15 Mar 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
Hi, my name is Susan Seipel. I'm a three time
Paralympic medalist in the sport of canoe and kayak. 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 the Ides of March,
the only thing you have to do is be welcome
to Leisure link very warmly here on Vision Australia Radio
1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide, online at VA radio.org. VA
Radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin through your favourite podcast
or streaming service. Our friends listening through 103.9 FM Hypothermia,

(01:04):
deaths in Western Australia and our other friends at Disability
Media Australia. Find out more about them at Powered Media
p o w e r d dot media, including. You
can find the podcast of Leisure Inc Peter Greco saying
wonderful to be here. Thank you for your company. This
program coming to you from Gardaland coming to you very shortly.

(01:26):
We'll catch up with Susan Seipel, who is represented Australia
at three Paralympic Games world champion. Susan has announced her
retirement will reflect on her career and what will Susan
be doing next? Will catch up with Ned Brewer major
talking about the blind cricket blast happening in Victoria later
on this month. The answer to IPL or gather round

(01:47):
will also catch up with Julianne Bell, who along with
Melissa Buchholz, will be touring New South Wales. The show
is called Perfectly Imperfect a chance for you to go
along as well. Pam Mitchell talks about diversity, equity and inclusion.
What an important topic. Pam will cover that well. We'll
meet Logan Hopper and Jess Syme, who invite you to

(02:10):
the Heartbeat Club that's happening this Friday. Your personal invitation
to attend is via the radio very, very soon. We'll
also catch up with Jim Cooper from Continence Health Australia.
Find out about find out about what they're doing. And
Sarah Richardson will join us from Health Bright. Talk about
telehealth for mental health. What's always been great over the

(02:36):
years catching up with one of our finest Paralympians, Susan Seipel,
who's won medals at World Championships and Paralympic Games. And Susan,
I think it's called a time on her career. Susan,
lovely to catch up with you again. And you've retired.

S3 (02:51):
Yes. I've retired. Thanks so much for having me on
the show.

S2 (02:56):
What made you decide to retire at this time?

S1 (02:59):
Um, yeah. Well, I had a lot of reasons. Um,
but yeah, basically I have achieved kind of a lot
in my career, and I'm really content with what I've done.
And I think it was time to, um, yeah, hang
up the paddle and, uh, move on to other things.

S2 (03:16):
Okay. We might come to that before we wrap up,
but how do you look back on your career? Of course.
It's an interesting one. It's always an interesting career, but
you've had a couple of different sports that you've excelled at.

S1 (03:25):
Yeah, it's been a really windy journey, I guess. And, um,
starting out, I kind of found my Paralympic dream back
when I was doing equestrian. And then of course, I
didn't actually make it to the games in that sport,
but I got very close and then kayak came along

(03:46):
at the right time and kind of reignited my dream
to go to the Paralympics. And then I managed to
get to three. So it worked out really well.

S2 (03:55):
And a great way to finish two in Paris with
a medal. I mean, that must be very satisfying.

S1 (03:59):
Yeah. I was so happy with my result in Paris.
A few challenges to get there, and I got Covid
when I was at the gate, so, um. Yeah, but.
So I was so happy to come away with a
medal after everything.

S2 (04:14):
Hiking with Covid wouldn't be a good fit for success.
I wouldn't have thought.

S1 (04:18):
No. Well, yeah, it just made things more stressful because
you put in so much work over so many years,
and then everything was kind of going to plan until
right at the time of the games it all. You're
not expecting to get sick, but these things happen and
kind of you just have to carry on.

S2 (04:36):
Well, you certainly did, and in a fine way. An
incredible career. You've won world championships. Uh, I mean, you
went to Rio, then Tokyo, of course, with Covid, as
in during Covid, and then you got Covid in Paris
as well. So I guess part of the Paralympic journey
is the fact that you get to so many different
places in such a variety of places and a variety
of circumstances in which you're competing in.

S1 (04:58):
Yeah, I feel actually really fortunate and lucky that I've
got to experience so many different games. Like Rio was
actually the first time that my sport was in the Paralympics,
so that was really exciting and we were getting a
lot of attention with, um, having putting our new sport
on the map and kind of everything that we did

(05:19):
was historical because it was the first time. So that
was really special. And then Tokyo, of course, was a
totally different experience because of Covid and it was postponed.
And that was, um, a totally different games. And then, yeah,
to finish on Paris with kind of having crowds back
again and the whole atmosphere. Um, yeah, it was a

(05:39):
wonderful games to be a part of and to, yeah,
finish my career on.

S2 (05:43):
And of course, that's the three Paralympic Games within the
World Championships, which is you won gold at and again
in different countries, part of the rich tapestry of what
makes up your career.

S1 (05:54):
Yeah. Um, I've kind of lost track of how many
world championships I've been to, but.

S2 (06:00):
Not many people can say that. So you're, you know,
you're you're a company.

S4 (06:04):
Yeah. You go to so many and you kind of.

S2 (06:07):
If you're an athlete, you do.

S1 (06:10):
Yeah.

S4 (06:11):
I feel very lucky.

S1 (06:11):
That I've been to so many that I've kind of
lost count of of of the ones that I've been to. But, um, yeah,
I think I finished up with nine medals from World
championships and three of those were gold medals. So yeah, again,
just like incredible experience.

S2 (06:27):
Was the fact that you didn't make it to the
Beijing Games. Did that kind of stir up the passions
to for Rio even more and maybe make made making
the team even more satisfying?

S4 (06:39):
Um, I would say yes.

S1 (06:40):
It definitely made it more satisfying because, you know, when
you try at something and you don't succeed, it is
quite crushing. And then it was kind of unexpected because
I wasn't really expecting to change sports and do so
well in a new sport. I just started in kayak
just because. Well, for leisure, you know, for fun and fitness.

(07:02):
And that's kind of why I've been in sport for
so long, because I really do enjoy it. But yeah,
it's been a bonus to actually get to achieve, you know,
a long time dream, a childhood dream of being a Paralympian.
And yeah, it does make it, I think, more satisfying.
And I think you appreciate it more because you do
know the other side of the coin. You have experienced

(07:25):
not making a game. So so to experience both sides is,
I guess, more unique. And it's more special when you
do achieve what you set out to.

S2 (07:34):
Just try to work it out. When you didn't make
it in Beijing, you were, well, you're still young now, Susan,
but you were a very young woman. I mean, that
would be a hard thing to recover from. You could
kind of toss it all in and say, well, I'll
go and do something else, or will you turn to
a different sport? And three Paralympic Games later and nine
medals later, you're, uh, you know, you're looking back on it.

S4 (07:54):
Yeah, absolutely.

S1 (07:56):
I think we get a lot of times in life
where we have to challenge ourselves and yeah, it can
go either way. I think depending on, I guess, your
attitude towards what's happening and then also like the opportunities
that come along. You know, I was very fortunate to
come along at the right time in a new sport
that it was just in the, in the, in the games.

(08:18):
And so they were looking for athletes and yeah, I
just happened to have some skill set from my equestrian
that I was able to transfer. And yeah, the rest
is history.

S2 (08:29):
Is that balance that you talk about. I'm thinking riding
a horse and kayaking. Yeah. What are the similarities and
I guess balance?

S4 (08:37):
Absolutely.

S1 (08:38):
I actually now that I'm retired, I can actually say
that I have never fallen out of a kayak, um,
during my whole career. And I think that is definitely
to to the times, the many times that I fell
off horses learning how to ride horses. But then I
eventually mastered my balance.

S2 (08:54):
Is there a secret to balancing? I mean, I'm not sure.
You know, like some people, they can kind of stand
on a bus when it's moving and not have to
hang on to anything. I'm not quite sure how they
do that. I marvel at that. But is there a
secret to being able to balance?

S4 (09:06):
Um, I would say practice.

S1 (09:08):
Is kind of the secret to everything, but I yeah,
I don't know, some people are just a little bit more,
more naturally better at some of these things, I think.
And I'm kind of I'm quite short and compact, and
I think that helped me balance a little bit better then,
as opposed to like someone who's really tall and lanky
and kind of has a longer, a longer back, if

(09:31):
you know what I mean, so that they're it's a
bit harder to stabilize. But yeah. No, I don't know,
practice I would say.

S4 (09:36):
Practice also.

S2 (09:38):
Good tip. What's what's what's the moment you're most proud of.

S4 (09:41):
Oh, gosh.

S1 (09:42):
Um, I would say in Rio winning a medal because
that was we were making history. It was the first time,
as I said in the in the Paralympics, I was
the first Australian to win a medal in my sport
at the Paralympics. So I would say that was definitely
up there. And then also, I'd say winning my first

(10:02):
gold medal at World Championships back in Milan, um, 2015.
That was also very special because, yeah, before that I
hadn't won any medals. So it was kind of like
I went straight to the top after a lot of
hard work. But those two stand out.

S2 (10:22):
Yeah. Being the first Australian to win a Paralympic medal
of kayaking, no one can ever take that away from you.
There might be a million gold medal winners after this.
There won't be. But you know what I mean. There
will never be another first.

S1 (10:34):
Exactly. Yeah. That's. Yeah, it's very special.

S2 (10:37):
What are you going to miss most, do you think?

S1 (10:39):
Um, definitely the people. Definitely. You know, I've made a
lot of friends with, um. Ashley's my competitors. I'm a
lot of friends made friends with them and I think
I'm going to miss them seeing them every year, um,
and catching up with them. Although, you know, it's great
that we can stay in touch over technology these days.

(11:00):
So it's not like, you know, we're completely cut off.
But yeah, definitely the people I think are the things
that you miss the most. Um, yeah. Just hanging, you know,
seeing my coach every day and my support, um, staff,
you know, we spent so much time together and, you know,
you get become so close to them. My teammates, you know,
we all become so close. And yeah, I don't get

(11:22):
to see them every day anymore, which is definitely something
I'm missing.

S2 (11:26):
This might be a bit strange, but what about the
kind of routine or dare I call it, the regimen
of being an elite athlete? I guess you might miss
that in a way, but not miss it in another way,
if I can put it that way.

S1 (11:37):
Yeah, definitely. I don't really miss it yet. Um, getting
up really early in the morning and going out with a,
you know, illness, it's raining and it's, you know, terrible weather.
I haven't actually started to miss that yet. So yeah,
I'm kind of enjoying a bit of freedom and it's. Yeah,
it's kind of unusual because normally we're planning, everything's planned

(11:59):
and you kind of always looking forward, looking towards working
towards something. And I haven't been doing that. So I'm
kind of letting myself enjoy some freedom at the moment.

S2 (12:09):
Because often you hear elite athletes talk about that, that
they're kind of almost lost. I mean, you know, they've
virtually had their life almost arranged minute by minute. Then
all of a sudden they retire. And what do I
do now? Or, you know, it's kind of feeling a
bit lost or a bit, dare I say, almost irrelevant.

S1 (12:26):
Exactly. Yeah. It is a big change. It's definitely a
big change to kind of your identity as well, because
we spend so much time as athletes. And then when
that stops, it is kind of like you have to
work out, okay, who am I without my sport kind
of thing? But I guess I've, I've had the luxury
of preparing for this and I, I, I'm really happy

(12:50):
with my timing and everything. So I'm not forced into retirement.
So yes, I have had a lot of time to
kind of think about this stuff and make plans and yeah,
so so it's been it's been fine for me. But yes,
it's definitely, um, challenging kind of having to work out

(13:11):
what you do.

S2 (13:12):
Now, were you predicted my next question because I was
going to ask you what what what's next for Susan Seipel?

S1 (13:17):
Um, well.

S5 (13:18):
Yeah, I'm just being getting.

S1 (13:20):
Back into uni. That started last week, so. Yeah, I'm
gonna do the student thing now for for a while
and see where that takes me.

S2 (13:30):
What are you studying?

S1 (13:31):
I'm studying psychology.

S2 (13:33):
All right, well, of course you've done, like, equine equine study.
And I guess that that's maybe some sort of foundation
for psychology, I guess. Yeah. Animal behavior in more ways
than one.

S5 (13:45):
Yeah.

S1 (13:46):
Well, yeah. Animal therapies is is is a big interest
of mine. Um, so yeah, I, it would be awesome
to kind of link in that together. And of course
sport is hugely beneficial to um, mental health and wellbeing.
So I feel like I have a lot of interests
in a lot of different areas towards psychology and sport

(14:08):
or animals.

S2 (14:09):
And apart from that, what do you like to do
to kind of relax or, you know, you got some
spare time? I'm going to fill in the blanks.

S1 (14:17):
Um, hang.

S5 (14:18):
Out with my.

S1 (14:18):
Friends and my family that, you know, unfortunately kind of
neglect them, you know, during my career because I had
to be overseas and training all the time. And so, yeah,
I've been really enjoying catching up with just friends and
going out for coffee and stuff like that. And yeah,
I want to make sure that I don't miss any

(14:39):
more kind of birthdays or weddings or things like that
which you do end up sacrificing a lot during during
my sporting career.

S2 (14:47):
Yeah, two S's, their sacrifices and also selfish. I've heard
athletes talk about lots of sacrifices, but also becoming very selfish.
All they do is worry about what they've got to do,
which I guess can be to the exclusion of the
stuff that you've talked about there that you might like
to enjoy.

S1 (15:02):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely it is. You have to be very
selfish as an athlete because, you know, you've got your
goals that you want to get to and you have
a support team around you trying to help you achieve
your goal is it's, you know, a really unique kind
of situation. But yeah, you do also make a lot
of sacrifices along the way.

S2 (15:23):
And you had a website that people can get lots
of good information from as well.

S1 (15:26):
Yeah. My website is um www.com. That's kind of details
my whole sporting journey and um, yeah, I'm looking I'm
looking for opportunity. I'm open to opportunities and kind of, um,
doing other things. So, yeah.

S2 (15:44):
Maybe public speaking, that sort of thing. Motivational speaking.

S1 (15:47):
Yeah. And I've signed up to do a few, um,
school talks as well, um, with Paralympics Australia to kind of, um,
talk about, um, disability within schools and sport as well.
And yeah, like I've also been doing some other sports.
I recently started doing, um, wheelchair cricket just for fun.

S2 (16:10):
Okay. I have to leave that for another time and
talk about that because that sounds very interesting as well.
A topic all for itself. Susan, congratulations. Thank you for
being available. A number of times when we requested to
speak to you. We've really enjoyed and appreciate it. Congratulations
on all you've achieved. And you're still very young, so
still plenty more chapters to write in the Susan Seipel story.

S1 (16:30):
Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. It's
always a pleasure to talk to you.

S2 (16:35):
There's a sample three times Paralympian and, uh, well, certainly
world Old championship record holder as well. Now retired, but
still much more to come. What about beginning towards the
end of the cricket season? But fly cricket has got
something pretty cool happening at the end of the month.
Let's chat about it with Australian player Ned Bowmaker. Great

(16:57):
to catch up again and thanks for your time.

S6 (16:58):
Yeah, Peter, always great to have a chat to you, mate.

S2 (17:00):
Now this sounds pretty amazing. It's just a bit about it.

S6 (17:03):
Yeah. So, um, I've been doing a lot of work
in the back end of the Victorian Blind Cricket Association.
It's an idea that's been been cooked up for many,
many years from a lot of different people in the
in the blind cricket scene, but very similar to our, uh, our,
I guess, our national cricket inclusion and championships where we get, um,
anyone who really wants to come up and play cricket, uh,

(17:26):
up to Brisbane, we're getting everyone to come down to,
to Melbourne. So, uh, over the weekend of the 29th and,
and 30th of, of March, we're getting a whole bunch
of people to come down and play blind cricket. And
it's yeah, it's going to be a really great weekend.
And and showcasing the the amazing community that we have
in blind sports. So yeah, we're really looking forward to it.

S2 (17:47):
Is it kind of a little bit like an IPL
if I can say that?

S6 (17:50):
Yeah, I guess you can you can put it in
that that way. I think it's sort of a franchise model.
So it's going to be four teams. Um, at the
moment with the registration still open at the moment, we've
got about, uh, 48 people who have signed up and, and,
and flights are booked. So there'll be four, four teams and,
and potentially even even more numbers coming through hopefully in the,

(18:12):
in the back end of registration timelines. But yeah, definitely
similar to your big bash or your, your IPL. Um,
there'll be a, a four teams, um, a few games
over the weekend and a couple of other fun things. So, um, yeah, really,
really looking forward to it.

S2 (18:27):
Sort of thing where, um, obviously you've got to balance
out the different categories to make sure that the teams
are fairly evenly matched that way.

S6 (18:34):
Yeah, definitely. So what will happen? There'll be a bit
of a draught. So that'll be that'll be fun to
be a part of. And, um, out of the pool
of players and people be be drafted into, into a team.
And obviously within that there'll be a balance within their B1,
B2 and B3 categories. And we've got great numbers across
all three categories. So it should be very even. And

(18:56):
obviously participation at the is that at the forefront of
of what we want to do. And um, yeah, everyone
everyone will come down and have a him and have
a bowl and, and be around our wonderful community. So yeah,
absolutely pumped. It's been something that that that has been
talked about a lot within the blind cricket team for
as long as I've been a part of it over

(19:16):
the last ten years. So to have, I guess, the
first sort of instalment of something that we've worked on and,
and try and try to actually give it a go,
it's really exciting. But yeah, it's, it's, it's something that
we're super pumped to, to hopefully execute and execute well.

S2 (19:31):
But just judging by the early numbers, obviously a lot
of people are thinking the same way. I'd like to
be part of this.

S6 (19:36):
Yeah, definitely, I think we'll. It definitely exceeded our expectations, obviously.
You know, working, um, just on a on a volunteer
board of the VCA, we just thought, look, we'll give
it a crack and see how many people we can
get down. We often get, um, you know, estates to,
to come down and play against, you know, Victoria or
anything like that. And you know, we can add those weekends, but, um,

(19:56):
we thought we'll try and change it up a little
bit and see, see what was what was the go.
And yeah, heaps of people signed up initially on the
expression of interest and, and even, I guess to see
the retention of those numbers coming through to to now
it's really, really exciting as well. So yeah, to have
this many people coming down is, is such a a
good indication of where cricket really is across the country.

(20:19):
And it only will in my opinion. And it definitely
fell to our expert perspective will only help grow the sport.
So yeah, it's it's it's phenomenal really to see the
the buying and input from everyone else.

S2 (20:30):
I having a bit of a draught that might give
the these guys a bit of a massage. You reckon?

S6 (20:35):
Yeah, it's it's, um. It's going to be interesting. They're
a bit of, um, brain pretzeling I think will go
on it and trying to work out how to how to, um,
really go about the best teams. But look, it's it's
an exciting thing. We, you know, obviously within, um, blind sports,
a lot of the time it's, it's, uh, we do
this type of stuff anyway, really, but to have sort

(20:56):
of a more structured way of, of, of setting up
teams and, and and having multiple different, uh, people involved
in the sport. And then we've got a few new
people who haven't played before and obviously really experienced players.
I think it's going to be a really good melting point. Um,
and a melting pot, sorry. And uh, of, of different
people and, and just that connection piece. So a lot

(21:17):
of people around the country as well as it's something
that we're really excited for and, you know, with, with
a relatively small community in the blind cricket space and
the blind sports space as a whole to bring people
down and, and be a part of, um, you know,
a sport that we all love and feel connected to.
I think that is something that I'm most excited for.

S2 (21:35):
Where will the matches be played?

S6 (21:36):
So it's going to be, um, held at Fawkner Park.
So that's. Yeah, in South Yarra in Melbourne. So not
too far away from the CBD. Um, we've got a
great relationship with Melbourne City Council there for getting us
some turf. Turf grounds in there. So and we play
the majority of our, our, uh, our state and um,
I guess local programs in, in Victoria down there at

(21:59):
Fawkner Park. So yeah, it's, it's awesome to have two
turf wickets and to have the access to. Yeah, some
pretty sought after grounds. So it's yeah, it's a great
spot to be in and close to a lot of
things in the city of Melbourne. So yeah really really
excited for that.

S2 (22:14):
824 match all the matches.

S6 (22:16):
Yep. So yeah there will be uh yeah two T20
matches um on the Saturday. And I think at this stage,
one maybe even even more so on the Sunday as well.
So yeah, each team will will have a heap of
games to play. There are a lot of cricket there.
We're going to put a whole bunch of different things
in there for match conditions, to make sure that it

(22:37):
says participation and led as possible, but also making sure
that we get really good quality cricket happening as well.
So yeah, a lot of work and time has been
put into it to try and making this the most
impactful weekend as possible. So yeah, I really have a
lot of faith that it will be, um, yeah, a
real watershed moment for, for for blind cricket over, over

(22:58):
the years to come, I guess. But yeah.

S2 (23:00):
But then how do you go to as far as
umpires go in blind cricket? Uh, you know, often in sports,
those sort of volunteer areas can be a bit, uh,
you know, hard to, to get people involved. What about
umpiring in blind cricket? How do you go and I
guess the sort of ancillary people around that, scores, etc..
Are you pretty well catered in that area?

S6 (23:17):
Yeah. It's always I mean, it's always an area that, that, um,
requires a lot of, um, a lot of support. And
in particular, as you mentioned there, Peter, with the volunteer
aspect of it, um, you know, we're really lucky that
in in Victoria and I know in multiple different states
there's it's normally a group of usual people who who
always turn up. And we're really, really grateful for that.

(23:39):
But we've we've done a few initiatives in the past of,
of actually getting into umpires groups and, and going into
different avenues of trying to find more volunteers. It's always
on the agenda, but we're really, really lucky that that
we have a really solid base of, of particularly umpires
and scorers that come down on a regular basis for
a lot of the things that we do, and they're

(24:00):
going to be there in the weekend, but definitely always
trying to find more. So yeah, it's a big it's
a big part of our sport. And I guess all,
all blind sport really is having volunteers to come down
and be be a part of of that. And the
best part about having volunteers is once you once you
come down and do it, once, you automatically become a
part of our community as well. So you're more than

(24:22):
likely will come down. It's a great bunch of people
and and yeah, we're always looking for more. But yeah,
really lucky to have the the crew that we do
at the moment.

S2 (24:29):
Well, if you like that kind of team sport, that
kind of, uh, locker room camaraderie, as you say, even
though you might not necessarily be playing, it's still a great,
a great way to be involved in a sport like that.
There's that certain sort of, uh, you know, enchanting thing
about it, when you can get a few people involved
that love the cricket and love talking cricket and a
bit of nonsense as well.

S6 (24:50):
Oh, definitely, man. We're we're no different in, in, in the,
in the blind cricket group to any others, there's, there's
a lot of banter and a lot of great cricket
chats and but as I mentioned before, being a part
of this community, it's such a unique thing. And if
you haven't been a part of it before it, it's
such a beautiful spot to be. It's, um, there's so
many people with amazing stories and amazing things that they've,

(25:12):
they've gone through and, and experiences. And just like any
new sort of group that you can be a part of,
and it's always, I think more so, though, for the
blind community, it's as unique as it can get. And yeah,
I would highly encourage anyone who wants to come down
and be involved just to come down, and you'll fall
in love with it and and stick around. So yeah,
it's a it's a wonderful place to be.

S2 (25:34):
Have you got people coming from most states as far
as kind of putting their hands up go.

S6 (25:37):
Yeah, yeah. Pretty much nearly nearly every state that is
has been blind. Blind cricket played in it. So we've
got I don't have the numbers straight off the top
of my head of, of of where they're coming from.
But a lot from um wa from, from SA from Queensland,
a lot from New South Wales and then obviously a
good contingency from, from Victoria as well. I think even um,

(25:58):
Tassie and there's a few coming from there as well.
So it's, it's a really good indication of where cricket
can go to with um, with at least blind cricket.
So you can go to with, with these types of
initiatives and seeing the input and the buy in, I'm
sure a lot of people will be, um, heavily interested
in making it a regular thing. So and that's definitely
our goal. So, um, yeah, we're, we're, we're thrilled with

(26:20):
we're seeing the, the input from particularly from interstate, our
players from a Victorian lens, but it's it's just it's
been remarkable. And on top of that the volunteers as well.
So a lot of those states, there's people who are
coming down to volunteer for the weekend as well from
from those states. Not not only to, to play or
just to volunteer solely as well, which is such a

(26:41):
huge thing for us. And making sure the weekend goes
goes well as possible. So yeah, it's been absolutely brilliant
seeing the buy in and just can't wait to to
get the ball rolling. And we could have have a
bit of a hit. It will be, it'll be really great.

S2 (26:53):
March 29th and 30th. If people want to find out more,
what's the best place to go to? Is there a
website they can go to to get some more info?

S6 (27:00):
Definitely. Definitely get it onto their Victorian Blind Cricket Association website.
And there's through there. There's a lot of different ways
of actually finding out more about the weekend itself and
everything else that we're doing. And then yeah, from from
there you'll be able to find all, all the information
about registration and whatnot. So look, yeah, I think registrations

(27:21):
are closing pretty soon. Um, but, uh, we'll love, um,
anyone who wants to be involved to, to jump on and,
and and have a crack at some cricket down here.

S2 (27:30):
Alright. We'll put those details up there. Show notes now.
Always great to catch up. Good luck.

S6 (27:34):
Thank you very much, Peter. Always good to talk to you.

S2 (27:36):
There we go. That's the curious answer to the IPL.
And gather round. The blind cricket blast coming up on
March the 29th and 30th. All those details up with
our show notes.

S7 (27:49):
You're in elite company listening to leisurely here on Vision
Australia Radio, VA radio, digital VA radio, dot org and
through the TuneIn radio app.

S2 (28:01):
For Jillian Bell and Melissa Buchholtz. Have they completed their
Adelaide Fringe tour? But the tour has just begun because
they're off to other places. Greener pastures. Dare I say?
Julianne Bell is on the line. Julianne. Great to catch
up and thanks for your time.

S8 (28:15):
Thanks, Peter. I don't know about greener pastures. We'll have
to see. Depends what the cyclone's done for three.

S2 (28:21):
She said, I was going to ask you about that
because that's sort of where you're heading off to, isn't it?

S8 (28:25):
Well, kind of. I mean, I was we were in
the path of the cyclone when we flew home. We
were just lucky that Alfred took his sweet time getting here. So, yes,
but we were I had my family very worried that
I wouldn't get back to Brisbane and that sort of thing, but, um. Yeah,
I think New South Wales is sort of past the
worst of it now. So that's, that's I mean, I'm

(28:45):
sure there are people who are still without power and people,
you know, who are suffering, and that's really tough. But
I think the actual weather event has probably ended.

S2 (28:53):
So where are you going and where do you start?

S8 (28:55):
Look, we're heading basically up and down New South Wales
in a bit of a crisscross. We're starting on the
21st of March in Glen Innes. And we're going to
and I've got to see if I can remember all
the city, all the towns actually we're going to. Glen Innes,
we're going to Armidale, Tamworth, Narrabri, Parkes, Dubbo, Aubrey, Goulburn, Junee, Ballina, Casino,

(29:20):
Grafton and I think I've got them all. I'll just.

S2 (29:24):
You've done very well, even if you haven't, that's an
outstanding performance. So. So at the end of the show,
will you do a I've been everywhere duo?

S8 (29:32):
I think we will. Please. We would have been everywhere
that matters you know.

S2 (29:38):
Yeah. That's right. All right. And just that we'll repeat
it before we wrap up. But people can book via
trip bookings.

S8 (29:44):
They can. People can book by try booking. So if
you search for perfectly imperfect and if you even just
type my name in Julianne Bell, I'm a tricky one.
I'm a double E, but if you type perfectly imperfect,
you should find us. If you have any troubles at all,
we're going to send a perfectly imperfect email address to
the show, but it's pretty straightforward. It's perfectly imperfect news

(30:07):
news at gmail.com. So that's perfectly imperfect news at gmail.com.
Any queries or problems booking, write to us there. fear,
and Melissa or myself will answer that. We're so involved
with our fans that we answer our own emails.

S2 (30:24):
Fantastic. Now, I was lucky enough to be at the
concert or one of the concerts that you did in
Adelaide at the Fringe, at Garage International, which was a
great setting. It's really good. I mean, for those people
who weren't there and obviously hopefully in New South Wales,
they'll be able to get there. Give us a bit
of a snapshot of what the show is about.

S8 (30:42):
So the tagline on the show is perfectly imperfect songs
and stories of life, love and laughter. And essentially what
we do is we sing, I sing, and Melissa plays
the piano, and we perform songs that were as significant
to us as we were growing up, and songs that
mean something to us and represent different aspects of our lives.

(31:03):
And in between those songs, I tell a fair few stories.
Melissa talks a little bit, but I generally talk more,
which anyone who knows me knows that that's just kind
of a given. But we tell stories about our lives.
Some of them are funny, some of them are serious,
and we basically try to leave audiences with a really
nice feeling after they leave the show humming along tunes
that they probably know. There's nothing that's unknown or inaccessible

(31:27):
in this show. It's a very comfortable show.

S2 (31:29):
I think you've made a great point about the fact
that the songs are all well known. They are. They
were all hits.

S8 (31:35):
That's what we've tried for. We've really aimed for songs
that people will recognize. You know, there are some different genres,
so if it's not your particular genre, you might not
recognize it. One of those is Janis Ian's at 17.
There are a few people who don't know that song,
but Janis Ian is is still a very renowned artist.
She she manages her own Facebook page. So even if

(31:57):
you're famous, sometimes you do your own stuff. And she's. Yeah,
she's still going. And, um, her songs were really important
back in the day, and it's a really beautiful song, actually.

S2 (32:08):
I think that was a really interesting story around that.
You want to share that with us, because I guess
there'd be a lot of people that maybe might be
young or, you know, sort of going through adolescence now
or people who are older and could reflect back to
those times. I think a lot of people could identify
with maybe not being one of the cool kids.

S8 (32:24):
Absolutely. Melissa and I both talk about our high school
time and why Melissa didn't really have the same sort
of bullying that I did, because I had quite a
lot of bullying at high school. Both of us, as musicians,
really didn't fit into what was the cool group back
in the day. And I think when you are musical
and you were clever, I think those things were not
celebrated when we were younger, and I think it was

(32:47):
really tough for us to sort of find our way.
And I think it's made me a much stronger and
more resilient person. High school was really the beginning of
life in terms of really learning about what a struggle was,
I think. And I do think that resilience doesn't come
from having, you know, having easy times and good times.

(33:07):
Resilience is something that's built from struggles. And, you know,
I read something somewhere the other day where I also
just a Facebook post, I think, and someone was sort
of talking about, you know, being resilient. You know, people
celebrate it and they go, oh yeah, resilience is such
a good thing. And it is. But in the actual
act of being resilient, we are terribly uncomfortable. It's a

(33:29):
terribly uncomfortable place to be because you are working against diversity.
You're working against something really tricky to manage to function
and get through life. And anyone who says that resilience
is easy has never really tried it.

S2 (33:42):
Yeah, that's very, very true. Yeah. I mean, in a sense,
you shouldn't find resilience easy. If the if you do,
then you're not experiencing it.

S8 (33:49):
Absolutely right. That's absolutely right. And it's a good feeling afterwards.
I think once you can sort of say yep I
was resilient and I got through that. I think that's
a wonderful feeling. And you can't bottle that feeling. It's fantastic.
But the actual act of being resilient is really is
really tricky and and can be quite trying. But it
is worth it because there's so much learning in that resilience.

(34:12):
At least there has been for me. I can't think
of a tough situation I've been through where I haven't
learned something.

S2 (34:18):
That's a very positive message, and we don't want to
get the whole show away. Julianne. But nothing I thought
was really good. And you've actually mentioned that with me
on the program before, was your approach, if you like,
when you're on The Voice and like you were going
to be your own person and we're going to kind
of fall into any stereotypes you want to share that
for those people who might not have heard that before.

S8 (34:37):
Well, yes. When you go on to reality television, it's
really managed by producers. And the thing about reality television
that a lot of people don't realise is that there
is a script, it's just that the contestants don't know it.
So that script is really very well managed by the producers.
And basically what we are is characters in, in a drama,

(34:58):
and we use our own name and we use our
own personality and we are unpaid, but essentially we are
providing characters for the drama, and the producers move those
characters around and manipulate those characters to get what they need.
Now they're just doing their job. I actually, I think
I think you have to go into this situation with

(35:19):
the knowledge and you have to understand what you're going into.
And I, I don't think that any of them do
it with any sort of malice, but that's their job.
And so when they do, you do a lot of
interviews on the show. They don't air, you know, most
of what you say. You can do hours of interviews
and they try to lead you to the answers that
they want you to give to questions. And so I

(35:42):
they would say things to me like, oh, you know,
being glowing, it must be really challenging. You must. I
would imagine that at times you get very emotional. And
I sat there and I just sort of had a
little pause and a little smile, and then I just said, no,
not really.

S2 (35:57):
That's not what they wanted.

S8 (35:59):
I was really unhelpful in that regard. I was really unhelpful.
And I do think it possibly had an impact on
why I didn't travel a bit further, but I just
couldn't in good conscience, present or present something that wasn't true.
Of course, blindness is hard at times. We know that. But.

(36:20):
But it's not hard all the time. And, you know,
everybody's got something that's hard. You know, I haven't met
a person, you know, in my life that doesn't have
something that they struggle with. And so we're not really
any different. And I just didn't want to be the weeping,
sort of sad, blind person painting the picture that blindness

(36:40):
is terrible.

S2 (36:41):
And on behalf of every blind person in Australia and
probably the world, we thank you for that, because that's
because that sort of image could then carry through to
the general public who kind of think, well, all blind
people like that, that that must be the way we
treat them or that must be the way they want
to be treated.

S8 (36:57):
And look, I think I mentioned to you last time
I was talking that I saw some footage of Regina
from Big Brother.

S2 (37:03):
Yeah.

S8 (37:03):
He's recently on I'm a celebrity have and, um. And look.
She had handled it slightly differently. I think she was
really brave because she was out in the jungle, you know,
supposedly doing all these scary things. And she did have some,
some sadness and things. But Regina was in a very
different situation because she is losing her vision. And I

(37:27):
think it's really important to separate those two things out,
because losing one's vision is a very different thing from
being congenitally blind. And so I certainly wouldn't want to
detract from that experience or diminish those feelings of people
who might feel differently about it, because vision loss is
quite different.

S2 (37:47):
Julianne, great to catch up with a good chat for hours.
It was great meeting you the other day. Now you're
touring New South Wales starting March the 21st. If you
want to find out more, what's the best way to
do that?

S8 (37:57):
You can search for Perfectly Imperfect on try booking. You
can have a look at the show notes for this show,
because I'm going to send Peter a whole list of
our dates and times And or you can write to.
Perfectly imperfect news news at gmail.com and let us know
what town or city you're in and we can hook
you up with tickets.

S2 (38:17):
Terrific. And also with that email address, will also be
able to get you a copy of the CD if
you offer it to you and Melissa. Have a great time.
As I said, it was great catching up with you
and great to have been at your show and I
can highly recommend it. So two of us think it's good,
you and me. So that's 100%.

S8 (38:34):
Absolutely. Thanks so much for coming Peter. We really appreciated it.

S2 (38:37):
Julie Bell there with the with Melissa there appearing at
Perfectly Imperfect in New South Wales. Go to our show
notes and we'll give you all the details. If you
can't get there, give us a call at the radio
station and we'll pass them on. Or rather, at this
time the third week of each month, we catch up

(38:59):
with our resident councillor, Pam Mitchell. Pam, welcome.

S9 (39:03):
Hello, everybody. What a warm and very hot time we
are having. And the contrast, isn't it? Being aware of
this vast land we live on from from just being
here with no, no rainfall, uh, farmers in terrible drought
circumstances to being up in Queensland and, and northern New

(39:26):
South Wales and the devastation, it's just extreme. It just
reminds you about the vastness and the, the, the variance
in our land has just been incredible.

S2 (39:37):
Okay. Now, Pam, you've never shied away from tackling a
tough topic, and, uh, you've chosen one this afternoon just
for fun.

S8 (39:44):
I was just trying.

S9 (39:45):
To fill in some time there.

S2 (39:46):
This feeling, though, you're like.

S9 (39:50):
This is, uh, one of those topics that possibly other
people do the same thing when they're when they're faced
with this issue that they might decide, do we really
want to get into this? Do we really want to
talk about this? So as always, I'm I'm aiming to
give a fair and reasonable Geneva discussion here today. But
we are speaking about the topic of equity, diversity and inclusion,

(40:16):
which has been very published in our papers and in
the opinion columns of journalists, etc., with their take on
what's happening in our in our world, because it's not
just us here in Australia, but just the difference that
people are placing emphasis on to ensure that they cross

(40:39):
over all possible variants to provide something for these people.
And I guess in talking about this today, I would
say we need to explore that. We need to make
sure that people are not being ostracized or left out

(40:59):
or discriminated or bullied, and there's no attention to it,
and I believe that possibly we need to remind ourselves
of whether we actually have that in perspective and whether
that's relevant and current, or are we putting other suggestive

(41:19):
means into people's minds that may not have had them otherwise?
And I think there is a fine and real balance.
I'm seeing it in my work. I'm seeing it in
conversations with others when they tell you about their experiences
with their kids at school, or particular people that have

(41:41):
been discriminated against, where the stories are real. And I'm
just wondering what it's like in all of our listeners
listening today. How does that affect you? What view do
you have on this? How do we manage this in
an effective way. Um, I have a glossary here that

(42:04):
I've downloaded. It's from a great big, uh, scholarly PDF
from Canada that it is of some of the terms.
And I will try not to take eight minutes to
say them all, but it's it staggered me when I
downloaded this. We are currently looking within the realm of equity,

(42:25):
diversity and inclusion and social justice. These are some of
the terms a glossary term. Ableism. Ageism, accessibility. Anti-oppression. Cultural safety. Decolonization. Diversity. Equity. Homophobia. Inclusion. Intersectionality. Meritocracy. Racism.

(42:46):
Sexism Genderism social justice. They are some. There is an
organization at the moment in America. It's a big organization.
And they're they're science people. So said, these people are
bless their hearts, but they do amazing things. They are
fairly left, left brain oriented because, you know, things have

(43:08):
to line up. You have to have a bridge that
meets in the middle. But they are placing emphasis because
they have so many staff on these areas in their organization.
So they don't overlook anyone and they seem to be
doing the right thing. And this is where this glossary
came from that I downloaded. So they're dividing their staff,
who are scientists up into little subgroups over these areas

(43:31):
to discuss. You know, how they can do that better
and be ready for that in their organization. Now I
wonder whether that's their real role. Um, whether it's not, oh,
we had this person coming this morning and they definitely
need support and we need to be able to direct
them to the right person because they're struggling at the moment.

(43:54):
We can see they're struggling and we can see there's
a problem at home or away. By all means, have
that support ready for them to be able to not
have these people fall through the cracks. But are we
planning for something that is not there? But because of
their vastness and spread of social media and engagement to

(44:15):
be providing everything? Are we doing a sweep of the broom?
I wonder that is too shallow and too wide and
potentially dangerous. By giving emphasis to something that doesn't possibly
need that level of emphasis? I don't know, and I'm
sure people listening to me today will have a difference

(44:36):
of opinion of of what I'm actually saying here in
my studies in counselling. Carl Rogers, who is the creator
of person centred counselling, is probably one of the main
things as a modality I use, and I keep remembering
him as I speak with this about today being there
for all of his students as he came forth with

(45:00):
his modeling of person-centred counselling, which is still used very
much in today's world. But that's about being there, focused
on the person that's with you and their need. What
is it that they need from us? So if we

(45:24):
take our focus off of that person's need to spread
it widely and to into all these other areas, are
we taking our eye off the people that are indicating
they need help? I have, um, someone I supervise in

(45:45):
my capacity as a supervisor who works with people in
a very discriminatory sector. Those People are often ostracized because
people find them extraordinarily weird, if you like, because their
bodies don't function properly and so they can't mix in society.

(46:08):
And what happens? They fall through the cracks because they're
not getting the right focus, because someone might think they're
weird or giving weird advice to somebody because they don't
know how to have their bodies function properly and they
are starving from knowing. How can I live with all
of these things in this limited capacity? And there are

(46:30):
very few people that have a desire to work with
these people. But that's, that's that's a person centered need.
If that need is there, we need to be ready
to be able to embrace and be compassionate about that
and help those people and have people with the skills
to do that, but to make up extra things that

(46:51):
Distract from that. Focus on the person and the and
the needs that are out there into these other obscure areas.
I wonder if that's where we're meant to be. I
have clients currently whose teenagers have gone from being a
female to being a non-binary person, to then being wanted

(47:14):
to be called a boy, where they are also partaking
in that process because they just are so confused. They're talking.
They're stealing money, borrowing money, whatever you want to call it.
And then they're into drugs because they don't know. And
I'm not being extreme here. This is actual. Um, and

(47:37):
two of these people are in the opposite sex private
college of what they're pretending to want to be. And
so how does the school deal with that? How does
the school think? Well, I meant to have a boy
or a girl here and now they're telling me they're
the opposite. What do we do in the curriculum with that?
How do we provide change rooms and enough welfare and

(48:00):
care for these people? How can we have people trained
enough to do that in this sphere? When these issues
are there, we need to focus on them. But again,
in all the glossary I read out this morning are,
some of these are little beyond where we need to
be reaching, I wonder. It is a broad sweep, and

(48:20):
I'm also looking at things like we're spending this money
on changing street signs, uh, districts, because if there's been
a feminine gender name given to it or something, or
a male gender name and not a non-specific name, we've
changed the street sign, is that the best use of

(48:41):
our money? Is there not room for a a Doris,
a Dora, a David, a are done. Is that not okay?
Does that have to be taken from us for this
new approach? I don't know. I just wonder. I seriously
wonder whether we have stretched our little far in the

(49:05):
issues that we face financially war torn areas, hurricanes on
our own shore, tornadoes, the the need we have in
the balance of how we live and what we face
in the generations we are. Have we moved the focus
away from where that's meant to be? Have we moved

(49:27):
the federal budget too far and stretched too far? Are
we at every ceremony that we attend? Are we needing
to go through? Whether you're a non-binary, whether you're a fluffy,
whether you're a him, whether you're a her, whether you're

(49:47):
a they, whether you're someone that needs to be treated
as just different without any emphasis on how do we
help that particular case, I'm wondering whether this could be
dealt with better. This Carl Rogers I began with, I'd

(50:09):
like to finish. Obviously I'm a fan, even though he
lived a long time ago with his students. They said
to him at one stage, how would you like to
be remembered? And he said, I want to be remembered
as a piece of transparency paper. And they looked at

(50:29):
him and he said, I want people to be able
to see that in my care, that you can see
right through me to know that what you say I
hear and what I give is what I want you
to receive. And that's what I would hope our world
could do better.

S2 (50:48):
Oh, Pam. Wow, what a crescendo. Thank you so, so
much for that. And thank you for Carl Rogers's little
piece at the end there. That was really wonderful. Pam,
as always, you never let us down. You have it today. Now,
you're a counselor by profession. And thank you for giving
us a bit of an insight into some of the
work that you do. If people want to come and
contact you. 0418 835 767.

S9 (51:11):
As always, thank you for having me. Take care of
yourselves out there.

S2 (51:15):
We'll catch up next month.

S10 (51:16):
Yeah.

S2 (51:16):
Peter is our resident counsel. If you want to contact Pam.
And I think you know her by now. Very much
worthwhile contacting if you need support in that area. 0418 835 767.

S7 (51:32):
On the Vision Australia Network through your favorite podcast service
on 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide. You're listening to Leisure Link.

S2 (51:40):
One of the big events coming up later on in
March is the Heartbeat Club. Let's find out all about it.
And from Tootie, speak to Tessa. Tessa. Lovely to meet you.
Thanks for your time. First time we spoke. It's so
great to have you with us.

S11 (51:52):
Thanks so much, Peter. Super excited to speak to you today.

S2 (51:55):
Tell us about the Heartbeat Club. When and where is
it all happening?

S11 (51:58):
So the Heartbeat Club is a really special disability led
club night in Adelaide that we run four times a year.
It is run by the beats crew here at Tooty Arts.
Incredible artists. Leading it for this club night is extra
special because it's part of the Adelaide Fringe, so we're
super excited. We've got ten DJs playing, we've got a

(52:19):
photo booth, we've got Teddy Station, we've got food, we've
got a bar. It's going to be a really, really
exciting night out for the fringe. Yes. We can't wait.

S2 (52:30):
And where is it?

S11 (52:31):
The Heartbeat Club is playing on Friday, the 21st of
March from 7:00 till 11 p.m., and it's at Mod
at the Unisa on North Terrace in the city.

S2 (52:44):
I will give those details before we wrap up and
also put it up with that tonight. Yeah. Tell us
a bit about the club. Then we'll speak to them
a bit more about it as well. But just about
to kind of your involvement with Tory and the Heartbeat Club.
And then we can chat to local about what Malcolm's
involvement is.

S11 (52:59):
Yeah, sure. So my role at Tory, I am the
artist development coordinator. So in my role I provide and
seek professional opportunities for artists here at Tory. Tory is
a multi arts organization, um, working with well over 200
artists across many different programs. Um, including music, visual arts, dance. Um,

(53:25):
hip hop radio and the Heartbeat Club is a really
special event run by the Beats Crew, which Lorcan will
be able to speak to you about. And I am
producing the Heartbeat Club and representing and supporting the amazing artists.
And yeah, one can't wait to meet new people coming
through the door to be part of Heartbeat Club.

S2 (53:46):
Who should be coming along? Apart from everyone.

S11 (53:48):
Happy club is a well, it's an accessible club night,
but it is run for and by people living with
intellectual disability or who are neurodivergent, their friends and their allies.
So it's a fully accessible nightclub. It's, um, really, uh,
something that's incredibly unique in Adelaide, and we're here to

(54:11):
promote it, and we'd love to, um, meet more people.

S2 (54:15):
You've been going for a while, as you said. Uh,
have you been part of the fringe like this before?
Is this the first first timer?

S11 (54:20):
I believe this is our first affiliation with the Adelaide Fringe. Um,
we tend to run for heartbeat clubs a year at
different venues in the city and venues also that are
that are accessible. So not only, um, we try and
make the club as a fully accessible um, in its,
in its building and also in the offerings to our community.

(54:41):
And yeah, this is a really big, exciting splash as
part of the Adelaide Fringe.

S2 (54:46):
But when you say accessible, you mean as far as
kind of wheelchair accessible goes, that sort of thing.

S11 (54:49):
Wheelchair accessible also in terms of the experience as well
for patrons. So for example, there won't be any smoke machines,
there won't be any strobe lighting, there will be some
sensory experiences. There'll be some quiet spaces, there'll be some
other offerings and experiences for people as well. So as
I mentioned before, there'll be a photo booth, which will

(55:12):
be really sociable and fun. People can have their photos
taken with their friends. We also have a tattoo station,
so we have some short term tattoos that you can
apply her skin to. And this is all to promote
the Heartbeat Club. We also have some merchandise, t shirts
and hats. We also have stickers. So people who really
love music really love DJs, really love beats. This is

(55:36):
the club night for you. And so for anyone who's
18 plus. But it's a really special club night and
Lorcan's really gonna be able to, um, yeah, share. Share
with everyone exactly what that is.

S2 (55:50):
Um, people need to book.

S11 (55:51):
Yes. If you can, please book through Adelaide Fringe tickets.
So go to the Adelaide Fringe website. Also go to
the home page as well and we have some information there.
But if you go to Adelaide Fringe tickets, it's $15.
General admission and companion cards are also available as well.
You can get your tickets at the door, but we

(56:15):
ask people to book ahead.

S2 (56:17):
Because they're probably going to get booked out. So you
don't want to be left at the door without a ticket.

S11 (56:20):
Yeah. So if you if you can, if you love music,
if you love to dance, if you love to meet
new people and and hear the incredible DJs of the
beats crew at Taree, please book uh through Adelaide Fringe
tickets and doors open at seven and it's going to
get busy, so please book.

S2 (56:38):
All right. Good to talk to you. We'll speak to
you in a second. But thank you for your time
and good luck.

S11 (56:43):
Thank you so much, Peter, and we look forward to
meeting you. Making new friends at the Heartbreak Club.

S2 (56:48):
It's tough to sign there. Who's with Trudy? Let's meet
one of the stars of the show for the Heartbreak Club. Welcome,
James Hopper. Welcome. Good to meet you. And thank you
for your time. Thank you. How much you looking forward
to it? Uh, good. How long have you been involved?

S12 (57:04):
Since, uh, when I first started. Back in 2018.

S2 (57:06):
What made you get involved?

S12 (57:08):
The love of music. I make music with people with disabilities,
like the Hopper Club.

S2 (57:13):
What sort of music are we talking about? What sort
of music are you talking about? What sort of music
can we hear at the Heartbreak Club on March 21st?

S12 (57:20):
So I it's all different colors of music that I like.
So it's for me, I like a dubstep bass and
dance music and house music and only one performance on
the deck. So where I make my own music with
the people that I love with friends.

S2 (57:41):
Okay, so this is all your own music that you'll
be playing. Is this stuff that you've got in your collection?

S12 (57:46):
Yeah. So I'm on my I'm doing a duet with
my brother and my, my, my brother. And the name
is called the Coco Brothers, where we mix our different
cultures with my Irish culture, with Aboriginal culture put into music. Yeah.
I mean, it's a great sound.

S2 (58:07):
I was going to say it sounds fantastic. Yeah. Now
I ask this of tested before you tell me in
your words, who do you think should come along? Who's
going to enjoy the Heartbeat Club?

S12 (58:16):
So I think all people with disabilities to get the
hand to to perform with us and to make music.

S2 (58:26):
Anyone that likes any sort of music, you're going to
come on. And I guess, look at the sort of
thing that maybe if you want to maybe experience some
different kind of music, maybe they've chosen before. That would
be a pretty cool thing to do as well.

S12 (58:37):
Yes, yes.

S2 (58:38):
Tell us a bit about your setup then. Have you got, like,
a mixing desk and have you got, uh, stuff on, on, uh,
on your device? What do you use?

S12 (58:47):
So I use the iPad where I put my music
into one iPad and just just to just to perform
with our friends that are out there to have fun. Yeah.

S2 (59:01):
What's the what's it like when you're up there kind
of commanding the room? What's that like?

S12 (59:04):
It feels good. It feels like I'm. Feels like I'm.
I have a lot of heart in music, because every
time when I create music, it it helps for all
people with disabilities, like people, to be a friendly nightclub
where we catch up and to have fun on the night.

S2 (59:26):
It's very important. Do you, um, kind of get the
crowd involved? Is that part of your shtick as well?
Do you kind of like afford to get the crowd involved.

S12 (59:34):
Yes, yes. So people, when they come to the club,
they find ourselves in our own shoes to get the
chance to perform with the best crew and, uh, and
get the hand to, to perform with us.

S2 (59:51):
That must be obviously a good feeling as well.

S12 (59:53):
Yeah.

S2 (59:54):
Did you get involved with music? Can you remember the
first time you heard music, or how you got sort
of the love of music? How did that happen?

S12 (01:00:00):
Since I was a kid, I've been growing up with
music all my life, since when I was a kid.
And music is a good method for me, as I
have terrible anxiety because for me, as a person with disability,
I get anxious a lot. So when you go to music,
it's just I had to get out of my comfort zone.

(01:00:23):
With live music, rave music and pumping music to get
everyone jumping and bring the house down.

S2 (01:00:32):
Now there's only me and you here. Looking so no
one's listening. You get a little bit nervous when you're
up there sometimes.

S12 (01:00:39):
But I got friends up there, okay?

S2 (01:00:41):
So they helped you kind of relax?

S12 (01:00:43):
Yeah.

S2 (01:00:44):
Did you do, like, breathing exercises or do anything to
kind of relax yourself as well?

S12 (01:00:48):
Well, when I'm performing with just on myself or the crew,
for example, it feels like I'm not the only one
who makes friends. So to make friends is to be
with the crew, stay with the crew. We come up
with great music, catching up with friends. So that's why
the cover is about you.

S2 (01:01:09):
Like to listen to other people's music as well?

S12 (01:01:12):
Yes.

S2 (01:01:12):
Have you got a favorite other artists apart from you?
Of course. Have you got a favorite artist that you
like as well?

S12 (01:01:17):
I like the Havana Brown. So, um, so, so there's
a lot. So I feel the inspiration of taking other
people We're not thinking about other people's music. But, uh,
in terms of the the they asked a lot because
Havana Brown, she makes her own music, which I do.

(01:01:41):
So that helps me think about.

S2 (01:01:42):
I've interviewed her, I reckon. Would it be fair to say,
like when you're up there doing your music, doing your stuff,
it's kind of your safe place.

S12 (01:01:50):
And that's my safe place because it feels like home. Yeah,
because the Harvard Club. Because for me, as a as
a person with a disability that I, I used to
go to real nightclubs when I was a kid and
that got pushed me back. I got discriminated four times
for that reason because I have a disability. And all

(01:02:13):
he said was, no, you're not allowed to be in
this room like I transform the other way around to
make the club happen here in Adelaide.

S2 (01:02:25):
The terrible thing. Discrimination, isn't it? Unless you have a long,
long term effect on you, which is not a good
thing and totally unnecessary. We should all be very inclusive.
You probably, but not common. I don't want to get
you into trouble. So for this time, it's coming up
on March the 21st. Yeah, it's part of the Fringe Festival,
which is cool. First time that's happening. So that'll be

(01:02:46):
really good. Yeah. All right, so what do you say
for people out there listening on the radio? If you
could say what you could say about coming along. Send
them your invitation. What do you want to say to
people listening about the Heartbeat Club? What should they do?

S12 (01:02:59):
Uh, they could come to take part of the club
so we can actually make music for them and to
listen to us. So all the people with disabilities in Australia,
all around the world, that we are powerful, strong artists

(01:03:21):
that make music for one fringe festival because the other
like Frank. And I want the people to come and
be a part of the the environment of the club.

S2 (01:03:34):
It doesn't matter where you are in the world, you're invited.

S12 (01:03:37):
Yes.

S2 (01:03:38):
Make a special trip to Adelaide just for the Heartbreak Club.

S12 (01:03:41):
Yeah.

S2 (01:03:42):
Like, I'm great to catch up with you. Thank you
so much. Have a great night. I'm sure you will.
And more importantly, or equally importantly, those that tend to
have a good night as well. You can find out
by going to the French website. We'll put those details
up with our show notes. Thanks so much for speaking
to us. Really appreciate it.

S12 (01:03:58):
Thank you.

S2 (01:03:59):
That's James Hopper, one of the stars of the Heartbeat Club.
Coming up March 21st.

S12 (01:04:05):
Thank you.

S13 (01:04:06):
Hi, I'm Denise Wood from USC. One of Queensland's universities
with a strong commitment to accessibility and inclusion. And I
enjoy being with you and talking about accessibility in technology.
Each month on leisure link with Peter Greco on Vision
Australia Radio.

S2 (01:04:27):
Well, we're going to talk about an organization that we
spoke about in the past. They've changed their name, but
I'm sure their work is probably even better than ever.
Continent South Australia. Their CEO is Jim Cooper. Jim, great
to meet you. Thanks for your time.

S14 (01:04:39):
Thanks, Peter. It's good to be on your program.

S2 (01:04:41):
Now you've had a name change, but a lot of
things still stay the same.

S14 (01:04:44):
Yes, yes. Well, the name change to which is Continence
Health Australia. And uh, if you ask what do we do?
We're the lead organisation for managing and promoting, um, good
continence health for all Australians. And, uh, and it's not
just an older person's affliction. It's, uh, it's, uh, can

(01:05:06):
affect Australians of all ages. So, um, Condon's Health Australia
looks at, um, young children and getting into teenagers and
adults and then of course older Australians as well. So
we're a very busy progressive Organization.

S2 (01:05:23):
And putting the word health into it is kind of
got a nice positive connotation to it.

S14 (01:05:28):
Yeah it does. Um, and we put a lot of
thought into that. Um, so, you know, I think one
of the, uh, one of the main stories is that
if you get the right advice, continence is manageable and
in some cases curable. And I suppose that's that's the
reason for continence. Health Australia's operations is is getting out

(01:05:51):
and letting Australians know that we exist. And if you
come and talk to us, we might actually be able
to help you improve your situation and your quality of life.

S2 (01:06:00):
Often we talk about early intervention being important. I guess
it's kind of, uh, equally important if for quality of life,
if you're kind of getting attention, getting support early, then
you might not have to be putting up with stuff
that otherwise you might be putting up with.

S14 (01:06:13):
Yeah. It's a it's an interesting question, Peter, is if
if you're new to the sector, you might look at
it and say, well that's something that affects older Australians.
but we've been doing a lot of work internally on
younger children in particular, and if we can get in
and get really good advice for parents with their young

(01:06:34):
children and you can address their continence issues early, they
don't carry those problems through their embarrassing teenage years and
into early adulthood. And it does not just improve their lives,
but it really cuts down on the management and the
costs required later on in their life.

S2 (01:06:52):
If you're talking about kind of, you know, being sort
of more accepted, sort of being, you know, part of
the crowd a bit easier rather than feeling isolated.

S14 (01:07:01):
Yes, yes, yes. It's about well, for particularly for younger Australians, um,
they don't like being singled out do they. And uh,
and so if we can make their lives more manageable
with proper assessment about what's going on. Um, yeah, it
definitely makes things a lot easier for them to mix

(01:07:22):
with their peers. And, you know, we don't want people
with continence issues being isolated at home, which leads to
all sorts of other problems. So yeah, I think by
addressing the continence, you're enabling them to get out and
really enjoy life.

S2 (01:07:38):
I guess by the nature of the condition in quotes,
it's probably something difficult to raise with your doctor or
even with your, you know, close friends, etc. is that
kind of one of the challenges that you face?

S14 (01:07:49):
You should be on our strategic planning team. Peter who
we've just I've just led a discussion this morning on
this exact topic, and we like to use the words
that we'd like to normalise the conversations within households about
continence issues and then not be embarrassed to go to

(01:08:12):
your doctor and say, look, I've got an issue, and
then start the process to work it out. So in
the old days, we might have used the word, you know,
reducing the stigma. I think our more modern approach is
that we'd like to normalise it so that it's not
awkward or embarrassing, kicking off or initiating the process to

(01:08:32):
to get it sorted.

S2 (01:08:33):
And probably, I mean, not probably, I'm sure easier said
than done.

S14 (01:08:37):
Yeah, that's a long term task for us. And the
question is how do you how do we go about
normalizing it? Well, one of the big things that we do,
we're a very, um, uh, scientific organization. So we've got
a lot of across our team of staff, we've got
a lot of very highly qualified medical experts who are
our staff and also our board members. But then the

(01:09:00):
big question is, how do we publicize our knowledge and
our help? And so communications is a really big part
of what we're doing. And I think how to remove
or to normalize the conversation is we just need to
start talking about it more often. So we're a big
user of social media in particular. And I think we
need to we're determined to actually step up the discussion

(01:09:24):
across Australia so that we start to tell people it's
it's normal and it's okay to talk about it.

S2 (01:09:31):
You've talked about the professionals that are involved. What about
the kind of consumer or those with lived experience?

S14 (01:09:37):
Yeah, we do a lot of this is a theme
in in the health promotion industry, as you know, is
that the importance of actually getting consumers involved, who particularly
have been in these situations and make sure they're part
of our operations and we deliver our information and our services,
taking all of their advice into account. So the so-called

(01:10:00):
lived experience is incredibly important. It's integrated into what we do.
And it's I mean, it's a modern approach to health
management across all sorts of situations, but very, very important, Peter,
to to integrate the lived experience into what we do.

S2 (01:10:19):
We go around Australia on the Vision Australia radio network.
What about for people who are kind of not in
the metropolitan area? We're very city centric sort of country.
You know, there will be people that would be, you know,
needing support in this area who are not in the city.
So how do you go about getting messages to them?
And indeed, I guess having professionals in those areas that
can help as well.

S14 (01:10:39):
Yeah. Again, you must have been listening this morning, Peter,
but the way that we get out to regional parts
of Australia is, first of all, it's a big issue
because it doesn't really matter where you're located in Australia,
if your child or if your elderly spouse is in trouble,
or if you're a young mum and you've had a

(01:11:00):
baby recently, so-called postpartum mothers, and you live remotely a
long way from a centre, your first question is, what
do I do? One of the biggest services we provide
is we've got a telephone line and the National Continence Helpline.
It's called and the number's on our website which is continence.org. Oh. But, um,

(01:11:24):
our telephone line is available. It's staffed with lots of
very experienced nurses and other experts. And if your regional
the calls are taken from all around Australia. And that's
a really good starting point if you work remotely. Um,
the nurses and other experts who man our telephone lines,

(01:11:45):
I've been speaking to them in the last couple of weeks,
and more than half of them are located regionally around Australia,
so we've got them in far Western Australia, not in
the capital cities. We've got them up in Queensland where
we've been experiencing the cyclone recently, uh, New South Wales,
Far East Gippsland in Victoria. So they're very alive to

(01:12:07):
the regional issues because they live regionally and then, but
their nurses and and medical experts first. So it's a
really good starting point if your regional is to get
on to the National Continence helpline, it's free and really importantly,
it's confidential. But they're the best in terms of pointing

(01:12:28):
our consumers in the right direction to start getting help.
And there are there are regional services and but it's
important to be pointed to them.

S2 (01:12:37):
The confidentiality would be very important as well, because it's
probably something that, you know, you don't necessarily want to
be broadcasting to the world.

S14 (01:12:43):
Well, not until when we look back in 5 or
10 years, hopefully, if we've been successful and we've normalised it.
But you're right, at the moment we are also focusing
on groups that need more attention. So First Nations peoples
and people from culturally and language, um, diverse groups. Um,

(01:13:06):
it's important for us to actually also talk to them
because there sometimes might be cultural issues. That means it's
doubly awkward for them to raise this as an issue.
So we need to be alive to all of those sensitivities.

S2 (01:13:20):
Yeah, we're out of time for this time, but I
think we might have to get you back. We've got
your details, so I think we'll have to get you
back to chat in the future, because there's so much
more we would have covered. In the meantime, where do
we start if we'd like to get in touch or
find out more, or even kind of in our own time,
how can we kind of find out more? You got
a website as you touched on?

S14 (01:13:38):
Yeah, yeah, I've mentioned the website which is continence.org dot you.
And then the we're very active on Instagram and Facebook.
So if that's your thing go and have a look there.
And then if you actually need help the National Continence
Helpline is a really good start there. It's 1800 330 066.

S2 (01:14:01):
Well that's pretty easy to remember one 800, double three,
double zero, double six. Jim we will put that information
up with our show notes. So if people have missed
that they can go there and check it out. Again,
thanks so much for your time. We wish you well
and thanks for speaking to us.

S14 (01:14:15):
My pleasure Peter. Thank you.

S2 (01:14:16):
That's Jim Cooper. Jim is the CEO for Continence Health
Australia and thanks today. But obviously their services, as important
as they are a great team is trying to normalize
it and we wish them well with their work. And
I'm sure we'll speak to Jim in the future. Let's
meet Sarah Richardson, who's a pioneer in the area of
telehealth and particularly in the area of mental health. Sarah

(01:14:39):
is with the health right. Sarah. Great to meet you.
Thank you for your time.

S15 (01:14:42):
Thank you very much.

S2 (01:14:43):
What set you on this path?

S15 (01:14:45):
Yeah. Look, I predominantly my my career was in general practice,
mainly in rural medicine. And I really saw that need for,
you know, providing those services that don't get out to
the bush very much. So it was about how can
we actually service the bush a bit more effectively and efficiently?
And that's really where I went down that telehealth path,
really trying to help those people out there in rural
locations that don't get services like we do in the city.

S2 (01:15:06):
So, so demand and trying try to kind of fill
that demand.

S15 (01:15:09):
Yeah, absolutely. Demand. And just it also just gives them
a little bit more of an opportunity and around different
clinicians rather than just being, you know, whoever comes to
the town, that's who you have to see. So giving
them those opportunities around who they wanted to see was
a really big important thing as well.

S2 (01:15:23):
What about logistically, Sarah, how difficult was it to set up?
Because I guess you can have a good idea, but
then you've got to kind of consider all the nuts
and bolts and all the stuff that goes to make
it happen.

S15 (01:15:32):
Yeah. Look, in the very early days of telehealth, it
was difficult to set up. There was a lot of negative, um,
sort of thoughts around telehealth and how productive and effective
telehealth was. But as we've sort of gone through many things,
Covid being one, telehealth is a much easier platform now
to really push and promote from from a telehealth perspective.
And there's a lot of really good systems and processes

(01:15:53):
out there to really help users. So look at the moment,
it's quite, quite good and quite simple. But in the very,
very early days, like back ten, sort of 15 years ago,
it was certainly a challenge to make sure that we
navigated the security and also built the confidence of the
clients using telehealth.

S2 (01:16:08):
That's a great point. I haven't thought much about security,
but it was probably more important than ever in a sense,
isn't it, in terms of stuff that can go wrong?

S15 (01:16:14):
Yeah. Look, 100%, I think, you know, all of the
systems that we have in place is at the highest
security level that we possibly can, which has all been
completely audited as well off the back of our status
of being accredited. But that's really important. I think people
sort of look at the whole virtual aspect and go, well,
can they see this? Can they see that? And it's
all very strictly confidential and, um, completely secure from that perspective.

(01:16:37):
Everybody receives very individual meeting room links to the actual clinician.
So there's no way that a client can step in
to your consultation with your client. With your clinician.

S2 (01:16:48):
No crossed lines here.

S15 (01:16:49):
No.

S2 (01:16:51):
What about in terms of I guess Covid, did that
kind of mainstream, this kind of approach, if I can
put it that way.

S15 (01:16:56):
Look, to a degree, to a degree it has, but
there still is a little bit of perception out there
that telehealth can't provide as effective, um, you know, health
care to face to face. But when it comes to
mental health in particular, there is no difference. When you're
when you're dealing with mental health, you don't have to
physically touch somebody to be able to help them with treatment.
It's more about having that connection. So as long as

(01:17:18):
you have a good visual connection and a good internet basis,
then you can really connect with that person through video.
And I think also given that there is that stigma
around mental health, people feel more comfortable doing it from
from an environment where they are comfortable, like their own home.
Or we have clients that maybe go out to a
park and sort of sit under a tree and do
it within a park. So wherever they feel comfortable, then

(01:17:39):
they can actually open up and talk about their mental
health concerns.

S2 (01:17:42):
Okay, this is probably more a parrot question than a
question around even understanding what I'm talking about, but can
I kind of play a role in this, particularly going forward?

S15 (01:17:52):
In some cases, AI has its place. Yes, we certainly
use AI for some of our psychiatry offerings to help
us write our extensive reports, but the actual treatments and
the actual consultation with the patients or with the clients
is certainly not AI driven. That's still driven by our clinicians.
I'm not sure that AI is at a point where

(01:18:12):
it can really sufficiently help treat and understand somebody's mental
health conditions at the moment. There's certainly areas where it
can navigate and help you sort of navigate those areas.
But I think when it comes to solid treatment and
solid effectiveness, I think that that connection with the clinician
is still really important.

S2 (01:18:29):
Yeah, that makes good sense. As you say, maybe if
it's to kind of make the note writing a little
bit easier kind of one thing, but actually the actual
treatment of the individual, it's probably somewhere it's probably a
good thing because I mean, I think we want that
kind of human empathy, don't we?

S15 (01:18:45):
Surely we do. I think, you know, again, connection with
with people is incredibly important for for our mental health, wellbeing.
So I think if you're just connecting via AI that
that's not good. If you think about young people today,
they're on their phones and, you know, on social media
way too much. And that causes a lot of mental
health problems. So having that connection with an actual person
is incredibly important to make sure that they're, you know,

(01:19:06):
driving that. I also can't read facial expressions or watch
what you're doing with your eyes or how you might
be looking. So they're not going to pick up on
those facial cues that somebody will from a face to
face perspective.

S2 (01:19:17):
I guess maybe more in the old days, if you like.
You used to see your family, GP and your family
saw him, and probably your parents saw him and your
kids see him and so on and so forth. What
about in terms of the way Healthright works in kind
of establishing a relationship with your practitioner?

S10 (01:19:32):
Yeah.

S15 (01:19:32):
So continuity of care is incredibly important for us at
health Rights. We're not the sort of organization that you
come in. You see John Smith one day and then
the next week you see, you know, Mary Smith. That's
not how we operate at all. It's very much about
getting that established relationship. So the first sort of normally
a couple of sessions is where you start to develop
and understand each other from a clinical and a client perspective. Obviously,

(01:19:53):
there's going to be times where the client doesn't feel
comfortable or they feel that it's not a good match,
and we can help them navigate and find that that
appropriate psychologist for them as well. Through our systems, you
can go in and sort of have a look at
all of the profile of our clinicians and look at
when they're available, and try and match up what you
think is going to be the best fit for you,
and then sort of go down that path and journey.

(01:20:13):
But we do try and make it as as easy
and as seamless as we possibly can.

S2 (01:20:17):
And if it doesn't kind of work, if there's not
kind of understanding what I'm getting at, I can kind
of say, look, thanks, Sarah, but can we try, you know,
go to another practitioner?

S15 (01:20:27):
Absolutely. Yeah. So you can certainly reach out to us
and exactly say that Sarah is not really helping me
with the direction I need to go. I really feel
that I need someone with, you know, X, Y, and
Z type of skills and treatment options, and then we
will help them navigate through to that. Absolutely.

S10 (01:20:41):
So I guess that's.

S2 (01:20:41):
Kind of, you know, that that's part of life, isn't it?
You're not necessarily going to click with with everyone you meet.

S15 (01:20:46):
No, no, this is exactly right. So it's really important
that you've got that flexibility to try and find that
that that right person that's going to help you in
that pathway. Because unfortunately, if you had the wrong person
and you sort of stick with them, it's not going
to help your mental health and your mental health will
get worse over time.

S2 (01:21:00):
What about in terms of kind of referrals? Or how
do people get to see you or your your team?

S10 (01:21:06):
Yeah.

S15 (01:21:06):
So we still need a mental health treatment plan and
or referral. We need that more so that so that
you can actually obtain obviously bulk billing through our bulk
billing brand and or rebates through our premium brand. So
that's really important. We do have GPS available through our
service as well. If you're unable to get into your
regular GP or don't have a regular GP, which is

(01:21:27):
fairly common these days, so we have GPS available that
can help you navigate the complexities of getting those treatment plans,
to make sure that you can then still receive the
service that you need from a mental health perspective.

S10 (01:21:38):
That we should get to because.

S2 (01:21:39):
There that that sort of GP or that, uh, care plan,
that treatment plan and the kind of role Medicare can play,
that's probably something that has become more prominent since Covid.

S10 (01:21:51):
Yeah.

S15 (01:21:51):
Look, definitely like mental health treatment plans have always been
in place, even even prior to Covid. Um, but certainly
the push now to make sure it's gone from like
sort of ten sessions to 20 sessions during Covid and
back to ten sessions. So it's really important that we
have those mechanisms in place. And we actually can't submit
anything to Medicare without a GP registering that first initial

(01:22:11):
mental health treatment plan. So that's a really crucial part
of the start of your journey for mental health sort
of fix.

S2 (01:22:17):
And you quote unquote specialise in any particular area of
mental health.

S15 (01:22:20):
Not really specialised. We have, you know, over 356 clinicians
that work across our network. So I feel that we
are able to really, um, look at most concerns from
a mental health perspective. Certainly, you know, anxiety and depression
and stress. They're areas that most psychologists really specialise in.
But we do have a couple of niches around relationship

(01:22:41):
counselling as well that we that we do specialise in
and we do provide support. When you're going through a
worker's compensation, which is always a difficult challenge as well.
So we do have some niche areas that we can
help you navigate.

S2 (01:22:52):
How do you think you're going as far as what
you sort of set out to do originally, and how
it sort of turning out. I guess you can have ideas,
but it's kind of a a live document, if I
can put it that way or live projects, it probably
changes as it goes along, and maybe you go in
different directions that you not necessarily foresaw.

S15 (01:23:08):
Yeah. Look, definitely, you know, since since I've been the
CEO of Hillsboro, I've made a few changes, which is
really having quite a positive trajectory, really cementing that we
have our our really premium bulk billing brand, which I
think is really, really important for clients to, to to
make sure that there's no barriers to access. So that
that's going really beautifully. We have our more premium service

(01:23:28):
around our relationship counselling and our workers compensation as well.
So cementing those brands and the delineation between those brands
has been incredibly important to make sure that clients understand
where they need to go and how they navigate between
all of these. So, you know, look, we feel we're
heading in the right direction, and we certainly service a
lot of clients every week and receive positive feedback from

(01:23:49):
those clients that's helping on their mental health journey. We
also track the clinical outcomes of our clients as well
through our clinicians to make sure that what they're. Actually
receiving is actually helping them on that journey as well.
So so far. Positive trajectory, which is great. But we're
certainly here to help as many. Australians with their mental
health as we possibly can.

S2 (01:24:06):
We hear about the health system being under a lot
of pressure. What about in terms of either recruiting or
maintaining your staff, or indeed, do you have sort of
an oversupply, if I can put it that way. Are
there opportunities in the sort of area for people who
are looking to to work in this area?

S15 (01:24:22):
Yeah. Look, I wouldn't say we have an oversupply in psychologists.
I feel that we have an adequate number of psychologists.
But certainly, you know, again, we are wanting to grow
to to be able to serve as, as many Australians
as we possibly can. So certainly willing to take on
more psychiatrists, sorry, psychologists. Where it does become a little
bit more challenging is in the psychiatry space. It's very
hard to find psychiatrists sometimes. So certainly if there are

(01:24:44):
psychiatrists out there that want to step out of, I suppose,
what they're currently doing, and trial telehealth in more of
a private capacity, we are more than willing to take
on more psychiatrists, and that's probably one of the biggest
barriers at the moment, is that just purely isn't enough
psychiatrists out there in the mental health world, and that's
where one of the biggest barriers are. So for not
just us, but for everywhere.

S2 (01:25:03):
Would that be fair to say, you know, a bit
of a shortage of psychiatrists at a time that they're
probably needed most?

S15 (01:25:08):
Yeah. Look, yes, I think also if we can put
better early prevention methods in place again, while we are
really pushing that bulk billing. So if we can get
to clients in a much earlier state before they escalate
so far that they need specialist support, I think that's where,
you know, government and sort of other agencies need to
put a lot of effort into early prevention or early intervention,

(01:25:31):
and at the moment we do a little bit of that,
but I don't think we promote it well enough to really,
really break down those barriers and really break down those
stigmas attached to mental health. So I think if we
could do that better, then potentially we can ease the
burden a little bit. On the need for so many
psychiatrists from from an early intervention perspective.

S2 (01:25:48):
It's almost a form of preventative medicine in a sense.

S15 (01:25:50):
100%, 100% and we don't we don't do that well enough.

S2 (01:25:53):
No, probably a lot of doctors would probably argue that.
Hopefully that gets better as we become more aware of it.
And I guess people kind of become maybe more accepting
of it. If people want to find out more about Healthpartners,
it's a great name, isn't it? Health, right?

S15 (01:26:06):
Like it is.

S2 (01:26:07):
Says it all, doesn't it?

S15 (01:26:08):
It certainly does. It certainly does. You can certainly go
into our website like Health Bright. Com.au and that lists
all of our brands there for you to have a
look at. And you can reach out to our team
and we can help you navigate through your mental health journey.

S2 (01:26:18):
Sure. It's been great talking to you. Thank you for
your time.

S15 (01:26:20):
Thank you.

S2 (01:26:21):
That's Arthur Richardson, who's the CEO for Rothbart. And as always,
all those details are for our show notes. Just a
late night through from Julie Anne Bell, who says the
only place she forgot to mention was Cowra. So if
you live in Cowra or know someone that does and
would like to go and see Perfectly Imperfect with Melissa

(01:26:43):
and Julianne, get in touch or consult our Facebook page
or consult our show notes or the information is there.
Speak about an attainment club. Cool. Tomorrow at the gov.
The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel 10:30. Doors open through to about 2:30. Entertainment. Music. Food. Dancing.
Great company. If you want more details, get in touch

(01:27:05):
with Amber Kyprianou. 04088486490408848649 club cool at the gov. Tomorrow.
Just a quick note, a bit of a note to
the Minister for energy, Chris Bowen federally, and Tom Koutsantonis
locally here in South Australia. Talk about the pending price

(01:27:28):
rises for power. They say shop around. Easy for them
to say. Not so easy for some of us to do.
So just thought I'd point that out. A couple of
quotes before we go. Terry has sent to quite through
talking about a new word that's being used these days
called frenemies. A bit of a combination between friends and enemies. Frenemies,

(01:27:50):
I think. Sorry for that. His quote is never interrupt
your enemy when they're making mistakes, and Chris sends his
quite through a bit of a dark one from Chris.
He says the powerful will do what the powerful will
do while the weak will suffer. So thanks, Chris for
sending that through. Some birthdays. Before we go, Amy Winters

(01:28:12):
having a birthday dominated in Atlanta and also in Sydney
on the track. Happy birthday Amy. Also, Jason Leeson having
a birthday did so well in Paris and the sport
of boccia. We also say a very happy birthday to
Eliza Wooden, coach of the South Australian women's team for
the Oliver Birch Championships. Happy birthday to you Eliza and
Lily Durkin having a birthday from JFA. Purple orange A fine,

(01:28:36):
fine advocate. A very happy birthday to you, Lily Durkin.
Thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate
your company. If you like the program or even if
you don't like the program, If you'd like to become
a fledgling town crier and spread the word about the show,
we'd really love that. Sam. Rick, thanks so much for
your help. Pam Green, thanks so much for yours. Reminding

(01:28:58):
you that Leslie is available on that favorite podcast platform
of yours. If you're listening through 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide,
coming up very soon is your favorite Vicki Cousins with
Australian Geographic. In the meantime, be kind to yourselves, be
thoughtful and look out for others. All being well, let's

(01:29:18):
link back at the same time next week on Vision
Australia Radio. This is leisure link.

S16 (01:29:26):
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo doo.

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