speaks aloud a message in
two ways one to the athletes and to people in
disabilities in general, but also to the broader community about
the abilities of people with disabilities, the importance of inclusion.
Is that kind of a double edged sword with with, uh,
with lots of potential benefits?

S1 (06:43):
Yeah, it really is. And I think, you know, we're
really grateful to the federal minister, a minister Wells, for
having recognised the opportunity. And I think one of the
things that we really hope to showcase as a sector
is that with you know, the eight year runway now
to Brisbane that this system wide collaboration and really systemic
response can showcase how really effective change can happen within

(07:06):
an ecosystem. And we hope that one of the legacies
of this on the other side of Brisbane will be
we can tell that story about how we really came
together at a policy level, at a national level, and
worked really earnestly and collaboratively, you know, to enable para
athletes to showcase, um, the very best of their talents
to Australian, the Australian community, um, and to the world.

(07:28):
And we know that, you know, that that will that's
a really important mission and it will make a really
big difference.

S2 (07:34):
Yeah. Well, it certainly sounds very, very exciting. And I
guess in a sense, the proof of the pudding will
be in the eating, as in the gold medal tally
or the medal tally. But I'm sure there are much
more performance indicators as well as that that will be
taken into account.

S1 (07:46):
Yeah. Well, as I am absolutely of course we are.
We're here to win. And that's the important part of,
of the, you know, aspirational Olympic and Paralympic Games and
of course, Commonwealth Games as well, and pretty much any
sort of high performance sport in Australia. But the philosophy,
you know, about, about collective national strategy is win. Well,
where how we win is as important as what we win.

(08:08):
And so, um, the experiences of our athletes and the
experiences of all the staff and all the team, you know,
behind the team in Australia and really ensuring the wellbeing
of everyone, you know, athletes, coaches and all staff is
as important, um, as making progress to our ambition of,
you know, of, um, you know, of our best games
ever in medal terms as well.

S2 (08:30):
I know the fund was just announced this week, and
thanks for speaking to us so soon after the announcement. But, Conor,
can you give us a bit of an idea how
it works? I mean, who can access it, how they
can access it? What's the kind of, uh, criteria has
that kind of, you know, be sort.

S1 (08:42):
Of nutted out? Uh, it is available, um, on the
Australian Sports Commission website. And again, we're really grateful to
our partners there, uh, who we've worked with and together,
you know, informed by our athletes, our voices around how
this will work to best meet the needs of our athletes.
But the first or the it's a one off, um,
pool of 325,000. It's available to all current categorized para

(09:06):
athletes in Australia. The maximum grant is up to $4,000
for any individual. And it's really if our athletes are
para athletes can demonstrate how, you know, this grant could
allow them to overcome an individual barrier that they're experiencing. Then, um,
that's sort of the primary criteria. So any categorised athlete,

(09:26):
para athlete in Australia who feels like that, they, you know,
have any of those barriers that have been identified where
this could this could potentially support them, then I really
encourage them to consider applying.

S2 (09:37):
Individual or team makes no difference.

S1 (09:39):
It's not available to organisations. This is really the fund
that is really designed to go straight to the athletes. Um,
so that might be a, that might be an athlete
or that might be an athlete in a team. As
I said, it's it's it's direct. It's direct to athletes.

S2 (09:52):
And this is it. At this stage for summer athletes
or athletes?

S1 (09:57):
No, it's for summer and winter. Okay. Yeah. Which is.
Which is great.

S2 (10:02):
Well, it is, isn't it? Because often and, you know,
I guess we're all guilty of it in a sense,
because the summer games tend to sort of dominate in
terms of numbers and also publicity. We, we sometimes, you know,
not necessarily on purpose if you like, but we perhaps
aren't to look at the, the winter, winter athletes or
the athletes involved in winter sport.

S1 (10:21):
Yeah. Well we we certainly want to make sure that
that's not the case. And, you know, while we obviously
talk a lot about Brisbane and this week there's been
a lot of focus on Brisbane. Uh but you know
our winter team which we are very excited to see
perform in Milan-cortina in less than a year's time, is
very much our priority alongside our summer athletes. And indeed, um,
you know, the very next games where we'll get to

(10:42):
where we'll get to witness the awesome performance of our
para athletes will be at the Winter games, so very
much available to both winter and summer athletes.

S2 (10:50):
You're listening to Late Link here on Vision Australia Radio
and the Reading Radio Network, and we're speaking to Olympic
gold medallist Elise Rechichi OAM. Elise, when you won gold
back in uh, Beijing in 2008, just 17 years ago,
not very long ago, did you kind of think that
the career ahead of you, uh, was there or how
did that sort of, uh, getting into this sort of

(11:11):
sport come about?

S1 (11:12):
Um, no, I don't I don't think I could have
risen to that. Was it 17 years ago or 18
years ago? Nearly. It feels like a long time ago. Um, now. Um,
I didn't I took a break from sport after I
stopped in London, and I worked in sort of different
sector for a period of time, and then came back
to sport through my, um, my own sport of sailing. Um,
and then if it worked across a number of nsos, um,

(11:35):
and then this role with Paralympics Australia just over coming
up three and a half years ago. And I think,
you know, I have a deep connection, you know, to,
to sport. And I feel really personally invested, you know,
and really in the Paralympic movement, you know, I believe
that we have the potential to, you know, to be
the very best in Australia in both Olympic and Paralympic sport.
And our Olympic and Paralympic athletes deserve, you know, every

(11:58):
opportunity to demonstrate everything they are capable of. And, you know,
this is a really exciting time. You know, um, for
for Paralympic sport in Australia. And I think as we
see community attitudes, you know, have shifted so much that
the value of the Paralympic movement is really recognized and
celebrated and really held up, you know, as, as it
should be. So. And that's only going to grow as

(12:20):
we head towards Brisbane. So it's amazing to be part
of it. I love being part of the Paralympic community
and um, and feel very welcomed and, you know, and
it's a brilliant mob to be part of.

S2 (12:30):
We've talked about the Summer games, Winter games, Olympic, Paralympic.
I guess at the root of it, if I could
put it that way, right down at the very soul
of it, uh, they're all athletes. I was going to
say we're all athletes, but a bit too presumptuous of
me to put myself in that category. But they're all athletes,
you know, we're all kind of, uh, you know, competition
and wanting to do well and training hard. That's kind

(12:51):
of all just in our DNA.

S1 (12:52):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And, um, you know, having
the Brisbane games, you know, in, um, you know, in
Australia and on home soil in 2032 is going to
enable us to show the very best of Australia and
the very best of the athletic talent we have, you know, available,
you know, whether you're an Olympic athlete or a Paralympic athlete.
And I think that's going to be a really, you know,

(13:14):
a moment in time and I hope it has, and
I believe it will make a huge impact on our
community and and the broader global community.

S2 (13:20):
Alicia, sounds like you're very, very busy, which I understand.
Do you get much of a chance to think back
and relive 2008, the gold medal that the whole sort of, uh,
stuff that goes with it. Did you get much chance
to kind of, uh, reflect and bask in the glory,
if I can put it that way?

S4 (13:37):
Oh.

S1 (13:38):
I think, you know, there are many moments and in
sharing many, you know, sort of sharing parts of many
of our athletes journey now, you know. It certainly reminds
me of my experience and. And also, I'm really proud
that we have come, you know, we have come a
long way in the sports system in a, you know,
in female sport, whether it's Paralympic sport, there are many
things that, you know, 17 years ago I think we

(14:01):
wouldn't see today. And that's a that's, you know, as
we kind of grow and and progressed and matured. So
it's nice to be you know, I often think you
can only make change from the inside. And so it's
really great to be in a position where I can
have a positive influence on high performance sport in Australia
and on Paralympic sport. Um, and my kids actually just
did do their first sailing course for the first time
over summer in Perth. So I was back at my

(14:23):
home club where I started sailing 30 years ago, um, myself.
So it was um, it sort of come full circle,
and I was sort of nice to connect back to, um,
to sailing through my kids.

S2 (14:33):
I know, no pressure. I mean, uh, you know, as
a mum, you can't say too much in my day
or I do it. I did it this way, or
I used to do that. You probably have to sort of, uh,
you know, be a bit guarded in how you, uh,
talk about yourself.

S1 (14:49):
Uh, yeah. My daughter, uh, certainly is not up is
not up for getting any advice from me. Um, so
it's difficult then? Yes. She made that very clear that she,
that she did not want any advice from mum. And
actually the couple of the other kids in the course
said to her, Charlotte, your mum is an Olympic gold medalist,
you probably should listen to her. But no, I think,
you know, everyone has to chart their own course. And

(15:11):
I think as a good sporting parent, I will support them. And,
you know, the most important thing is they have fun.
And I certainly won't be, um, won't be overstepping from
the sidelines.

S2 (15:20):
There might come a day when she might say, hey, mum, actually,
you remember back when you told me that you're probably right,
but I didn't realise at the time.

S1 (15:27):
Yeah.

S2 (15:28):
That might nearly be as good as winning a gold medal.
At least. Great. Now, if people do want to find
out more about the fund, as you say, it's just
been launched. What's the kind of, uh, place that we
can point them to if they do want to find
out more.

S1 (15:41):
There is a link by the Paralympics Australia website and
also it is available on the Australian Sports Commission website.
Or if you google para athletes barriers fund. Um, it's
the first thing that comes up. So um, for anyone
who is interested, uh, applications are opened uh, last week um,
and close uh, on the 5th of May. So, um,

(16:03):
encourage them to really have a look and think about
how they might be able to support them.

S2 (16:07):
Well, I know when political times, but it's certainly great
that this particular government and this particular time has made
those funds available. So well done to Anika Wells and
the government for for doing that at least. Great to
chat to you. First on we've spoken. I've really enjoyed it.
Keep up the great work. And well, certainly one of
the thrills of this program is the ability to be
able to speak to athletes. And, uh, well, it's been

(16:28):
a thrill speaking to you today, so thank you.

S1 (16:29):
Yeah. Thank you. Peter, it's been so nice to be invited.

S2 (16:32):
Certainly for our I am Olympic gold medalist and, uh,
very much involved at the Paralympic level. Kind of, um, well,
spearheading hitting now. Run towards 2032 on the green and
gold runway.

S5 (16:48):
My name is Patrick Jensen and I'm a two time
Winter Paralympian. You're listening to Leisure link with Peter Greco
on the Vision Australia radio network.

S6 (17:01):
I've got some wine, wine, life.

S2 (17:05):
If you hadn't heard, there's an election happening. Uh, let's
find out what's, uh, Kelly Schultz from me is doing
and maybe wanting your support as well. Kelly, great to
catch up. Thanks for your time.

S7 (17:15):
Thanks for having me. Peter.

S2 (17:16):
No, you're not running for Parliament, are you?

S7 (17:18):
Oh, no.

S2 (17:19):
No, not this time.

S7 (17:20):
No.

S2 (17:20):
Not this. No. You've got a really cool thing underway.
Tell us about this. Obviously, it's very, very timely and really,
really important. I mean, some of us are more passionate
about this sort of thing than others, but this is
really great.

S7 (17:33):
Yeah, well, it is pretty timely. Obviously, an election has
been called and we're just going to run a national
survey to understand how accessible voting really is for people
with disabilities. It's not going to be about politics at all.
It's just about whether the process works and what gets
in the way.

S2 (17:48):
One of the great things about this is not necessarily
voting on the day that you're talking about, although that's
part of it, but it is accessing information before it.

S7 (17:56):
That's right. I think there's so many things involved in
making an informed decision, and I'm sure not sure about you,
but I've never heard quite this much talk about disability
as a political issue before. So it's incredibly important that
everyone with a disability both has the opportunity to participate independently,
but also has the opportunity to understand what everyone's thoughts

(18:19):
are and what their policies are and what their positions
are on this. And that sort of information can be
really hard to come by in accessible formats, or just
in a way that's understandable.

S2 (18:30):
It's almost an oxymoron sometimes something like that, isn't it?
Information about disability that's not accessible or that is inaccessible.

S7 (18:38):
I know Vision Australia does a lot of work on this. Yeah.
So absolutely acknowledge the vision. Australia has done a lot
of work from advocating for accessible voting things, producing the
materials in formats that people can actually use. And I
just think our research is going to build on that
foundation and add to the case for for more progress. Obviously,
we're not necessarily going to have an impact on this

(18:59):
particular election. But while it's on people's minds and while
they're looking at, you know, what they are going to
do and how they're going to exercise their vote, I
think it's a really great time to talk about it.

S2 (19:08):
That's one thing I'm going to put to you is
the fact that this obviously probably won't make a lot
of difference this time around, because it is kind of,
if you like, a slow burn, but but nevertheless, if
you don't start something, it's never going to get to
the point where you want it to finish.

S7 (19:20):
Exactly. It's probably not going to make a difference. But
I think there's also something about raising awareness for for
everybody who participates. How do we how do we get
these stats out there and what's happening for people to
the general public so that they know what it's like,
and it just adds weight white to that ongoing advocacy
for better systems, because I'm sure every other state's going
to be due for an election sometime in the not

(19:42):
too distant future.

S2 (19:43):
To know a great point. Well, we've got in South
Australia's got ours in the next 11 months as it
is now. I think Victoria's next year as well. So that,
as you say, is very, very timely. And I guess
like the other thing that you do with noble me
is like you put the information out there for organisations, governments, etc. to,
if you like, peruse. So it's the sort of stuff

(20:03):
that they've got access to information that they might not
otherwise have.

S7 (20:07):
Yeah, that's one of the philosophies. So particularly when we
do these research for ourselves. So this is one that
we're funding for ourselves. This is a piece of research
we're doing because we want to add to the annals
of information. And so we'll share these results publicly with
the community. Uh, it'll feed into the broader conversations and
we'll even, you know, maybe get an audience with the
Electoral Commission and have a bit of a crack with them, too.

S2 (20:28):
Well, that is a great idea. And, of course, you know,
I mean, because because I speak to them pretty much
every election time. And they do say they want to
hear what people think. So, you know, this is kind
of putting them to the test. All right. So what
are you looking for us to do? As, as as
I was going to say as plebs, as voters or
maybe as voters in the future, because it's not just

(20:49):
people that have voted, is it?

S7 (20:51):
No. It can be people who for this is their
first time as well, because there's quite a few of
those as well. Of course, we're looking for people with
disability or access needs who plan to vote in this
coming federal election. So in just a few weeks time,
there's a survey, there's an open survey, or at Noble Me,
and then there's an opportunity to participate. Then once we've

(21:13):
once we've gone through those in a $15 paid survey,
which can either be bi or online, we can do
all different formats, whatever works for people.

S2 (21:23):
Fantastic. And can you give us a bit of an
idea of what. Well, both the survey and then the
phone survey, what that kind of involves or what that includes.

S7 (21:32):
Yeah. The initial survey is generally just some yes no questions.
Do you intend to vote? Have you got any stories
to tell us about things? Um, how do you usually vote? So,
you know, some people always want to post or vote.
Some people will want to do it on the day
and go for their democracy. Sausage. I'm quite a fan
of a democracy sausage. So, uh, people vote in different
ways and have different views on it, but also how

(21:53):
they get information. So how do you figure out who
you're going to vote for? Uh, and those sorts of
things and any experiences that you can talk to if
you've had those experiences. And then the more detailed survey,
the paid survey after that will be a little bit
more in depth about what you need and how you
need it, and what your preferences are for getting information
and using information and being communicated with about the things

(22:16):
that are important to you.

S2 (22:17):
It's a great thing you mentioned about getting information, because
I must admit, I'm very limited as far as sort
of interest or ability in the social media area. However,
I do know that there's been such an emphasis that
the political parties are putting a lot of, uh, their
energies into, uh, social media, you know, the, the TikTok,
the YouTube, the, the podcasts, etc.. So I guess, you know,

(22:40):
we've got a kind of take notice of that, if
that's what they're doing, then there's a lot of people
that have got that interest. But by the same token,
if we, um, don't know about it, then we're not
going to know, you know, what they're offering or what
sort of things they're out there for us to consume.

S7 (22:54):
Absolutely. And I funnily enough, I only looked it up yesterday.
You can actually publicly available you can go and look
at the advertising reports on advertising on social media, particularly
for meta, which is Facebook and Instagram, and see who
is spending the most money. Uh, and last week, in
you know, real terms, uh, the Australian Liberal Party spent

(23:15):
the most on meta for political and exercising. So yeah,
you can actually say how much they're spending and what
the ads are, uh, and that they're approved. So there
is actually a lot of reporting available to people on that.

S2 (23:27):
Well, I guess if they're using it, then you've got
to at least know about it. So to kind of
know what sort of areas to be looking in and
I guess also what sort of, um, information people are
consuming from it. What about the kind of old fashioned way?
You know, if you like websites and I mean, you know, obviously, uh,
the letterbox drops, I mean, that's probably not very accessible
for some people, though. There's much more equipment now that

(23:50):
you can kind of read your own mail independently.

S7 (23:52):
Yeah. There is. I remember there was a federal election. Well,
I don't think it was the last one. It might
have been the one before that where I got 17
from the 17 bits of it.

S2 (24:01):
Because they know who you are.

S7 (24:04):
Uh, crazy amounts of mail. Um, and that person didn't
win in the end, which is also amusing to me. Um,
but yes, there's got to be other there's other ways.
And I mean, for a lot of people, it's even
just knowing who your local member is. Of course, obviously
you're not voting for the Prime Minister unless you're in
that seat. You're not voting for our prime minister or
sometimes even cabinet ministers. So, uh, you don't know necessarily

(24:29):
who these people are in your local area and in
your electorate and what they stand for. So even finding
out that information can be a good place to start.

S2 (24:38):
Yeah, that is such a great point, isn't it? Because invariably,
say who you're voting for, Dutton or Albo? And of
course it isn't that not not particularly in your own electorate.
And of course, then there's the, I guess, the extra complexity,
if you want to call it that, of the Senate
and the system in the upper house as well.

S7 (24:55):
Absolutely. And I've, I don't know if you've done this.
I do it for fun, Peter, but you go out
on Election Day and walk into a polling place and
ask all of those people handing out how to vote
cards if they have one in Braille.

S2 (25:06):
I must do that. No, I've never done that. Well,
the last few elections I've kind of used the telephone voting,
although it must have been, I have gone.

S7 (25:15):
I go out and enjoy the day.

S2 (25:17):
Well, no. Well, I was going to say I have
gone out just to kind of soak up the atmosphere
because there is something special about those sort of days.
So I, I might do that, and I might report
back with the answer that I get.

S7 (25:29):
Oh, sausage as well. Right?

S2 (25:31):
Yeah. Well, hopefully the answer is there. Broadcastable. Kelly, what
about timeliness as far as your, uh, sort of survey
and your, uh, call out for people to, uh, give
you some information, guys? How's that take place?

S7 (25:44):
Oh, yeah. Get on to us as soon as you can.
The initial survey is going to close on the 14th
of April, so that we can at least get some
stats out into the world before the election. And the
the survey. The paid survey will close probably a week
after that. But yeah, if you can get your initial
initial votes in before that, that'd be great.

S2 (26:02):
Yeah. So it's kind of a voting before we vote,
isn't it?

S7 (26:04):
Yeah.

S2 (26:05):
Uh, and in terms of, um, the accessibility of, uh,
the surveys, you talked about maybe doing a via phone,
but if people do choose to do it online, you've
checked it out. I know you have, Kelly, but I'm
just asking. Just asking for a friend. I'm asking for
a friend. Have you checked it out?

S7 (26:20):
He takes feedback on that, too, Peter. So.

S2 (26:22):
Okay.

S7 (26:23):
Some situations where a couple of people have mentioned a
couple of things to us. Um, so, uh, yeah, always
taking feedback on that. So it's online at knowable and
that's knowable k n o w a b l e
dot m e. Uh. You can also email us if
you need some support, which is research at knowable. Me uh,
and you can ring one of the team as well

(26:44):
and have a chat which is 04351855, double seven.

S2 (26:50):
Terrific. Kelly. Obviously for those of us that are a
little bit nerdish in this area, we're, uh, looking forward
to it and very appreciative of it. And like I
always say at election time, you know, if you've got
an accessible voting option, please think really hard about taking
it up. Because if we don't do it, then the
Electoral Commission will say, oh look, yeah, these people aren't
really interested. Why should we bother or why should we

(27:10):
spend money on it? So yeah, my impassioned pleas that
people take it up and also contact you to do
your survey, because as you say, there is a little
financial incentive, particularly for the, uh, the longer survey that
goes on after the initial contact.

S7 (27:24):
Yeah it is. And I think this is a great opportunity.
Like I said, the political landscape has never mentioned disability
more than now that I've, that I've experienced. And we
need to exercise those rights. So if you can use
one of those systems do let's let's prove it. Let's
vote with our feet and get out there and do it.

S2 (27:43):
Terrific, Kelly. Great to catch up. Uh, I'd like to
get back to you at the end of this and say, hey,
what sort of response do you get? And then perhaps, uh,
after the election, you know, what your sort of thoughts
are in terms of where you go to with this
kind of project as well?

S7 (27:54):
Yeah, that'd be great. I'd love to share this one back.
I think it's a it's a really important issue.

S2 (27:58):
Kerry Schultz what a what a what an Energizer bunny.
Certainly as far as accessibility and access to information goes,
one of the very best. Always great to have her
on the program. We'll put those details up in our
show notes as well.

S8 (28:12):
You're in elite company listening to Leslie here on Vision Radio, radio,
VR radio, digital VR radio and through the TuneIn radio app.

S2 (28:25):
Let's meet Max Taylor, a year 11 student at Redlands
who's doing a rather interesting project. Max, great to meet you.
Thank you for your time.

S9 (28:33):
Hi. Nice to meet you, Peter.

S2 (28:34):
Tell us about this project. Uh, there's a number of
kids in the class doing a project in this kind of, uh, area.

S9 (28:40):
Yeah, well, um, obviously, I'm Max, I'm 16 years old,
and I go to Redlands in year 11, and one
of my passions is design and technology. And in my
class for for term one, we've been sort of designed, uh,
tasks to create a project which designs and prototypes an

(29:01):
ergonomic handle for a specific tool object to meet a
user group, focusing on user comfort, functionality and of course,
the aesthetics. And so as part of the project, we
sort of had to create our own idea and develop
a prototype and 3D model on it. And so a
key part of my design was I wanted to target

(29:24):
the visually impaired community. So yeah. Um, that's why I
sort of reached out and got in touch with Vision
Australia as well.

S2 (29:32):
Why in particular that community? Uh, back for people who
are blind or low vision, why that particular part of
the community?

S9 (29:39):
So as soon as I was given this project's about, um. Well,
it must have been five weeks ago now, I knew
immediately I wanted to focus on sort of developing a
handle which would help people and make their lives easier.
And so I remembered back to this time my mum
shared a story about one of her work friends whose
brother in law lost his sight in his 20s. And

(30:01):
now they're home. Daddy loves to cook for his family.
And so it made me think about, um, what are
the challenges that a blind or visually impaired person encounters
when they're cooking? So I thought, what a significant risks.
And I came to the conclusion it's like burning themselves.
Spilling the contents of the pan or even getting sick

(30:21):
from undercooking their food.

S2 (30:23):
I hadn't thought of that one.

S9 (30:26):
But I knew that I wanted to, like, reach out
to this community and ask questions and get feedback and
understand how I could help to meet their needs of
a cooking pan.

S2 (30:36):
So that's the, uh, kind of, um, article or the
item that you're working on is a handle for a
cooking pan.

S9 (30:42):
Yeah. That's it. So I wanted to, like, fill a
gap in kitchen tools for visually impaired people. So, like,
the average traditional cooking pan during my research doesn't provide
the support and features, um, that a visually impaired person
may need to cook independently and safely as my goal
sort of make it so that they don't have to
rely on others. And, um, visually impaired people can cook independently.

(31:07):
So yeah. So I wanted to transform it into like
a simple and safe practice instead of something with risk.

S2 (31:13):
Now as you're speaking to us, obviously, which is great,
but you've also reached out in other areas for people
who are blind or low vision to give you feedback,
and I believe you've had some pretty good responses.

S9 (31:23):
Yeah. So I have reached out to several organizations, obviously,
including Vision Australia. And um, one thing I've noticed is
all the support that these um, organizations have given is invaluable.
They've been super helpful and gone above and beyond, even
to the point of giving me loads of feedback on
my survey. So this put me in contact with visually

(31:45):
impaired people, occupational therapists, and, uh, you as well, Peter. Um,
and who have all provided me with valuable feedback to
move forward and develop my handle. And so through my
Microsoft form survey I was talking about earlier, I gathered
multiple responses on cooking experiences, preferred materials, technology usage when cooking,

(32:10):
the shape and ergonomic fit of the pan. And some
are like those stand out Statistics included that 66% of
these recipients felt somewhat comfortable when cooking independently, which obviously
we want to improve to make it so that all
respondents are comfortable and cooking. But I also received the

(32:31):
statistic that 22% of respondents were somewhat uncomfortable, which is
something which really needs to be taken action on, which
is sort of like the whole point of my idea.
One of the other sort of open ended questions, which
I provided in my survey, just to experiment and see

(32:53):
sort of what changes would help to improve the cooking
experience for a visually impaired person. And most of my
responses came back with exactly what my research had found,
that preventing heat from escaping outside the pan and causing
harm to the individuals was by far the standout, um, response,

(33:16):
like cooking close to hot surfaces and being able to
prevent burns, which is, um, which, um, I think 90%
of respondents said they'd experienced burns when cooking. So that
was something I really knew. Um, my design has to
prevent and sort of in terms of looks and the

(33:37):
ability to prevent, like prevent heat as, um, sort of
been looking at materials of silicon and wood, which received 38%
each on the survey. And um, for the shape people
said straight and moulded handles got 36% each. And for

(33:58):
ergonomic fit, 46% of the preferred design was the curved
sort of natural shape of the hand to fit the handle. Um,
which was also another really interesting thing I found. And
overall like as is. Of course, I want to not
just change the shape of the pan, but add technology
which will help the community, um, to sort of locate

(34:23):
and cook their food properly and find the temperature of
the pan. So most people with 44% of the responses
said they'd love to see an auditory sort of talking
feature on the on the pan, which I thought, which
I thought is something I must integrate because it's going

(34:44):
to be perfect for helping to prevent that illness, those
burns and pretty much take all of the boxes to
prevent injury. Um, and in that category, 24% said they
would love to see a temperature sensor, which I thought
is a great idea. And 14% would love a sensor
which cues them to find their pan, which is also

(35:06):
another great idea which, um, which I want to touch
on in my actual actual pen creation.

S2 (35:12):
So what happens from here then, Max? Do you actually
get to kind of do a finished product, or how
does that all kind of play out?

S9 (35:19):
Well, yeah. So I'm currently focusing on 3D model of
my pen. So integrating that material that shape that technology
and sort of bringing it to life on a 3D scale.
So obviously I've integrated that technology into the handle, adding
an audible temperature sensor and a location prompt for the users.

(35:41):
So those are the two pieces of technology which I've
narrowed down on, which I think will tick all those boxes.
And I've also for the shape I've included a D
shape handle. So if you think maybe like the vacuum
cleaner handle which fits your hand perfectly. Well, I've sort
of integrated that onto a cooking pan handle, which hasn't

(36:02):
really been seen before, but I thought this would provide
one area for the visually impaired community to have to
reach out to preventing less like burns when reaching around
for the handle.

S2 (36:16):
Yeah, it makes perfect sense. Yeah. And, Max. Max, we're
running out of time. But it's been fascinating. I will, uh,
put your details, uh, contact details up on our show notes.
If people want to get in touch with you, maybe
for some, uh, late mail, if you're happy to receive those.
A little bit tongue in cheek. Uh, you're going to
kind patent this idea, Max. Based on the future, you'll
be rich.

S9 (36:36):
Um, well, I think it's great. I'm still exploring options.
You know, two years after, um, for.

S2 (36:44):
Rushes like that.

S9 (36:45):
You know, interested in studying engineering and commerce. But if
I'm honest, I'd love to see value in my handle design.
Maybe bring it to life in the near future. Um,
I think it brings such a positive difference to the
lives of blind and visually impaired people when they cook,
and it really it'd be a dream come true if
I could sort of bring this handle to life and

(37:06):
sort of, if anyone listening is interested, I would love
to share my designs and develop this into a future project.

S2 (37:12):
Well, maybe an engineering company might want to take you
on board and take up the idea, and that would
be really cool as well. Max, congratulations on the initiative.
I think it's fantastic that you've gone out of your way.
And just quickly, I know some of your fellow students
were doing kind of, well, shall we say, more mundane handles.
You've chosen something right out of the box. So congratulations

(37:33):
on that.

S9 (37:34):
Thank you. I appreciate it.

S2 (37:36):
What a great idea. And it's so good to know
that our future is in the hands of people like
Max Taylor.

S9 (37:42):
Thank you.

S10 (37:43):
Keep in touch with Vision Australia Radio in Adelaide on
1190 7 a.m..

S2 (38:03):
Time to catch up with our favorite health color commentator,
in fact, their most popular health commentator. In fact, here's proof.
We've got a question from Julia who's asked us to
ask David about Candida or Candida. How do you say it? David, welcome.
Good to catch up again.

S11 (38:18):
Good morning. And and thank you, Julia, because it's that
you've opened up a topic that I think I cut
my teeth on, but I went into general practice. That
whole concept of, of Canada and yeast and so on
was was so much the rage of a, of the
70s and 80s. And I had to learn pretty quick
about what, what did and didn't work or what could

(38:39):
or couldn't work and read like crazy to catch up
with it. Because traditionally what happened was that somewhere in
the middle to late 50s, people started getting a whole
range of of funny symptoms headaches and fatigue and migraines
and depression and anxiety and skin disorders and bowel disturbances

(39:00):
and immune system problems all over the place. And no
one really worked it out, but there was a groundswell
of people in the food area. I call them the
food Nazis, because they're always trying to kill off food
and not eat food and not have to eat food
and take pills instead. Uh, but their concept was that
somehow or other, it was tied up with yeast and

(39:23):
carbohydrates that the little little buggers in the bowel were
somehow or other reacted with those foods created chemicals that were,
if not destroying it, certainly creating devastation in our immune
system and in our bowel and other parts of our bodies.
And it was probably brought up to some sort of,

(39:43):
at least an attempt at science, uh, by a doctor
called William Crooke, an American. Now, I got to tell you,
if my if I were a doctor, doctor crook, I'd
be changing it pretty quick. Anyway, he wrote this. It
was almost like the Bible called yeast. The yeast connection.
And his his idea and concept, which was taken up

(40:06):
by probably at least half the world, was that there
is something about the bacteria in the bowel, particularly a
bug called Candida, which on the outside can cause a
thrush in ladies or in males groins, or it can
cause thrush in the mouth, but in the bowel itself,

(40:26):
the Candida could grow and it would, it would grab
anything that had carbohydrates in it or anything that had
been made with yeast. Now people said, well, that might
be good if you just take a teaspoonful of yeast,
as some people used to do. But the other side
of it, once it's cooked, all it's supposed to have gone.
Well guess what? It doesn't really go. Bits and pieces

(40:49):
of it get broken down, and it came slowly. Out
of this came the concept. That hook was probably right
to a good extent, but the explanation was still missing
Until people decide decided to focus on the bacteria in
the bowel, that there are trillions of bacteria and there
are probably thousands of different varieties of bacteria in our bowel,

(41:13):
and we do have what we now call the bowel brain,
where what happens in the bowel and what happens with
the bacteria and the chemistry that they create from the
food that we eat, creates an environment that is us.
And if that the stuff that's been created by these
bacteria because they're the wrong bacteria, then it creates funny
chemicals that messes around like crazy. But again, that was

(41:37):
not in the 70s. That was in the the 90s
and 2000. So in in the 70s and 80s, it
was about restricting or eliminating wherever you could yeast and
carbohydrate foods that quickly and easily turned into sugar, which
were were the primary food, if you like, for these

(41:58):
Candida bacteria or thrush, bacteria. He didn't leave an awful
lot to eat. So the people that were doing it
because they needed it and did show improvements, it was
still a pretty miserable existence because there were so many
things that had to be removed from their diet. And
essentially what ended up with is, is the the world
and the treatment world moved into two different camps. One

(42:22):
camp said, right, we've got to kill the beggars off
these candidates and we've got to use antibiotics. Except that
killing off Candida doesn't use a what you would call
a proper antibiotic. It is only a very safe compound
that was only usable for killing the thrush or Candida bacteria.

(42:43):
The trouble is that you needed up to six a
day for several years before you really got anywhere. So
that was and this theme will come through today, this talk,
because it's about the antibiotic that the medical model I
guess we'll call it. You've got a condition. Here's a prescription.
Off you go. The other side was a food camp,
which insisted that it had to be a very rigid

(43:04):
nothing that a kind near any sort of of yeast
product and anything that had a high sugar component, which
we now call our high glycemic index rating for a
particular food, as well as that, the food, the people
would say, right, well, if we are going to be
killing off these bacteria, we've got to replace them with something.

(43:27):
So they need lactobacillus and several of the forms of
Lactobacillus like bifidus. So people started drinking yogurt, making that
thing or licking it off an ice cream or taking
it in some sort of pill. The problem being that
that many times the stuff that was in the pills
or similar didn't get past the stomach, and so it

(43:49):
didn't get down into the bowel, which is where it
needed to be. Then the scientists started to realize that
it wasn't it wasn't just Candida that could be doing
these sorts of things. There were things like giardia and
there was sulfide, and later on Clostridium difficile and Dientamoeba
fragilis and Inanna and e-commerce, more and more and more.

(44:10):
The discovery that certain people had a either had an
excess of these particular bacteria that create their own sort
of chaos inside the bowel, and that producing chemicals that
were irritated in some way, shape or form to the
bowel or to our immune system or our joints or

(44:30):
our nervous system in some way, shape or form. So,
bit by bit, the milieu change such that the diets
started to be bats, a little bit more specific, but more, uh,
restricting carbohydrates as a base of it. This is where
Pam and I came along, and we wrote our book

(44:51):
about taming the dinosaur, June, about excessive, Ragi. Ragi carbohydrates
created all sorts of conditions that were very similar to Candida.
At the same time, the medicos, me included, started discovering
that there were a few other killable bugs that did
make a difference. So there was giardia, which was thought

(45:11):
only to be just an occasional bowel inflammation, but that
it could actually survive in the bowel and create the
same thing. And we didn't really have a proper test
or any test we had weren't necessarily 100% accurate. So
I used to use the smelly test so that if
your if your bowels smelt like they did, shook or

(45:32):
died up there, it was probably giardia and there was
a specific reasonable metronidazole that you could use reasonably safe
and take that in burst a couple of times a
week and then on again off again. That worked quite well.
But if the the bowel actions or the wind smelt
like it was rotten eggs or sulfur in other words,

(45:55):
it was a different treatment for that because that was
to do with the bug called Southbridge. So in all
of this, we got mixed up with food allergies and
food intolerances, which made the whole thing even worse because
people were restricting themselves more and more and more to
eating less and less and less and nutritionally that wasn't
necessarily good and created its own problems of anger and

(46:17):
frustration in particular, and then a sort of a hopelessness
and uselessness that went with it because you couldn't do anything.
And if you did, you were you were punished in
some way, shape or form by a bowel reaction or
some other part of the body overreacting to something. Things
were not looking real good because these the scientists would

(46:37):
get upset if people complain too much, and they would
get upset if you didn't want to take their prescriptions
and that you wanted to do a diet and segue,
and that the foodies, who knows who were saying, well, no,
you're not allowed to take those nasty antibiotics and so on.
That badge we hear is the the diet exclusion system
that we think is so wonderful. Luckily, by the time

(46:59):
we got into early 2000 onwards, the scientist bit by bit,
started realizing that we needed a different approach. And essentially
what they were looking for was some way of eliminating
the bad bugs and replacing the good bugs without necessarily

(47:20):
having to use antibiotics and without necessarily having to have
an exclusion diet for want of a better word. And
that there was a lovely guy called Jim Brodie, a
professor of gastroenterology in Sydney who had been working with
Peter Marshall. Now some people remember that name. He was
the guy that discovered Helicobacter. Yeah. His stomach was the

(47:43):
cause of the stomach ulcers. Well guess what? Brodie was
his offsider and worked with him. Marshall got the Nobel
Prize that Brody got, got the flick and disappeared back
to Sydney, where he can continue to look at different
bugs further down in the bowel, which is where we
are coming to with these funny bugs like Clostridium difficile

(48:07):
and the Dientamoeba fragilis and the ominous. And he came
up with an a number of other scientists around, or
came up with the concept of what have we looked
at this as being more of an immune system problem
and that what if we needed to do is just
like someone who has a bone marrow transplant? What if
we found some, some really good samples of poo from

(48:31):
someone who was really healthy, and we've checked out that
they've got no problems anywhere in their body, chemical or
genetic or otherwise. If we started putting little bits of
that into one of these sick people, I'm using the
sick in its broader sense, sick people who were unwell
because of a presumed bug. And lo and behold, it

(48:52):
started to it started to work. And it's called poo transplant. Originally,
the roadie and his mates would do a colonoscopy. They
would grab a section or some samples of the of
the bowel, some poo, in other words, and take it
out and culture it with some good bugs and put

(49:14):
it back in. And it was vaguely useful, but tedious
and very, very expensive. Bit by bit by bit, they
came to understand that using a healthy person's specimen of
the fluids and solids from high up in the bowel
could be taken, taken out and cultured, and that could
be given to or transplanted in the person that had these,

(49:39):
these bacteria and other types of problems.

S2 (49:42):
And I might hold you up there because we're out
of time, but I think we can do a part
two on this because there's even kind of more good
news to come in this sort of business, isn't there?

S11 (49:52):
Yeah, there is, there is.

S2 (49:53):
Yeah. So if that's okay and Julia's okay with that
actually make sure Julia listens next month, doesn't it?

S12 (49:59):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

S11 (50:00):
This is how your your radio ratings went by one person.
And maybe Julia's mum will be listening as well.

S2 (50:07):
Well that's right. Well we'll get we'll get the whole
family listening. David great to catch up. That's an excellent explanation.
And we look forward to part two next month.

S11 (50:14):
Okay. Bye, all. Thank you. Peter.

S2 (50:16):
David Mitchell there, our health commentator. And if you'd like to, uh,
put David to work, get in touch and we'll put
David to work just for you. Ah, there's probably always

(50:43):
on time as far as putting the kettle on. Very
reliable As indeed is our next guest, Linda Hellyer from
Bob Linda, the Brew that is true 97. A old
port road at Queenstown. Linda, great to catch up. And
of course, the winner of five Golden Leaf Awards. We
shouldn't forget that.

S1 (50:59):
Yeah.

S2 (51:00):
Thank you. Yeah, well, last time we talked about designs
and some of the things that can be used to
make tea, if you're going to kind of extend that
with talk about things like Earl grey and other things
that can be kind of added or supplemented into, into
a tea.

S1 (51:16):
Yeah, that's exactly right. And we talked about, um, yeah,
there's lots and lots of different ingredients that can be
used in tea, but I thought today we could talk
a little bit about how Earl grey, um, is made,
but also how you can use, um, different petals, um,
from flowers in tea. Um, they usually do feature in

(51:37):
Earl grey and in various versions of Earl grey.

S2 (51:40):
Alright. Well, maybe just quickly because I think we have
chatted about it in the past, but Earl grey, I believe.
Earl Grey might have actually been an English prime minister. So, uh,
rather esteemed, uh, company as far as its name goes.

S1 (51:53):
Yeah. That's right. Um, there was a British prime minister
named Charles Grey. And yeah, the origins of this particular
quite popular tea can be traced back to him. I
should say that Earl grey is a style of tea
that I find people either love or they hate it.

(52:14):
It's very polarizing. So, yes, it is a black tea,
usually like a salon. Black tea, a lighter style of
black tea that is, um, aromatized with bergamot oil. So
bergamot is a citrus fruit, um, about the size of
an orange. And it has like a beautiful kind of
uplifting aroma that's slightly floral. It's grown in Italy. It

(52:37):
has kind of a yellow and green rind. So this
oil gives Earl grey its signature kind of citrusy flavor
and fragrance. And some people really love that in a tea.
And some people do not love that in the tea.
But yes, oils can be used to aromatize tea. And
that is kind of the special thing about Earl grey.

(53:00):
So it's a black tea aromatized with bergamot oil. Having
said that, there's not many tea companies out there or
teas on the market today that use a true bergamot oil.
Often it's like a chemically made flavor, bergamot flavouring. So it's.

S2 (53:16):
Really yeah.

S1 (53:18):
A very good to look out for that. We are
not into that. We don't use flavors here. But so
you know it is important. You can kind of taste
the difference or like but um, yeah, you're looking for
a black tea with um, a bergamot oil as opposed
to a bergamot flavoring. Yes. I got off track.

S2 (53:37):
That's right. I was going to say that. And we
often say you're not obviously not a health expert, but
there's quite a few kind of, uh, if I can say,
claims or, uh, Brigham has been associated with some, you know,
beneficial health, uh, sort of products, if you like, or
health outcomes.

S1 (53:53):
Yeah. The ones that spring to mind. I have read
about it sort of helping to aid in digestion, but
often it's talked about in helping to lower cholesterol and
to help fight against heart disease. So that's interesting. Plus,
because you've got the black tea base, um, black tea
has a lot of antioxidants and l-theanine, you know, that

(54:16):
helps you kind of keep calm and focused sort of
all at once. So, yeah, lots of great kind of
health benefits associated with with Earl grey tea. Another thing
is the scent itself of the bergamot. It is quite um,
it's beautiful. It's very uplifting. Um, so often bergamot oil, um,

(54:38):
can be found in kind of essential oil blends and
things that you put in, um, aromatherapy diffusers. And that
is because it does tend to have kind of uplifting properties.
And also, you know, to be quite kind of calming, you.

S13 (54:54):
Know, the interesting point.

S2 (54:55):
You make, because often you hear about, uh, you know, some,
you know, supplements or herbs, etcetera, that can kind of
be calming, but also at the same time kind of
focus the mind. You think it's almost, uh, an oxymoron,
but not the case.

S1 (55:08):
Not the case especially.

S2 (55:09):
Yeah.

S1 (55:10):
Caffeine in tea and the and the l-theanine. Um, this
is why matcha powder is so popular. Um, right now,
matcha powder has very high levels of l-theanine. Um, and
that is this amazing has an amazing ability to kind of,
you know, calm you, but also kind of sharpen and

(55:30):
focus the mind at the at the same time. So
this sustained kind of focus and calming going on at once,
which is incredible, really.

S2 (55:41):
For 5000 years ago you told us about probably didn't
quite know the benefits that he was discovering all that
time ago. But without getting too much into the kind
of technical details, how do they kind of put the
bergamot flavor into the tea? Did you know much about that,
or was that a bit sort of a bit bit
hard to explain.

S1 (56:00):
Well, it's an oil, um, or a distillate, um, and
it's usually sprayed onto the leaves actually. So it uses
like you need um, special equipment with a really fine
spray and you literally spray that over the leaves, and
then the leaf kind of needs to dry and absorb
that oil. Um, but yeah, if flavours are used that's

(56:21):
often sprayed or there's little things called flavour rods that
can be used, all sorts of kind of ways of flavoring.
But yes, it's sprayed onto the leaves and, and left
to dry.

S13 (56:30):
I guess over a matter of.

S2 (56:32):
Time. Yeah. Left for a matter of time to kind of, uh,
absorb it.

S1 (56:35):
Absolutely, Lately. Absolutely. And, um, just to get back, you
mentioned the British Prime Minister, Charles Grey. So Earl grey
is kind of like there's no real hard evidence about
how this particular tea blend came about. But, you know,
the big story is that it dates back to the
1800s and is named after this British prime minister. And

(56:56):
legend has it that it was a Chinese tea master
that gifted him this unique blend. But there's there's a
story that he. It was gifted to him as a
token of gratitude because the tea masters, um, that they
they say that grey or one of his his men
saved the tea master's son from drowning. Oh, yeah. So

(57:18):
this is kind of the story, this popular legend that
grey or one of his men saved the tea master
son from drowning. And as a token of gratitude, he
gifted this, um, special blend to him. So that is one,
one story. Say that it was added to balance the
water at Earl Grey's estate. Um, so, you know, there's

(57:39):
a lot of legends, but yeah, that's kind of where
it dates back to the 1800s.

S2 (57:44):
No, this is part of the rich history of, uh,
of the sort of, uh. Well, it's not just the
facts in a sense, but also the fables that go
with stories like this.

S1 (57:52):
Yeah. Which is beautiful. I want delving into all of
that and hearing all of these, you know, beautiful stories.

S2 (58:00):
Could other things be kind of added to the Earl
grey tea to apart from the bergamot?

S1 (58:04):
Yes, absolutely. And this is where we get things. You
may have heard of things like Lady Grey or. Um, yeah,
there's lots of sort of different versions and spins that
people then put on this tea so you can add
other kind of petals and, and peels into this blend to,
to make it your own. I guess usually like a

(58:25):
little blue cornflower can be seen through an Earl grey
blend to give it a little bit of color. Lady
grey is often um, has some petals through like a lavender, um,
and also some peel from the bergamot fruit. Um, so
similar to an orange peel. Little dried pieces of peel

(58:45):
can appear through some tea blenders use a touch of lavender.
So this is really where, you know, people put their
own creative spin on the Earl grey kind of idea.

S2 (58:58):
Equality was alive. It was alive and well with Lady
Grey kind of balancing out the Earl grey. Perhaps.

S1 (59:04):
Yes, perhaps.

S2 (59:07):
Okay. Yeah, I've certainly heard of Lady Grey as well. Belinda.
Fascinating as always. Now, if people want to come and
see you or find out a bit more about the
great work that you do, and, uh, we should say
you've got an Earl grey tea that, uh, you make yourself,
as you say, uh, with the real bergamot. So no
problems there. You're very ethical. As far as your tea
preparations go. How can we find you?

S1 (59:27):
So you can find us at at our tea studio 97,
a old port road in Queenstown, or online at brewed
by Lynda.com or over the phone. 0419 839 702.

S2 (59:44):
Alright people also catch you on Instagram as well. I'm
pretty sure.

S1 (59:47):
Absolutely. I'm on there.

S2 (59:48):
Oh all right. Well not all the time because sometimes
you speak to us, so you might we must be
very important if you speak to us because, uh, tell
you away from Instagram. That's that's a big commitment.

S14 (59:59):
Yes. You know, I love I love our chat.

S2 (01:00:01):
All right. We love you too, Belinda. We'll catch up
again next month.

S14 (01:00:05):
Sounds wonderful. Thank you.

S2 (01:00:06):
Good to have you there. From Brewed by Belinda. All
the details about Belinda and the chat today on our
show notes.

S8 (01:00:16):
On the Vision Australia Network through your favorite podcast service
on 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, you're listening to Leisure Link.

S2 (01:00:27):
For some interesting and perhaps concerning research coming out of Medibank,
let's chat a bit about it with their chief medical officer,
Doctor Andrew Wilson. Andrew, if I might call you that,
to thank you for your time.

S15 (01:00:37):
Pleasure. Thank you for having me.

S2 (01:00:39):
Yeah, this is quite concerning, is it not that people
are feeling a bit of a burden to talk about
their mental health issues?

S15 (01:00:45):
Yes, it certainly is, Peter. It is concerning. Um, we
know that the Australia's mental health system is under pressure,
and that more than 1 in 3 Australians are saying
that their mental health is below average. But this additional
research we've done with News Limited shows that more than
half of Australians, 51%, in fact, have wanted to talk

(01:01:05):
about their mental health but didn't. And it's mainly due
to the fear of burdening others. And it's young Australians
that struggle the most. 62% of 18 to 30 year
olds find it hard to talk to their parents about
their mental health. So it is really concerning.

S2 (01:01:20):
I was going to ask you about that, particularly the
the younger aspect, because I kind of think that maybe
people are of a younger age. Ah, I don't know,
coming up a bit more comfortable talking about this sort
of thing.

S9 (01:01:31):
Yeah.

S15 (01:01:31):
Look, I think that's right. That is the sort of
impression we have. Yes, research doesn't really support that. And
I think this whole concept of being a burden is
a really important issue, I think. I think, you know,
we know that 1 in 3 parents from this research,
1 in 3 parents have never discussed their own mental
health with their children. So I think there's a there's

(01:01:52):
a lack of role modelling there as well in families.
So I think, you know, the parents with children and
young people really need to look at how they're approaching
their own mental health in the family.

S2 (01:02:03):
Setting, maybe a kind of a better example, if I
can put it that way. Mhm. So what do we
what do we kind of do about this then. I
mean you've done this research. It's a little bit concerning
as we've talked on or maybe more than a little
bit concerning what, what can be done from here.

S15 (01:02:17):
Well I think it's really the first thing is awareness
of this as, as a problem. And then I think
it's really encouraging in families for parents and their, the
young people in the household to actually start that conversation.
And I think there's some basic things that to do
that we can some tools we can have to help that.

(01:02:38):
I mean, the first important thing is to create a
safe and supportive environment. It's not about judging. It's being calm, listening.
Notice any changes and use I statement. So for example,
to say something like I've noticed that you don't seem
yourself lately. What's going on? Those sort of questions are
the way to start those conversations. So we'd I'd really

(01:02:58):
encourage parents and, and young people to actually start those
conversations because it will actually lead to some good outcomes.

S2 (01:03:06):
What about friends, particularly, you know, the younger age group,
friends of a similar age to to the people we're
talking about?

S15 (01:03:12):
Yeah, friends can certainly be. Friendship groups can certainly be helpful.
We do know, of course, that, you know, in some situations,
particularly with social media for young people, that that can
be a negative, but certainly friends. And the other important
environment for young people is school. So teachers, school counsellors,

(01:03:33):
there are resources available through schools that young people and
their parents can access if there's concerns around mental health.

S2 (01:03:41):
You've read my mind. Andrew, I was going to ask you,
of course, the double edged sword question, if you like,
regarding social media. I mean, it can be very helpful
in some ways in terms of perhaps accessing information, but
it's also got a downside as well as when you
sort of be aware of.

S15 (01:03:54):
Definitely. I mean, social media and digital technology broadly has
brought there's been a lot of rapid change. It produces
a lot of pressure. And I think that's combined with
probably some degradation in the other social support structures in
our community over the last ten, 20 years where support
was available. So social media, you're right. It's a two

(01:04:17):
edged sword. And that's that's what's led to the 36
month initiative that's been embraced by government to actually stop
access to certain types of social media platforms for young
people in that critical 13 to 16 year old age group.

S2 (01:04:33):
And, uh, newsflash, bipartisan support. So that's kind of, uh,
that means it must be the right thing to do.

S15 (01:04:39):
Well, it's good to see mental health really needs a
bipartisan approach. We need more innovation. We need more resources.
We need an uplift in our mental health system to
really improve the mental health of all Australians.

S2 (01:04:51):
And he made a really interesting point there regarding social
media and the way it's kind of taken over in
the last 10 to 20 years. I guess 30 years
ago we'd we'd have to kind of talk to people
about it if we wanted a kind of an outlet.
Now we can go to social media for good or evil.

S15 (01:05:06):
I think that's right. And obviously there's there's tremendous benefits
from social media and digital technology. But I think there
has certainly been, uh, there's a negative to it. And
we are seeing that with young people. Uh, and that's
led to the as I said, to the 36 month initiative.
I think also the loss of other structures, you know, um, uh,

(01:05:27):
social supports, community groups, churches, much less participation there. And
those those structures did provide a sort of support network for, uh,
young people in the past. And I don't think we've
really had a replacement to that emerge.

S2 (01:05:42):
Earlier in the interview, you talked about perhaps a lack
of services in this area. Again, I guess it's easy
to sort of say, well, the government should do something
about it, but that's more services being available or more
resources in that area being available, more human resources, if
I can put it that way.

S7 (01:05:58):
Yeah.

S15 (01:05:58):
Look, certainly, uh, one of the big issues actually is
also access and knowing where to go. I mean, there
are resources that are available. Uh, for example, there's headspace
for young people. There's beyondblue that can provide resources. There
are resources out there that also can be accessed through,
you know, your GP, but people really don't know where

(01:06:19):
to turn for mental health when we've got a physical
health problem. We kind of know what to do and
we know what the treatment looks like. In mental health.
That's not the case. So it's important to we do
need more resources. We know that waiting lists are blowing out,
that wait times in emergency departments are blowing out and
so on. But we also need better ways of accessing

(01:06:40):
the right care at the right time so people can
get when they need help. They can get it in
a timely fashion and it's the right help for them.

S2 (01:06:48):
More long term. Andrew, is it the sort of profession
that people are keen to get into, like in five, eight,
ten years time when people coming, quote unquote, through the system,
we're going to have more people working in that area.
Do you think that's an attractive area for people to
find as a career path?

S15 (01:07:03):
Well, I think it is. I'm obviously I'm slightly biased
because I'm a psychiatrist, so I've kind of made that
decision earlier in my life, but it's very rewarding. But
we do have, broadly speaking, a workforce problem in healthcare
in particularly in mental health. I mean, there's probably half
the number of psychiatrists that we need at the moment
for the demand. Um, so we need to look at

(01:07:25):
promoting work in mental health as a rewarding career. And
people like working in team environments. So we need to
create in primary care and in community settings, ready access
to team based care, which is great for for our community.
And it's also great for the workforce. It's more rewarding
and therefore people will stay in the system and so on.

(01:07:46):
So there isn't an easy fix to that, Peter. But
I think, uh, we do need to focus on workforce
as a way of helping solve our mental health crisis.

S2 (01:07:55):
Well, thank you for what you're doing. If people do
want to find out more, is there a place they
can go to kind of get a bit more information or,
you know, maybe, I guess, to kind of, I guess,
you know, talking to your parents or parents, talking to
your children, talking to people about it as a good
starting point.

S15 (01:08:09):
Yeah. Look, I think that's that's a good starting point.
I think, though, um, as with most things, I think
a good place to go if you, if you do
feel you're struggling or you need help or someone close
to you is doing that. Is your GP the GP
and you know the GP will know the resources in
the local area. But for young people, again, I think
the school is a good place to go. Teachers, school

(01:08:30):
counsellors and so on. They do have resources there. There's
headspace for young people, which is readily available. And then
of course there's lifeline in a crisis situation. And Beyondblue
does have very good access to information around what resources
might be available for your specific problem.

S2 (01:08:48):
It's of course, lifeline number is 1311, 14, 13, 11, 14.
And it's been a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you so,
so much. I know we've only scratched the surface, but
thanks for bringing it to our attention.

S15 (01:08:59):
It's a pleasure. Thank you.

S2 (01:09:00):
That's Doctor Andrew Wilson there. The chief medical officer from Medibank.

S16 (01:09:06):
Hi. I'm Gemma Finlayson, a silver medallist in boccia in
the Paris Paralympic Games. And you're listening to Leisure Link
with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S2 (01:09:17):
Well, some really good news for parents and more particularly
for babies regarding, uh, a screening test that now might
be able to pick up some very important conditions. Let's
chat about it with, uh, Monica Ferry. Monica, lovely to
meet you. Thank you for your time.

S17 (01:09:30):
Thanks, Peter. It's lovely to be here.

S2 (01:09:32):
Now, this is pretty exciting news. It's pretty good news.
And I guess, in a sense, preventative news.

S1 (01:09:36):
Yes.

S17 (01:09:37):
Newborn screening is a really successful program already, but, uh,
it's extra great when we can add a new condition
that we have that we have a treatment for and,
and something that we can do about.

S2 (01:09:51):
And one of the great things about doing this program, Monica,
is I'm always learning new things. And I must admit,
this condition that is now being able to screen for
I've not heard of it.

S17 (01:10:00):
So sickle cell, um, has obviously been around for many, many, many,
many years. And as Australia has become more multicultural, we
have found more cases, but we also have Of better
opportunity to diagnose sickle cell along with with other conditions

(01:10:22):
as well. So our ability to actually determine that somebody
has sickle cell disease has improved. And so of course,
we are finding more people actually with sickle cell and
getting a much greater understanding of its spread across our
population base.

S2 (01:10:43):
We'll come to that condition in a moment. But with
the screening. So what does that mean that are at birth?
Is it conducted and part of this sort of a
general kind of overview, if you like. Is the sickle
cell condition.

S17 (01:10:56):
So Australia has had a newborn screening program for more
than 50 years now. And um, it's it's a highly
successful program in that it has a very high rate
of parents opting in to have their babies screened at birth.
So it happens about 48 hours after a baby is born,

(01:11:20):
and lots of parents would remember it as the heel
prick test.

S2 (01:11:24):
Mhm.

S17 (01:11:25):
So, um, that we've been doing that, as I said,
for many, many, many years and we've been doing that
for very carefully chosen conditions that that we know have
treatments available and pathways that we can actually do something about.

(01:11:47):
And finding those conditions early makes a huge difference to,
to the trajectory and the life that somebody who gets
that diagnosis, um, has available to them.

S2 (01:12:01):
So what would have happened in the past if the
child hadn't been screened? What sort of age would it
potentially be picked up at?

S17 (01:12:08):
Well, with sickle cell and and many other conditions Usually I'll, I'll,
I'll stick to sickle cell and sickle cell. Usually we
there would be some kind of an event that would
that would be incredibly painful. It would, um, be something
that a child would find themselves having to be in hospital. Uh, so,

(01:12:33):
so a, a major kind of trauma that would then
provide the health system with access to, to the child
to say, actually, there's something going on here that we
need to get to the bottom of and find out about.
The beauty of newborn screening is that no child should

(01:12:54):
ever have to find themselves in that position, because we
will know from the screening that they have sickle cell.

S2 (01:13:01):
Well, just to clarify. So the screening would have to
be kind of given the okay, it's opted into rather
than sort of just mandatory.

S17 (01:13:11):
It is opted into. So, um, all parents are given
a given a choice around newborn screening. So parents will
be asked when they're new parents, when they're in the
hospital with their new baby, will be asked if if
they consent to having their baby newborn screened. And it's

(01:13:31):
hugely important that our parents do that because and most
of them do, by far the majority of parents do
that in Australia. And it's hugely important because the conditions
that they're screening for are the ones where there is
real advantage to having an early diagnosis, and then that

(01:13:54):
provides the gateway to therapies, to treatment, to to intervention,
to lifestyle choices, to nutritional choices and other things that
make a real difference.

S2 (01:14:06):
So I guess, as the old saying goes, to be
forewarned is to be forearmed.

S17 (01:14:10):
Yeah, well, you can't do anything unless, you know. Um.
So knowledge is power.

S2 (01:14:15):
Yeah, sure. Uh, how how how accurate is this test?
Particularly for sickle cell?

S17 (01:14:20):
Well, all all tests generally are they would be done
as a screening test and then parents would be contacted
contacted to say your child shows that they have an
increased chance of, of having sickle cell. So that would
that is as close to a diagnosis without doing this

(01:14:40):
specific test. So you would get an indication from the
newborn screening. The parents would then come back or, or
even have have a test done at home to determine
that the baby has sickle cell.

S2 (01:14:54):
Babies can be so delicate. Yeah. You kind of, you know,
don't want anything to kind of go wrong. But at
the same time, you know, you kind of want to
limit the amount of, uh, sort of tests they have
in terms of heel pricks, etc.. Is it one test
that covers all these things just just at the one time.

S17 (01:15:09):
The heel prick test, um. And the blood taken from
from the heel from the heel prick test is used
to determine whether the child has the haemoglobin count, which
which suggests sickle cell. So there would be another test
after that. Okay, that's not my. I should say, though.
That's not my area of expertise. I'm not a I'm

(01:15:31):
not a health professional.

S2 (01:15:32):
Uh, but it can be done within that 48 hours
or after 48 hours. So you're getting a pretty good
guide on what's going on.

S17 (01:15:39):
The heel prick test is that that's sort of the
optimal time, about 48 hours after birth when the baby
systems are kicking in. Yeah, um, is the optimal time.

S18 (01:15:50):
How come does this happen now?

S2 (01:15:51):
Is the test just been made available? I guess the
accuracy of the test is now available. Why now?

S17 (01:15:57):
And I think with with sickle cell. So there are
more than 7000 rare conditions. So and we and we
test for currently on our. As part of our newborn screening,
we test for, um, around 40. So, um, so there's
obviously a big gap there. And and so what. So

(01:16:18):
conditions have to they, they have to fall into a
set of criteria to then be added to our newborn
screening panel. We clearly do not test and we cannot
test either at the moment. Although science is moving forward
quickly every every one of those conditions. But for the

(01:16:40):
ones that we can test for, we have a criteria
that says let's test for the ones that we can
actually do something about. So let's test for the ones
where there is a therapy available there. There is a
a change that can happen that that will make a
difference to the way this person's life works out. And

(01:17:04):
those criteria are evaluated for each condition that is under consideration.
And we have a there is a panel of experts
from a range of, um, scientific backgrounds and, and so on,
health economists that make a decision to say this is

(01:17:26):
a test which will provide both really important information to
families that that they can take action around really important
information to health professionals that they can take action around.
And it's important at a population level, because we know

(01:17:48):
that we have sickle cell within our population and we
have treatments. So we really want to be able to
match the person with with the ability to have the treatment.
The only way to do that in a timely way is,
is to do that shortly after birth with the screening.

S2 (01:18:06):
That's quite extraordinary, isn't it, that, uh, that, uh, you know,
fairly small drop of blood can kind of be used
for 40 different conditions? I mean, the the kind of
mind boggles is to, you know, how sort of the, the,
the micro ness of there's such a word of the
test can, can have that sort of accuracy?

S19 (01:18:23):
I think the.

S17 (01:18:23):
Advances that have happened in, in, in genomics and, and
in being able to, to look at DNA and, and
what's happening in DNA, what what's happening in, in blood is. Yeah,
totally mind blowing. And and we're still early on the path.

S2 (01:18:45):
Yeah. I think you're right there. There's probably so much
more to come. What about in terms of people finding
out more information? I guess the sort of information would be, uh,
going on where they're going through, uh, you know, prenatal classes, etc..

S19 (01:18:56):
Yeah.

S17 (01:18:56):
So information before anybody has a newborn screening test. So
new parents before their new parents there would be in
those classes. A discussion about the heel prick test, what
it means, what conditions it tests for, that there is, um,
a physical material that's available and can can be given

(01:19:20):
to parents as well. About these are the these are
the conditions. And so parents feel that or should feel
that they can make an informed choice about whether they
choose to have the newborn screening or not. And as
I said earlier, it's such an important choice to make
because then they're equipped to best take care of their baby.

(01:19:43):
If if there is something that needs to be that
needs to be treated or or needs to be monitored
over the child's growth.

S2 (01:19:54):
Is there a website that you can point us to
that people can maybe get some more information if they
maybe think about being a parent one day, or their
grandparents and hearing this and think, oh yeah, I wonder if.

S19 (01:20:05):
The the Australian.

S17 (01:20:06):
Government Department of Health and Aged Care has information about
what the newborn screening program looks like, what the conditions
are currently on our newborn screening panels. But there are also,
if you looked at, if there were individual conditions that

(01:20:27):
existed in in a person's family, for example, they could
be looked at. And if the condition was googled in
in Australia, there are support groups for many, many conditions
and there is a support group in in sickle cell
as well that can provide specific information about sickle cell itself,

(01:20:51):
can connect people with parents of kids with sickle cell
or people, adults with who have sickle cell so people
can get a feel for what is that life actually
look like over the life course. So there are some
different ways to get different kinds of information.

S2 (01:21:09):
I guess we'll get some of that information together and
put up with our show notes. Monica. Absolutely fascinating. Thanks
so much for spending some time with us.

S17 (01:21:16):
Oh, you are so welcome and great to meet you, Peter.

S2 (01:21:19):
Okay, that's the Monica ferry. Wow. That is really, really interesting.
And that new. So pretty much hot off the press.
So we'll put details up with our show notes just
in case you want to find out more.

S8 (01:21:35):
If you missed.

S2 (01:21:36):
The boat report on Wednesday night, we told you the
very sad news of the passing of Peter Hetherington. Peter
Hetherington Oh I am, he's done some great work in
the area of blindness and low vision and disability and
advocacy in general. So will pay tribute to Peter on
Wednesday night on Focal Point. Also talk about sad news.
Also very sad to hear the passing of Paul Munn,

(01:21:57):
the lawn specialist. Paul actually was the first sponsor of
this program back in the very, very early days. Paul
stumbled on the show, got in contact with us and said,
I reckon you should interview me. We interviewed him the
next week. He signed up as a three year sponsor.
So to anyone that knew Paul, man, such a vibrant, exuberant,

(01:22:17):
enthusiastic character. A great promoter of post-polio and the conditions
that people had. So rest in peace. Both Paul Munn
and Peter Hetherington. Now, a couple of quotes before we go.
Here's one that uh, Henry has sent through. Henry says
the definition of a good deal is when both parties

(01:22:40):
leave the table unhappy. Okay, so I'll take your word
for that. Uh, Henry and one from Morocco who sends
one through Paris, uh, goes on at a ride in Disneyland,
which goes something like. Hold on tight and away we go.
The louder you scream, the faster we go. So thanks

(01:23:00):
to Moraca for sending that through. Very, very passionate about tourism.
Some birthdays before we go. Gordon Allan won bronze in
the cycling event at the Paralympic Games in Paris. Happy
birthday to you. Gordon and his family having a birthday.
Very talented artist who has performed at the fringe over
a number of years. Talked about her health battles as well.

(01:23:23):
Very openly so. Andy, a very happy birthday to you.
And in late breaking news, we didn't know this at
the time, but David Mitchell having a birthday later on
this week. So a very big happy birthday to David Mitchell.
What a wonderful contributor to this program. David has been
for many years. May you long endure David. That's it
for the programme. Sam Rickard, thanks so much for your help.

(01:23:45):
Pam Green, thanks so much for yours. Now, uh, Vicki
Cousins is here with Australian Geographics. And Vicki reminding me
that don't forget to put your clocks back one hour
before you go to bed tonight. One extra hour of sleep.
You little beauty. Vicky. Coming up with Australian Geographic. So,
in the meantime, reminding you that Leslie is available on

(01:24:06):
your favorite podcast platform. Be kind to yourselves, be thoughtful
and look out for others. All being well. Let's link
back at the same time next week on Vision Australia
Radio and the Reading Radio Network. This is leisure link.

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