29 Nov 2025

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:25):
It's just gone 5:00 and the lights might have gone
out in Parliament House in Canberra this week, but the
lights and the microphones are on for leisure. Link here
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(00:47):
podcast or streaming service. Also find us if you're listening
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you're listening around Australia on the Reading Radio Network. A
big hello to you and a big hello and a
big thank you to Disability Media Australia for their tremendous support.
You can find out much more about them including leisure

(01:09):
link at media p o P.O.W. media. Peter Greco saying,
thank you so much for making time to tune in
this program coming to you from Ghana land. Come to
you very shortly. We'll speak to Courtney Warwick just stepped
off the plane after going to the first World Cup
ever for women's blind cricket. Courtney, as our captain, will

(01:31):
speak to Jaylen Brown about wheelchair basketball just back from
qualifying for the World Championships next year. Jaylen is a
member of the rollers MVP at this tournament. Rice and
Martin will join us at a goalball tournament at a
goalball camp, hopefully getting ready for 2028 and beyond and more.
Alison Davies, our music therapist, will join us, will talk

(01:53):
about managing stress and how music can help. Also catch
up with Michelle Murphy doing some excellent work in the
community in Bendigo. Thanks to some wonderful support. We'll find
out about that or catch up with Timothy and also
Tristan Kenyon or Sam Rickard will Well, anyway, they're going
to tell us about a film that's being launched this
week called Changing Track, featuring Paralympic cyclists. We'll have yoga

(02:18):
on the radio with Rebecca Brice and Adjunct Professor Denise
Wood will join us. All the latest news in technology
and accessibility. Let's welcome home the Australian women's blind cricket team,
back from the first ever World Cup for blind cricket.
Let's speak to our captain, Courtney. Courtney, welcome and thanks

(02:41):
so much for your time.

S2 (02:42):
Thank you so much for having me.

S1 (02:43):
What's it like being home after a couple of hectic
weeks as your head stops spinning?

S2 (02:48):
Yeah, it's great to be home. Um, got back Tuesday night, um,
late back into Gloucester. So. Yeah, it's really great to
be home and back to training this week after training. Yeah.

S1 (02:58):
Haven't you heard about some having some time off recovery?

S2 (03:01):
Yeah. Uh, well, we landed. It was about six weeks
until NCIC. So. Yeah, the recovery comes with training pretty well.

S1 (03:09):
What a professional athlete you are. That's fantastic. Well, tell
us about the tournament overall. Um, Australia made the semis
and and see that we're talking about semi-final in a moment.
But the uh, the sort of lead up, the minor
round games etc.. How were they. How do you think
Australia performed?

S2 (03:24):
Yeah, it was great. I think the the sport Australia's
in to start. Have a program that started two years
ago for the first development camp in Adelaide and, and
then playing a World Cup um on the subcontinent was
was incredible. To play in three different cities was was
amazing to start in Delhi against India played probably in
one of the loudest crowds and environments any player had experienced.

(03:46):
And then once we hit Sri Lanka to win our
first game there against Sri Lanka, I think we chased
down 70 runs in four overs. So it was probably
one of the highlights that that Sri Lankan game in
the first win of a World Cup for Australia.

S1 (04:00):
What was the Sri Lankan crowd like? Because I guess
we all know about the Indian crowd. What about the
Sri Lankans? Because, uh, I guess team wise, they probably
didn't perform that well. What about in terms of the
the country getting behind them and the support that they got?

S2 (04:12):
Yeah, the support that we had through through the whole
tour was incredible. I think there was this little crowd.
You probably don't take too much notice of it. And
that first game, you we really probably immersed ourselves in
in the experience. Um, playing India and India, um, a
lot of cricketers talk about it, and it was great
to be a part of that. And then to, to
have that second half of the Sri Lankan swing was,

(04:34):
was really good as well.

S1 (04:35):
You've played a bit of gold ball, haven't you.

S2 (04:37):
No, I haven't played goalball.

S1 (04:38):
Okay. You haven't played goalball because of course in goalball
the crowd's got to be really quiet. That doesn't work
at the cricket.

S2 (04:45):
No it doesn't. Um, there was definitely a lot in
that Indian game. It was quite loud. Um, to field
on the boundary. It was was tough conditions, but we
all learned to adapt pretty quickly. And that was the
main part. And then yeah, same with the the batting innings.
It it kind of changed. The crowd was quiet and yeah.
Got to go out there for the second innings.

S1 (05:05):
What about the, uh, the captaincy role? I know you've
done it before, but, uh, big tournament like this, and,
you know, the sort of extra pressure, if you like.

S2 (05:12):
Yeah. The captaincy role was amazing, had a great leadership team.
And then yeah, it's amazing to go out there and
see the girls go out and achieve what they want
to want to achieve and and meet their goals and expectations,
and to play that supporting role and see it all
fall into place is amazing.

S1 (05:29):
As you said, we beat Sri Lanka, got beaten by
you in the first game, then we had a washout
game as well.

S2 (05:34):
Yeah, we got washed out, um, against the US which
was probably not, not ideal. Um, would have been nice
to go out there. We, I think needed 2 or
3 runs off five overs if the, the rain held off,
but oh gosh. Um, it is what it is at
the end of the day. We then had to just
come back and play a better game the next day
against Pakistan. That was whether we finished third or fourth

(05:55):
in the in the ladder.

S1 (05:56):
And we won that, didn't we?

S2 (05:58):
We went down to Pakistan, so then we finished fourth
to play India in the semis. Yeah.

S1 (06:03):
So I guess we got the the tough draw as
far as the, the semis went.

S2 (06:06):
Yeah. Uh, I think any team that we played in
the semis was a tough draw. And probably they went
undefeated across all seven of their matches. But yeah, I
think the the game we put up and played in
that semifinal was was a cricket that Australia plays best.
Um we had a great bowling and fielding innings in
that second second innings there. So that's what the the
momentum and the stuff will carry into the next tour.

S1 (06:28):
What about that guy I mean tell us about it.
And the scores in particular. I mean you know, I
think without putting it too crudely, we gave India a
real scare didn't we.

S2 (06:37):
Yeah I think we went out there and batted well.
They probably didn't come out scoring as many runs as
I thought they would have early on. And it was, oh,
who do we bowl or what? What aspect do we
take into that second innings. But yeah, we got a
Courtney Lewis got a run out there and yeah really
carried the momentum in. And then. Yeah.

S1 (06:55):
Because uh, just just give us the scores in that
game because as I said, we uh, we really pushed
India all the way. Why would it be fair to
say that was probably the game they were pushed in
the most for the whole tournament?

S2 (07:05):
Yeah, I think that that was all their games were
probably much and much across the tournament. But yeah, we
put up a good fight. I think we're around 112,
115 runs, um, on our batting innings. And then they
chased it down I think 1313 overs, which I guess
the the game we looked at and watched the next
day was the final and Nepal scored another five runs

(07:26):
in US and India chased it down in pretty well
the same time. So I think looking at that and
comparing those two, we had a really close game with
Nepal earlier in the series. So yeah, I think you
play each other in the next few few years. The
games will be really close.

S1 (07:39):
What about in terms of the travellers? You said you
played in three different cities. He also played in India
and Sri Lanka. I want to come to that in
a second, if I may. But what was that like? Because,
I mean, you're kind of, you know, don't really get
a chance to settle.

S2 (07:51):
Do you know, it was it was full on. We
finished our game against India in Delhi and we literally
ran off the field to catch our flight that night.
A few hours later it was very touch and go.
I guess high stress levels, they say. And then, yeah,
there was a we had a few days off at
the start, which went to the Taj Mahal and did
some team team activities, and then we had a few
days off between our last group match and the semifinals.

(08:14):
So it was really great to then I guess it's
as much downtime as you can get in Colombo. We
had a rooftop pool that we we got to do
recovery and hang out in, and then yeah, we went
to the elephants at the end of it. And yeah,
it was great to have I guess those small bits
of downtime, but it was definitely full on the the
2 or 3 weeks we were away.

S1 (08:33):
So how do you kind of rate that as a
life experience? I mean, there'd be a lot of people
that wouldn't get a chance to do maybe half of
the stuff that you've done in the last two weeks.
Plus you've played in a World Cup.

S2 (08:42):
Yeah, definitely. It probably hasn't quite sunk in yet, to
be honest with you. It's like you look back through
photos now and you're like, oh, wow. It's it's all
just happened. But yeah, it was amazing to do it
with a group of girls and support staff from Cricket
Australia and BCA that we had was absolutely incredible.

S1 (08:58):
What about as far as, uh, both a couple of
teams that I guess those of us that, you know,
sort of just observed the game think, well, that's interesting. The,
the US and Nepal. Tell us a bit about, uh,
their kind of journey to get here, if you know
much about it, because, I mean, we don't associate cricket
with the US and Nepal. We kind of think, well,
I wonder, you know, how a team would get to

(09:18):
to a World Cup in terms of, I guess, their
economic circumstances?

S2 (09:22):
Yeah. For sure. No. Um, the US are quite a
new team, very loud. Um, so up and about.

S1 (09:28):
Loud on the field.

S2 (09:29):
Yes. Loud on the field. Loud.

S1 (09:30):
Americans, a typical Americans.

S2 (09:32):
Yeah, very much so. They they're up and about, to
say the least. But yeah, it was they've quite a
new team developing their cricket. Um, and then same with
Nepal like they've, they've played a few bilateral series with India.
So they've played a fair bit of cricket. But yeah
both teams have have a lot like a lot of developing. They,
they're all doing across I guess all all countries of

(09:55):
India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan that I guess we played
in April this year, and the cricket they played have
obviously gone home and done a lot of developing and
and training. So yeah, it was great to see. And
I think the, the women's program around the world are
in really great spots coming into the next 12, 18
months and then a World Cup, whenever that's set to be.

S1 (10:15):
Do you get much of a chance to kind of
type into the IP of the other teams and just,
you know, maybe pick up hints and, and I guess
vice versa for them, given we did so well, you
probably getting people asking, you know, what do you do
in Australia and how come it's working for you guys?

S2 (10:29):
Yeah, you definitely um, have the downtime. We we all
stay in the same hotels. You might catch a flight,
you catch the bus to the ground with the other team.
So there's a lot of chatter that goes on. Um,
the girls, you you have friends in each each of
the different teams that you get to have. We have
NJ on our team. So she does a lot of
translating back with the Pakistan girls. So yeah, it's really
great to see what they're doing and what's changed from

(10:51):
them since we last saw them. And yeah I think
the friendships that you make around the world is really incredible.

S1 (10:56):
I'm not sure if you want to touch on this,
but MJ from South Australia played for the Australian team
and couldn't play in India. Do you want to comment
on that or would you rather leave that alone?

S2 (11:05):
Yeah. Um, I think when she she got into Sri Lanka,
she played a really crucial role. She took her, her
one of I think in her first over she took
a wicket from the Sri Lankan team. So yeah, she
played played a great role once she got into the
Aussie squad and yeah come out I think she she
batted number three in that semifinal and and got some
early runs on the board for us.

S1 (11:24):
Yeah. Well you said the NCIC is coming up and
my informants tell me, Courtney, that the NCIC and I
guess the way particularly, uh, Australia sort of handles women's
cricket is probably, you know, something that other teams could
look up to. We we do it pretty well here.
I mean, I guess you're the Australian captain, so you're
probably going to agree with that, but, uh, do you think,

(11:46):
you know, the game's in good hands, the way it's
being administered at the moment?

S2 (11:49):
Yeah. So NCIC will be, um, played out of Perth
this year, not Brisbane in mid January. So quite a
different heat that's going to probably hit no humidity, more
of a dry heat. Um but yeah, a lot of
the girls teams are being selected at the moment. Um
will be playing for their states in mixed teams. So yeah,
it'll be great to I guess you, you play alongside
better players, um, and you get to play better cricket.

(12:12):
So I think to have a week of cricket at
a national level is, is really great. We've probably faced
the the boys are bowling a lot faster than, than
the girls. But yeah I think to face those those
balls and those deliveries and be around a high performance
environment for that week is is great momentum.

S1 (12:29):
We talked a bit about MJ. Is it fair to
single out some other players as far as their performances
during the cup goes?

S2 (12:35):
Yeah, absolutely. I think we in that Pakistan's game at
the end, we had uh Courtney Lewis scoring 95 not out. Um,
the two of us had 100 and something run partnerships.
So I think that was really great. At the end
of that inning, she's taken a lot of wickets. Run outs? Yeah.
Every athlete performed. Performed. Incredible. We had the opening partners

(12:56):
and in million courts again they went out and did
their job. So I think across across the board we
had two two new players get baggy greens, which is
always exciting to to see that progression in new athletes coming,
coming into the team. So I think yeah, across the
whole week, every player played a crucial role and and
did what they've trained to do.

S1 (13:17):
I'm sure there might be other similar stories to this,
but Millie Hart did a year 12 exam on the
Friday morning, and then the Friday afternoon, uh, set off
for the World Cup. I mean, that's commitment to the cause.

S2 (13:28):
Yeah, that's definitely commitment. Um, I'm sure both her and
Adi had a had a lot going on doing their
HSC just before a World Cup. But I think the
dedication they both have, and she landed back into Melbourne
and went to a gold ball development camp and training squad.
So Millie's definitely a busy girl. I'm sure she'll then
back up and play tennis in a couple of weeks

(13:48):
in her home tournament in Adelaide.

S1 (13:51):
And Adelaide, Ryder decided she.

S2 (13:53):
Yeah, she had her HSC. She didn't go to the
goalball camp, but she had HSC the the weeks before.
So I think yeah, both of them are quite relieved
they turned 18. So now they're they finish their HSC
in high school journey. So yeah they're both excited to
have a few weeks off.

S1 (14:07):
And of course we learnt from you almost this time
last year when you won the, uh, Blind Australian of
the year award, that you're doing pretty well away from
sport as well. How's that all going?

S2 (14:16):
Yeah, it's going well. It's probably, I haven't thought probably
that I had that much time to think about anything
else but, but cricket and yeah being around around the
girls this, this past few weeks. But yeah it's it's
been been a busy year. It's been incredible. I think
it's the World Cup's come, come a long way. You,
you think about it all year and then it just happens.
So yeah it's nice to now have probably a few

(14:37):
few days to to think about it and really enjoy
what's just, just happened.

S1 (14:41):
Well I guess reflect on the fact that it was
the first ever I mean, whatever happens in the future.
This was the first ever you captained the first Australian
team to play at the first ever World Cup for
blind cricket. No one can ever take that away with you,
regardless of what happens in the future.

S2 (14:55):
Yeah, 100%. That's what we we talked about the whole
whole weeks over there. We're always like, this is the
first to do it. We're probably never going to play.
Those 14 girls aren't going on a tour again together,
and it's not going to ever be the first time.
So we talked about the vibes being good. I think
the vibes were good from that landing in Melbourne to
when we landed back home. So that's that's what it's

(15:15):
all about.

S1 (15:16):
I don't know if you've got any secrets about getting
a good night's sleep or a good sleep, but you
sound remarkably up and about, and you almost sound like
the American team really fired up. So I don't know
what you do, but well done on that.

S2 (15:28):
Thank you. Yeah. Um, I don't know if I slept great,
but yeah, the the accommodation that we got put in
over in India and Sri Lanka was amazing. So I
think it probably the long flight home was, was rough,
but um, yeah, we're all up and about from, from
the journey we've just been on and I'm I'm sure
we've all all feeling it. We've all probably had some
some nice meals we all talked about with, oh, what's

(15:50):
our first meal back in Australia going to be? I'm
sure a lot of us had steak but yeah, it
was amazing.

S1 (15:55):
Alright, the adrenaline's still pumping I reckon.

S2 (15:57):
Yeah, definitely.

S1 (15:59):
Hey Courtney, great to talk to you. Thank you so
much for making time for us. I said, you know,
I know you've had plenty on and just back. So
thank you for speaking to us. We wish you well
and we'll be talking in sassy in the next few weeks.

S2 (16:09):
Amazing. Thank you so much.

S1 (16:11):
Ethical anywhere back there? Blonde Australian of the year. Last year.
This year the captain of the Australian Blind cricket team
off to the first World Cup and finishing in the
semifinals with a wonderful performance. Well, it's been a tremendous
time for Aussie Rollers, our men's wheelchair basketball team just
back from Thailand with some great news. The MVP Jaylen

(16:33):
Brown joins us. Jaylen great to meet you and thanks
for your time.

S3 (16:35):
Thank you. It's good to be here.

S1 (16:37):
What's it like MVP of a big prestigious tournament like this.

S3 (16:40):
Yeah pretty good I wouldn't have been able to do
it do without the boys though. So yeah, just looking
at it as more of a team result, which was
positive and yeah, move on to the World Cup next year,
which will be good.

S1 (16:52):
Looking like a true team player. Of course these were the, uh,
Oceania Asia qualifiers for the World Cup next year played
in Thailand. Yeah. Tell us about the tournament. We did
pretty well right throughout.

S3 (17:02):
Not too bad. We didn't drop a game, which was good.
So we went undefeated. We had a few close games
against Iran and then in the final against Japan. Yeah,
we dug pretty deep in those games and yeah, come
away with some pretty good wins.

S1 (17:16):
And I believe Japan have really stepped up as far
as their I guess, competitiveness goes.

S3 (17:20):
So this is my first A-Z.

S1 (17:22):
So I've.

S3 (17:22):
Never really seen.

S1 (17:23):
The.

S3 (17:24):
Japanese team before. But yeah, some of the boys were
saying that this year they're a lot stronger than what
they have been in previous years.

S1 (17:31):
I guess that makes the win even more meritorious. Yeah, yeah.
The first time we spoke, it took us a bit
about your career. Just the young man. In fact, you
got a 21st birthday coming up soon, haven't you?

S3 (17:41):
Yeah. 21 in December. But yeah, I've played wheelchair basketball
since I was about seven years old. I started in Queensland,
in Brisbane, and then moved back home to Victoria at
the age of 12 or 13 and kept playing in Victoria,
and then finished high school in 2023 and moved straight
over to Italy. Straight out of high school and did

(18:04):
two professional seasons over there, which was outstanding. It was
an amazing time. And then in Australia I played for
Darwin actually in the National League. Yeah, so play up
there for three months of the year when it's winter.
So yeah, it's pretty good to be up there that
time of year.

S1 (18:20):
And you, you actually uh, played a bit of Aussie
Rules as well because you had an amputation when you
were about two.

S3 (18:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I played footy for a year,
but now my family's really sporty footy, basketball, cricket, everything.
So yeah, I grew up around a lot of different sports,
which was good.

S1 (18:36):
What about the opportunity to go to Italy? And I
think you're off to Turkey as soon as well. How
does all that happen?

S3 (18:41):
It's kind of this like word of mouth people, you know,
different tournaments that you're playing. Coaches from Europe see you
play and but yeah, I've actually just signed a contract
to go play in Turkey with another Australian, Jonti Brown,
who I'm really close with. So it's going to be
a good time.

S1 (18:57):
No relation though.

S3 (18:58):
No, no, no relation.

S1 (19:00):
When you say, you know coaches speak to coaches and
word of mouth etc. but I mean I guess you've
got to have the talent. But what about in terms
of the logistics of it? Do you get paid? Do
you get paid well? Does it cost you money? How
does all that turn out?

S3 (19:12):
You get a wage depending on what club and league
you're in determines your money. There's some clubs out there
that are a bit poorer than other clubs. I don't
pay for anything, but most people don't pay for anything either,
so it's pretty good. It's pretty good setup.

S1 (19:28):
As far as club sport for athletes with disabilities. Wheelchair basketball,
probably the best set up. I mean, I guess you've
got other people that travel internationally, but if you're traveling
and kind of don't have to pay anything out of
your own pocket, that'd be fair. Rare for an athlete
with a disability, wouldn't it?

S3 (19:43):
I think so. I think it's getting better now as
the world goes on. But yeah, basketball set up pretty well.

S1 (19:48):
You've come along at the right time Jalen I know.
What about the Salties. Because of course you took out
the Premiership this year didn't you.

S3 (19:55):
Yeah. So we've won the last 2 or 3 I
think I think three. So yeah going for a fourth
championship this year. Yeah. We've built a pretty good culture
up there which is good. A lot of people want
to come and play for us and with us, which
is even better.

S1 (20:10):
So you grew up in Warrnambool. I said you spent
some time in Queensland. How does it come that you
play for the Darwin Salties? Is there like a draft system?
How does that happen?

S3 (20:18):
No, I just got a message off Tom O'Neill for Monday.
He's the captain of the Salties and I wasn't playing
for anyone at the time. And he was like, oh,
do you want to come and play for us? We're
short on numbers. It was their first season in the
National League and I was like, yeah, sure. And then yeah,
just stayed there ever since.

S1 (20:35):
So good mate of CJ's, no doubt.

S3 (20:37):
Yeah, yeah. And Clarence.

S1 (20:39):
Yeah, he said we spoke to him a few times
on the program. He's certainly a bit of a character
and a bit of a local hero, isn't he?

S3 (20:45):
Yeah he.

S1 (20:45):
Is. He hails from that area, so he's very much
at home, just about growing up at Warrnambool, of course,
a very famous area for, for sports people and horse racing.
You're pretty much into sport.

S3 (20:56):
My uncle is actually Jonathan Brown. Um, so yeah, we,
I know a fair bit about horse racing and footy
and all that kind of stuff through them, but no,
it's a great area to grow up in.

S1 (21:09):
What's it like having an uncle like him? He's a
bit of a character. What's he like as an uncle
compared to a football media character? Uh, are there similarities
or is he a completely different person?

S3 (21:19):
Nah, he's the exact same person. What you see is
what you get with him.

S1 (21:23):
Is he, uh, good for your sporting prowess as well,
in terms of, I guess, training and your attitude, that
sort of thing?

S3 (21:30):
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. He's given me a fair bit of
advice throughout the years, which has been good. And also
mum played WNBA, so I learn a lot off her
as well, just on the professional side of things. So yeah,
I've got some good people around me, which makes it
a lot easier.

S1 (21:45):
Now you went to the Paralympics last year?

S3 (21:47):
Yeah. Went to Paris. Yeah. That was an unreal experience.
Something that I'll never forget and yeah, hopefully go to LA.
But yeah the goals to win, win a medal which
would be great.

S1 (21:56):
I'm just trying to work it out. You're not quite 21.
So you've played in Italy professionally just after high school.
You've been to a Paralympic Games in Paris, you're off
to Turkey. A lot of people at this age wouldn't
have done a quarter of the things that you've done.

S3 (22:09):
Jaylen I've been pretty lucky, actually. Yeah, I'm very grateful
for everything that's come my way in the sport. Kind
of crazy to think about all that kind of stuff
at such a young age.

S1 (22:18):
Probably happening so quickly almost every day sort of flows
into the next.

S3 (22:22):
Yeah. It does, it does.

S1 (22:23):
When does Turkey happen?

S3 (22:25):
So the season's actually already started. They've played two games
so far. Won one, lost one. But we're not required
to be there until June 5th. Okay, so yeah, got
a bit of time before we head off, which is
good here for Christmas and New Year's and birthday, and that.

S1 (22:41):
It's not for me to tell you how to live
your life, but your birthday's on the 22nd. You're 21,
then obviously Christmas Day, then New Year's Eve. What sort
of estate do you think you'll be arriving for? A turkey? Uh.
Basketball season?

S3 (22:53):
Nah, I'll be good. I'll be. I'll be safe.

S1 (22:57):
Fantastic. What about this event in Thailand? Tell us a
bit about that. And I guess its importance and what
it kind of means for the team going forward.

S3 (23:04):
The stepping stone in the right direction for us. We've
proved over the last 2 or 3 years that little
tournaments that don't really matter, that we can be the
best team in the world, and we've been able to
beat the best teams in the world. So for us,
like it was this more of a confidence thing? I
think just for us to keep going and our goal
is to win or medal at the worlds. And yeah,

(23:26):
I think winning that tournament in Thailand, this gives us
so much confidence going into the World Cup that we
have the capabilities to be the best team in the world.

S1 (23:36):
I mean, you talked about Japan and Iran. I guess
there'll be other teams at the World Cup. That'll be
pretty tough to beat as well. I mean, this is
the Oceania Asia tournament, so you've got to have countries
from all around the world.

S3 (23:46):
Yeah. Exactly right.

S1 (23:47):
So the competition will be a bit stiffer.

S3 (23:49):
Yeah, definitely.

S1 (23:50):
Hey, Janet, can you just clarify for me because I
think just before the, uh, the tournament, there was also
the three aside competition with the wombats. How does all
that kind of play out?

S3 (23:59):
I was actually filling in for that. So Jonty Brown
was actually meant to play in it, but his wheelchair
got left in Sydney by the airline. Yeah. So I
just had to fill in. Yeah. I don't know too
much about the three on three. That was the first
time that I'd ever played it, but no, it was
a lot of fun.

S1 (24:15):
Does it take much adjusting in terms of, you know,
how the game's played and your role within the team,
especially kind of coming in at the last minute?

S3 (24:22):
Not really. Like, it's a lot quicker than five on five,
but no, the game's pretty similar. Like there's not too
many differences. It's just not full court. The only major
difference that I found is the ball, because the ball's there.
It's the weight of a size seven but the size
of a size six.

S1 (24:40):
Okay.

S3 (24:41):
It felt weird shooting from outside with that ball. I
was like, oh no.

S1 (24:45):
Harder or easier or just different.

S3 (24:47):
Just different. There was no I don't know how to
describe it. It was weird.

S1 (24:51):
Now the wombats did okay, didn't we? And we got
a team in the men's and the women's. Is that right? Yeah.
And both teams did well.

S3 (24:57):
Yeah, they both won.

S1 (24:58):
Yeah, yeah. So what does that mean for that going forward?
I mean we talked about the rollers qualifying for the
world champs. But what about the wombats. Was that kind
of a bit of a one off or did they
progress from here or.

S3 (25:08):
It was a qualifier for the Commonwealth Games.

S1 (25:12):
Okay. Now see India's put their hand up for the
2030 Commonwealth Games. So looks like the Commonwealth Games will
be around for a bit longer yet. So are you
kind of out of the running for that wombats team then,
given the fact that you were a late fill in or.

S3 (25:25):
I'm actually not sure. I don't. I don't think so.

S1 (25:28):
Okay. Got other fish to fry?

S3 (25:30):
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right.

S1 (25:32):
And just before you leave us, we spoke to some
of the gliders before they left, so they didn't quite
qualify for the world champs. Is that right?

S3 (25:39):
They have to go to the Repecharge a second chance tournament.
But I think they're. I think there's only eight teams
from around the world that go. And then the top
four teams from that fill the last four spots for
the World Cup. Men and women.

S1 (25:54):
Okay, so I've still got a chance, but well, kind
of a second chance. But the men are already there.
You've got your ticket.

S3 (25:59):
Yeah, yeah. Got our ticket. Yeah.

S1 (26:01):
Terrific. Hey, John, I know you got plenty on. Thanks
for speaking to us. Congratulations. It's a great thing. As
I say, uh, not quite 21. And so much achieved
already with an enormous career ahead of you. Thanks for
speaking to us. Happy birthday, merry Christmas. Happy new year
and enjoy Turkey.

S3 (26:15):
Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it.

S1 (26:18):
Jaylen Brown they're obviously steeped in tradition as far as
sport goes. And also just back from Thailand qualifying for
the World Championships for wheelchair basketball. Jalen is a member
of the rollers. Let's talk goalball and there's a big
campaign at the moment in Melbourne. Yeah, they sure have.
Olympic goalball writer Martin Rice. Great to catch up. Thanks

(26:40):
for your time.

S4 (26:41):
Absolutely lovely to hear from you, Peter. Good to share
all about this camp.

S1 (26:44):
What's happening? Why why is it happening and where's it
happening and what's happening?

S4 (26:48):
So we we have a joint training camp with the
A team from South Korea. Club teams, both men's and
women's squads are present within both of the teams that
have come over from South Korea. So it's a three
and a half day training camp done at the Hangar
in Melbourne. So Essendon Bombers Hangar is a regular training
facility for both the Aussie Belles and the Aussie Storm.

(27:09):
So it's just a good opportunity to share some of
our techniques and tricks and things with both South Korea,
but also learn from them.

S1 (27:16):
I was going to say why South Korea had they
invited themselves or we invited them. How's that all happened?

S4 (27:21):
They actually reached out. so they reached out to ask
if we would be interested in, you know, sharing a
joint training camp. And they're the first team to have
actually made their way down since prior to Sydney 2000.
So the first step aside from, you know, New Zealand,
but yeah, no, this is a this is a massive
experience for us. We're very lucky because the women's team,
there's several members who who went to the Paris Paralympic Games.

(27:44):
So they have a lot to offer. And the men's
team just missed out on a qualification spot for Paris. So,
you know, both are very strong in their region. You know,
women just won silver in the regional qualifiers. And the
men were I think fifth. So they did quite well.

S1 (27:57):
That's quite interesting isn't it? Because I mean, one of
the things that we've spoken to about goalball is the
fact that the Europeans in particular, you know, it's only
a little, uh, travelling time and they're in another country,
whereas we're a bit far away.

S4 (28:08):
Absolutely. I don't think with the exception of New Zealand,
the next closest goalball nations are Japan, China and South Korea.
So they are a long way from us and it's
usually a minimum of ten hours flying. So we are
very lucky. I've got about Thailand, but we're lucky that
people have been willing to travel to us, and I
think that they are starting to understand the full scale
of what it is to train in Australia, and the

(28:29):
difficulties we have in actually getting overseas to competition.

S1 (28:32):
A lot of travelling time and of course a lot
of costs.

S4 (28:34):
Yeah, it's always quite expensive for us to travel overseas.
So we're very lucky that this camp is somewhat funded
and obviously we didn't have to travel very far from
our home ports. Yeah. So we're lucky.

S1 (28:44):
Yeah. So what goes on in a camp like this?
You said the South Koreans are here to kind of
maybe impart a bit of knowledge and maybe, you know,
share a bit with us. So what kind of happens
in terms of the kind of logistics of the three
and a half days?

S4 (28:56):
Yeah. So a lot of our sessions have been shared.
So men's and women's on court with like these four
men up to six minute blocks. So there's a lot
of downtime where you're just observing, which is quite good
because you get an opportunity to actually pick up some
techniques visually if you're able to. And you can listen
to the style of play that is in progress. And
each day we've had a training game, as in we've

(29:18):
we've played a game of goalball to gain some skills
in a more game like setting, and we have some
cross training where we might do mixed teams games or
we might, you know, do some training drills together where
we Australia sets the drill or Korea sets the drill.
So it's it's nice to just be quite cohesive and
share a lot more of our time together.

S1 (29:36):
What about as far as the benefits then? I mean,
I know maybe it's early on, but does everyone feel
like they're benefiting?

S4 (29:41):
Yeah, I think so. We offensively both teams are quite
strong at throwing. So we have a lot to offer
from that perspective. You know everyone is quite challenged and
they definitely are challenging our defense. We've got a young
team that's building towards LA and Brisbane 2032. So there
were a lot of people who retired after Trachea. We
are now well and truly within our development phase and

(30:03):
we're heading towards becoming those podium potential athletes. But as
a team we've been on the build. But the storm
are now they're riding a wave of success where they've
really improved their rankings in the last 24 to 18 months,
and they've worked hard. So this is just an opportunity
for them to actually demonstrate what they've been able to gain.

S1 (30:21):
I guess if you're looking more long term. Right. So
the fact that we're hosting Brisbane 2032, would we get
automatic selection there for both the men's and women's?

S4 (30:30):
It's generally the case unless the organising committee or the
IPC makes a decision otherwise. But no, we should have
a position in both. We are a competitive global nation
on the stage, so there's no reason to assume that
we wouldn't have a position, given that a team like France,
who didn't have very strong, established global programs before the
ten years before Paris, managed to put together some really

(30:51):
strong teams in the end. So I think with the
right funding and support, which will be key to our success,
we should have a host nation spot.

S1 (30:57):
Fantastic. What about the kind of technique or the parts
of the game we're concentrating most on? You talked about
we're good at throwing. So it's a really important part
is that's something we can obviously want to improve on
every aspect of the game, but is that something to
work on even more? In a sense, yes.

S4 (31:12):
It's a high priority, absolutely. And I think just having
a series of defensive formations and techniques allows for a
team to be able to manage certain play styles, like
whether they be more bouncy or more flat. So we
have worked on having, say, 3 or 4 different formations
to allow us to better develop those skills. Yeah, I mean,
from a throwers perspective, we've still got a long way
to go. There are members of our team who have

(31:33):
quite a strong throw, but there are a lot of
members and I would include myself. I'm building towards something
a lot stronger, so it takes time. This is not
a sport that you pick up and start winning in
18 months. It does take years to build a team.

S1 (31:45):
With about 10,000 hours that we hear about this sport,
isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Is that kind of upper body
strength and I guess a lot more time in the
gym apart from playing volleyball, but that kind of, um,
extra sort of stuff that goes into it.

S4 (31:56):
Yeah, for sure. Each of the teams had an hour
and a half in the gym this morning to do
their weight sessions. You'd be surprised. It's a lot more lower.
And body. Yeah, you need arm strength, but the foundations
are 100% in the legs, so you can't run and
throw if you haven't got strong legs. So it all
actually it comes from the legs.

S1 (32:14):
What about the hanger there? Tell us a bit about
the sort of set up and the facilities that are there.
I guess, understandably, you're being treated like elite athletes, which
you are. So tell us about that sort of setup.

S4 (32:24):
Well, we are elite athletes, and many of us are
quite lucky to be in our power units within our
home states thanks to the uplift funding that's come through from,
you know, federal government. We are being seen and recognized
for our elite athlete status. The hanger has some top
notch facilities. There's a global court downstairs right next to
an AFL indoor field so that, you know, there is

(32:45):
background noise. And as you can hear now, I'm actually
sitting outside, which is actually one of the quieter areas
next to a playing oval with some footy going on
in the background. So it definitely lends for authenticity. There's food,
the catering being brought in, we have dormitories on site,
we have a gym on site. We actually I'm about
to go to recovery. So ice bathing and everything. So yeah,
this is an all purpose suitable location for us to

(33:05):
actually stay in for day after day.

S1 (33:07):
Have you had a couple of athletes fly in from
the World Cup of Blind Cricket? Have you?

S4 (33:11):
We've had one athlete come in from, um, yeah, the
World Cup of Blind Cricket, Milly Harr from South Australia. Yeah.
She's she's come in. She flew in Tuesday night so she,
she actually missed the first day of training. And she's
slotted in really well considering that she's been playing cricket
for the last three weeks. Yeah. And she's doing really well.

S1 (33:26):
What about from your personal point of view, Roz, I
know we've spoken in the past. You've got a great
ability to be a bit of a role model in
that area. You kind of work on that as well
with something like this. Well.

S4 (33:36):
I definitely am a mentor within the team. I wouldn't
call myself like, you know, a captain or anything like that.
I think leadership comes from your actions and behaviors. In
my professional life. Now I'm working in a management role,
so I am able to, you know, share and impart
some of those skills that I am gaining. And I'm
working actively to continue to develop those skills. And I think,
you know, cheer experience 13 years in 13, 14 years

(33:58):
into my international level playing. It's something that you continue
to develop. And I am also very much in favor
of learning from the younger players, which I know I've
expressed to you before. I'm not afraid to ask them
what they do, because I think it's really important that
it goes both ways, so that that will continue to
be a theme that I hope to share with the team,
and I hope the team continues to feel comfortable in
that setting. It doesn't matter how new you are to

(34:19):
the sport, you still have so much to offer.

S1 (34:21):
Fantastic. What about from here then, after the camp wraps up,
what's in the next three, six, 12 months?

S4 (34:26):
Look like we are waiting for a ratio spot for
world Championships in China. We did choose to not attend
regional qualifiers because they were in Pakistan, and we didn't
feel comfortable with some of the safety logistics around it.
It unfortunately means that we just have to wait. However,
in the next three months, we're preparing for a training tournament,
quite a high level one in Berlin, so we'll take
a team over there in March. If I think our

(34:46):
spot has been acknowledged, and then working towards the qualification
steps towards LA if world champs doesn't happen. So 2027,
we'll have two tournaments. That gives us a bite of
those apples. But I think like obviously LA is a goal,
but I know that Brisbane is definitely something we know
that we want to be 100% ready for. If we
can go to LA, then I'd be happy to be there, obviously,

(35:07):
but I'm looking towards Brisbane for sure. But I think
if everyone can get things right in the next 12 months,
we could easily be a very unstoppable team. We have skills,
we just if we can get them cohesively together, we'll
be unstoppable.

S1 (35:20):
Well, it sounds like you're fired up. Hope the rest
of the team is fired up as you are.

S4 (35:24):
Absolutely.

S1 (35:25):
Thank you for spending some time with us tonight. So
we appreciate you speaking to us, and we'll keep in touch.

S4 (35:29):
Absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, as a busy girl, I
can't wait to have a home games with a home crowd. So,
I mean, that's the icing on the cake for me.

S5 (35:35):
Big, big card, isn't it?

S4 (35:37):
Absolutely. It's a huge car. It's kept me in the
sport for longer than I thought.

S1 (35:40):
Right there from the Australian Paralympic Committee, the goalball teams
that are in camp with the South Korea at the
moment in Melbourne, and bigger and better things ahead. We
love keeping in touch with both our storm and our bills. Well,

(36:03):
our next guest puts a smile on our face every month.
If we're smiling, we smile broader. If we're frowning, we smile.
Alison Davies from Alison Davies. Com.au. Ali, welcome.

S6 (36:14):
Thank you Peter.

S1 (36:15):
Now, we touched on last time we were going to
talk about how music can help relieve stress or de-stress.
And of course, we're coming into that time of the
year when it can be a very stressful period of
our lives. So, um, take it away. What should we
be thinking about?

S6 (36:30):
Okay, well, I'm going to draw on little bits and
pieces that we've talked, we've talked about in various episodes
over the years, but using music as a tool for
calming ourselves, for feeling safe, for de-stressing is just so
valuable and simple. So here are a few key things
to remember. I would always start with using your own

(36:55):
musical identity to choose what you listen to. So you
don't have to go straight to a relaxation genre because
relaxation music causes relaxation. That is not how it works.
So listen to music that makes you feel good that
you already have a history. With that you have fun, safe,

(37:16):
connected memories with. Anything that you know brings a smile
or makes you feel good is the kind of music
to listen to, so it doesn't matter if it's fast
or loud. It doesn't have to be called relaxation music
to bring you to a feeling of relaxation, if that

(37:36):
makes sense.

S1 (37:37):
Absolutely. It's interesting you say that, and it must be
the way you're influencing me to think, because that's one
of the things I was going to ask you, because sometimes,
you know, if you're going to one of those health
clinics or, you know, a sort of relaxation area, you
get this music. And for some people that wouldn't be
very relaxing, and it may almost be a bit triggering
or and have the opposite effect of what it should have.

S6 (37:57):
Absolutely. And I think if anyone who's in a heightened state,
if we're angry, if we're frightened, If we're overwhelmed and
our nervous system is sort of running high and we're
feeling anxious and all those things then coming in with
like the guided meditation or the whale sounds or the
relaxation music can make things worse for us. Mhm. It's

(38:21):
far more impactful to match our feeling with music. So
if we're angry or upset or uptight, we can listen
to something that matches that. It might be fast music,
loud music, it might be angry music or music. Music
with swearing in it or the lyrics match our feeling
and then we can connect with it and we can.

(38:43):
You can make little playlists and have like the first
song is loud and fast, and the next song is
a little, and the next song is a little bit less.
And all of a sudden, before you know it, you're
sort of listening to something that's the resting heart rate,
and it's brought you've connected with the music and it's
entrained Strained physiologically, it brings your heart rate and respiratory

(39:04):
rate down, but that doesn't work as well if you
could just go straight into old relaxation music.

S1 (39:10):
So I guess that's kind of knowing yourself and knowing
your music. The music that you know, goes with you.

S6 (39:15):
And most people have a sense of their musical identity.
Some people will say, I'm not musical and I don't
like music, or I don't like anything in particular, or
I like anything, or I like nothing. But most people
have some sense of their own musical interests and what
makes them feel good. And so just follow those. You

(39:37):
can't go wrong if you're listening to stuff that you
just inherently enjoy listening to, you know?

S1 (39:43):
And I guess, obviously, you know, your case might be
different than it might have been ten, 20, 50 years ago.
You know, you're allowed to change your preferences.

S6 (39:52):
You sure can. But I find it helpful to listen
to you. Even if you've changed your preferences, it can
be helpful to listen to music from your past that
made you feel good at a different time in your life.
So I find that when I listen to music from
the 90s that I liked in the 90s, which was
when I was a teenager, I always feel free, responsibility free.

(40:15):
I feel alive, you know, because I was quite lucky.
I had a fun adolescence. It wasn't traumatic or anything
like that. So when I listen to the music that
I was listening to in the 90s, it always changes
my mood immediately. And I feel free and happy and excited.
If I listen to music from my past that's associated

(40:37):
with certain friendships or relationships, or I'll experience sometimes sadness
or reminiscence, or we can listen to music that has
previously been significant in our life, and it can bring
up all sorts of different feelings. So knowing the music,
that just makes us feel safe, relaxed, happy, any of

(40:59):
those things. That's the kind of music we're going to
be choosing if we are trying to de-stress.

S1 (41:07):
And what about on your own is one thing, I guess.
If you're, you know, a couple or with friends or whatever,
that can be a different setup as well. I guess maybe,
you know, maybe de-stressing isn't quite as important or isn't
quite the priority if you're sort of amongst other people.

S6 (41:22):
Well, I mean, for many people, Christmas it is being
around other people at Christmas that causes the stress.

S1 (41:27):
Yeah.

S6 (41:28):
So, you know, Christmas can be a very tricky time
for people, especially if there's obligations to spend time with
people that, um, have been not necessarily an easy part
of our lives. So, yeah, I think there's a place
for using music to support yourself throughout the whole Christmas

(41:49):
season or not just Christmas any time of year. But
one of the things I like to do in a group. So,
for example, in our family, if we go on a
family trip, we make a family playlist where we each
choose a song. Like there's songs from each of our
interests in the playlist, and then playlist is on shuffle

(42:11):
or something like that. So it's kind of even and
everyone gets on and you don't know what song is
coming next, and it makes it kind of fun. But
it's a it's a bit of a, um, modern take
on the old car mixtape.

S1 (42:24):
Yeah. And I guess if you don't like what's playing
at the moment, stick around for a few more minutes
and something that you do like will come up. Yes, exactly.
Do you sing along on your car trips?

S6 (42:36):
I do, but more and more now it's taken over
by my children's music. I just don't always know the words.

S1 (42:43):
Oh no worries. That's great. Now, just before we go,
we could have spent more time on that. We might
come back to that next year. But you just tell
me before coming to away with it. Well, I guess
you've got a very early Christmas present. Share this with us.

S6 (42:57):
Uh, everyone, I hope you're as excited as I am,
because the best Christmas present ever. My wonderful, beloved family pet, ocean,
who is my cat, went missing five years ago, and
he came home last week.

S1 (43:14):
That's amazing.

S6 (43:16):
Sitting on me right now, purring away, he just doesn't
want to leave my side.

S1 (43:19):
Now, for those that might be aware, you can't live
in a rural setting.

S6 (43:22):
I do. I do live in a rural setting. And
where he was found was ten kilometers away from where
I live, and I have no idea how he got
there or what he's been doing this whole five years.
But I do know that various people in the town
have been feeding him and looking out for him and

(43:43):
seeing him, and, uh, he's been couch surfing, so to speak,
I think, for furniture surfing outside people's front doors. So
I've asked around this week and lots of people have said, oh,
I fed your cat. Oh, I saw your cat. But, um,
I have no idea how he managed to be five

(44:03):
years just homeless and to come home in one. Not
just in one piece, but like healthy, happy tame.

S1 (44:11):
Mhm. Well that's the thing isn't it. Because I would
imagine after five years, you know uh, a cat or
any animal could become a little bit, you know, feral
were the nicest possible way or I guess in the
way to defend itself.

S6 (44:24):
Absolutely. I did not expect uh, we got a call
last week from the vet saying someone's brought in a cat,
and I've checked its microchip and it's ocean, and I
did not expect that he would be healthy. And I
expect I'd worded the kids up and I said, no,
I need to be very calm, and he's not going

(44:44):
to be well, and he's going to need to be fed.
And he might not he might not recognize us and
he might not like all the noise we have to be.
So we we were prepared for.

S1 (44:53):
Yeah.

S6 (44:54):
Yeah. And he headed straight back in and he won't
leave our side.

S5 (44:58):
What a.

S1 (44:58):
Homecoming. And as you said, in good health, though, he
has been looked after and I mean maybe looked looked
after more indoors and outdoor like it hasn't, hasn't gotten
any scrapes or fights.

S6 (45:09):
Or maybe I have considered the fact that maybe he
found a second family and lived with them. And now
there's another family grieving him.

S1 (45:17):
Yeah. And without labouring the point, you've been on local
media kind of sort of reaching out to say, you know,
try and find out a bit more or thanking the
people that have looked after him.

S6 (45:27):
Yeah, I just sort of posted on our local community
noticeboard and, and I did ask if anyone has any
information about where he's been, I'd love to know and
just thanked anyone who'd looked after him. But no one
really commented. But you know, talking about homeless cats is
a very divisive conversation.

S1 (45:45):
And I think maybe in country areas.

S6 (45:48):
Yes. And I.

S1 (45:49):
Think.

S6 (45:50):
Well, yeah, it certainly is in regional areas. So I
think people would have been a bit wary of publicly
acknowledging that they'd been feeding a homeless cat. So I
still really don't know much. But he's home and that's
really all that matters.

S1 (46:07):
What a cool name. Ocean I love that. That's a
that's a great name. That's that's very Allison Davies name
like though isn't it. I can I can picture you
thinking that's the name.

S6 (46:16):
I did choose him and I did name him. Yeah.

S1 (46:18):
Yeah. I should have been listening to a little bit
of a de-stressing music before coming to this interview, because
I always get a bit anxious this time there, when
I say to you, you're going to come back next year.

S6 (46:29):
Oh, I sure am.

S1 (46:31):
I think you're going to hesitate and keep me hanging
and then tell me.

S6 (46:35):
Oh, well, let me get back to you. Oh, you better.

S1 (46:37):
Get your people to my people.

S6 (46:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

S1 (46:40):
Alright. Alex, seriously, it's been fantastic. I mean, we've covered
so many topics and, you know, I'm sure that there'll
be so many people that would benefit just from some
of the little snippets that you talk about. And even
if they don't kind of benefit just to be able
to identify with some of the things you speak about
is a really powerful thing. So you really know your
stuff and you make a wonderful difference, and you do
great work in the community, in other areas as well.

(47:03):
So Alison Davies is the website that people can go
to and all the social media as well. Thank you
for this year and we look forward to joining you in, uh,
Lake January in 2026. Uh, all the best to you,
your family and ocean.

S6 (47:18):
Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure as always.

S1 (47:21):
Alison Davies there Alison davies.com.

S7 (47:27):
Hi, I'm Louise Sauvage, Paralympic medalist, and you're listening to
leisure link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

S1 (47:35):
Let's talk about the wonderful work that communities can do,
particularly if they work together and go to Bendigo. In fact,
go to Bendigo Food, share and catch up with their CEO,
Michelle Murphy. Michelle, really great to meet you and thank
you for your time.

S6 (47:49):
Oh, wonderful.

S8 (47:50):
To be here, Peter. Thank you for having me.

S1 (47:52):
Now, uh, as I said, it's really great when communities
work together and, uh, organizations get funded in a positive
way and you make good use of that funding.

S8 (48:00):
We do. Um, Bendigo Foodshare wouldn't exist without the generosity
of our community. Um, everything from our 402 volunteers who
are the real magic sauce, if you like, uh, through
to our community businesses that get behind us and organizations
like Commbank with their community grant that are just essential
for us to be able to deliver our programs.

S1 (48:22):
Now, recently, there was quite a bit of, uh, well,
both the individual funding as in number of funds, but
also the amount of money overall that was granted by
the Commbank.

S8 (48:30):
That's right. I believe we were one of 180 recipients
this year. Um, all grassroots organizations like ourselves who $20,000 grant.
It's just such a significant boost to help us in
trying to achieve our outcomes for our community.

S1 (48:44):
180 organizations that will benefit from it. And I guess
it's the sort of thing that, you know, unless you're
kind of either working in it as indeed you are,
or if you're impacted by maybe the stuff, the stuff
that's happening in your life, you know, you can be
a little bit kind of divorced or removed from it,
maybe not quite appreciated.

S8 (49:00):
Yeah, although I agree, Peter, but, you know, I would suggest,
you know, there's a real spotlight at the moment in
the media with the cost of living crisis on, you know,
food insecurity. And sadly, we don't do feed relief directly
here at Bendigo. Foodshare. Apart from this new pilot, the
Commbank are backing us, with which I'm happy to speak about.
But the majority of our food relief is through partners

(49:22):
out there in community. Most of those are volunteer groups.
They're the real heroes at the front line, are distributing
food to people in need. And what they're telling us
is the amount of people coming forward. Not only is
it increasing, but it's from every corner of the community.
So people that would have once been very much removed
from this issue of food insecurity are now needing to

(49:43):
put their hand up or come forward and seek help.
People that are working, even, you know, we're both adults
in the household, are working, but perhaps part time and
just not enough funds to go around to meet the
bills and to put food on the table.

S1 (49:55):
That's the really sobering thing, isn't it? Like you think, oh, well, it's,
you know, those people who are sort of down and
out on their luck. It's much more broad than that
these days.

S8 (50:03):
Yeah. You're right. Um, you know, we've got some demographics
that I guess, sadly, it's not surprising that those demographics,
single families, for example, that have for many, many years
been in need of additional support. But, you know, we've
never seen the likes of the numbers coming forward of
older people and people, you know, in two people, households
that just can't make ends meet. Um, such as the

(50:25):
cost to live these days.

S1 (50:26):
I guess we all know a lot about, uh, what
goes on in our big cities. If you like, in Bendigo,
tell us a bit about Bendigo and I guess a
bit about, uh, kind of cross section of your community.
I guess you're just a, a big city on a
smaller scale, Maybe we are.

S8 (50:41):
We're we're pushing up towards 150,000 now the greater Bendigo
population and Bendigo Foodshare our name is a bit of
a misnomer if you like. We actually service all of
central Victoria. So it's about a 19,000 square kilometre radius
that we're working in. And unfortunately people are experiencing food insecurity.
Last time there was an active living census undertaken, it

(51:03):
was much higher than the state average. So, you know,
we know there's a lot of people doing it tough
in our community, but there's also a lot of people
willing to step up and put their hand out, step
forward rather, and do what they can to make a difference.
So whether that's people donating food or volunteering their time
or making a financial donation, their generosity and community spirit

(51:23):
is alive and well in our community.

S1 (51:25):
What sort of areas are you covering then? I guess
we all know Bendigo, and I guess those of us
that like football in particular, we've had some good footballers
come out of Bendigo, but as I say, go a
bit broader than that in terms of geographics.

S8 (51:36):
So we extend all the way up to the Murray River. Okay, Kyabram.
We stand out towards Maryborough. Area of high disadvantage across
the Heathcote great wine region, but also a lot of
people there in need of additional support and all the
way down to the Macedon Ranges. So we're bordering on
the fringes of Melbourne, our footprint. So it's a really
large area that we're seeking to support with food relief.

S1 (51:59):
First, a bit about this pilot program that, thanks to
the Commbank, you've been given some funding to undertake this.
And tell us a bit more about that. It's just
all rolled out isn't it?

S8 (52:08):
Yeah. So this is something really new for the last
six months, through an organisation called Open Food Network, we've
been able to participate in a pilot where we were
given funds to allocate the equivalent of a gift card,
I guess, out through community partners to people in need.
So we worked with the Bendigo Refugee Settlement program. There's

(52:28):
a vinegar has the second highest number of Karen refugees
in Australia, second only to Brisbane and amongst the Korean community.
The word is getting out. It's a great place to live.
So we've got a lot of Korean people living here.
That's one of the food partners participating in the pilot,
and the other partner is the neighborhood center. So that's
a fairly low socioeconomic area. So we're giving them gift cards.

(52:52):
Those organizations gift cards to distribute to people they know
are in need of a bit of extra support. Those
recipients of the gift cards are presenting them at what
we call our good food for all market. It's where
they're exchanging their gift cards for fresh produce, locally grown
organic produce that's been grown out on land donated to

(53:13):
us by young people, young people who are learning the
skills of growing food. So it's a beautiful, I guess,
circular economy, if you like, in that, you know, whilst
we've got young people learning skills, the produce that they're
growing is actually going to a really beautiful good use
and out into communities to, to people that need it.

S1 (53:32):
It's really heartwarming, isn't it? It's quite moving when you
put it like that.

S8 (53:35):
It's really heartwarming. So this grant from the bank will
enable us to take the pilot, if you like, to
the next step. So will we be able to give
out up to 500 of these gift cards? We'll look
at working with a couple of additional services, including the
local Homelessness service and Aboriginal Corporation, and those cards will
be issued by those organisations. And that means more people

(53:56):
can come forward. More people can access fresh, locally grown
food that our young people have grown.

S1 (54:02):
Can you give us a bit of a snapshot of
what you're likely growing? Fresh food is in the Bendigo area.

S8 (54:07):
Um, look, it's all the standard, you know, staple fruit
and veggies, I guess, if you like. We're growing potatoes.
We're growing sweet potatoes. We know our community in particular
loves sweet potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, onions, you name it. We're
growing it. Corn. We're growing it a whole range of
fruit and veggies. The other aspect to our pilot, I guess,
and this is the really exciting part about potential to

(54:30):
make this a sustainable model is that we're welcoming Bendigo
people to come, or anyone that's passing through Bendigo to
come in to our market pop up store, which is
once a week at the moment. On Fridays we do
hope to extend it to more days, but full fee
paying customers that are in a position to pay. And
I guess it's a bit of a pay it forward
model where full fee paying customers purchasing that fresh produce

(54:53):
will enable us to issue more gift cards to people who,
you know, don't have the capacity to purchase. So that's
our vision for this, for our good food for all market.

S1 (55:04):
So it's fantastic. And you kind of touched on the
community and everyone kind of pulling together. Did you say
400 volunteers? 402 volunteers?

S9 (55:13):
Yes. It is an amazing.

S8 (55:14):
Story that we have here. We know, and you probably
are aware that volunteering nationally is in decline.

S1 (55:20):
Well, that's why I think clearing it. Michelle.

S8 (55:22):
Yeah. Bendigo future bucks the trend. Not only have we
402 active volunteers, we've got 50 volunteers on a wait
list or 50 people waitlist to volunteer, and it's just
our capacity to put them through our induction program that's
slowing that up. So we've got such support for our organization. Um,

(55:42):
and I think it just it resonates at the cause strong.
And but what we're doing here, you know, there's everyone
can play a part in trying to, you know, build
a stronger community in the face of some of this adversity.

S1 (55:54):
Well, I was going to ask you, without being too, uh,
trying to be a bit too cute, but, uh, what's
the kind of secret sauce? But I guess it is
that community thing. And maybe your kind of big enough
for a lot of people to be, uh, knowing a
lot of things, but also not too big that people
can't kind of get lost in the crowd.

S6 (56:08):
I think you're right there.

S8 (56:09):
I think you're on to something. The other thing is
we invest a lot of time and energy into ensuring
our volunteers feel valued, and we survey them annually, and
we know that they feel highly valued and that they're
part of this greater purpose here. And, you know, people
come because they relate to the cause. They hate food waste.
They want to make a difference, and they stay for
all of those reasons, but they also stay for the

(56:30):
social connection. So such as the social connection, we actually
have two of our volunteers getting married this weekend.

S1 (56:37):
Oh man, your story just goes on and on. Michelle.

S8 (56:41):
I don't know how I won't name names. I'm quite
shy about sharing that, but they met here at Bendigo
Foodshare and they're off down the aisle this weekend.

S1 (56:51):
Okay, well, I'll tell you what. The farmer wants a
wife and all those shows, so they're a waste of time.
You've got to be get volunteering in your local community.

S8 (56:59):
That's it.

S1 (57:00):
That's how you find love. And if you don't find love,
you find love for what you do, which is probably
equally important as well.

S8 (57:05):
Absolutely, absolutely. You're spot on there.

S1 (57:08):
Michelle. Fantastic. Thank you for sharing a little bit of
that with us. It's really good to know. And as
I said, the great that the bank also help out
with these funds. And I'm sure there's 179 other good stories.
But we thank you for sharing yours with us.

S8 (57:21):
No worries at all. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
And thank you to the the Community Grants Program. It's
it's just a game changer for grassroots organizations like ours.

S1 (57:30):
Well, long may you endure, Michelle.

S8 (57:32):
Thanks, Peter.

S1 (57:33):
Michelle Murphy, who's the CEO for Bendigo Foodshare. The golden
square of Bendigo. It's a really good story and I'm
sure there's many others. But pretty great Michelle to join us.
And as I say, may they thrive for many, many
years to come. This Wednesday, December 3rd is International Day
for people with disabilities. There'll be a film premiering. The

(57:56):
film is called Changing Track. It features three Paralympians Emily
Petricola OAM, Cory Bonnington and Kayne Paris. All you would
have heard on Late Link over the years. Actually, Emily,
great friends with the late Paige Greco who passed away
a couple of weeks ago. And with farewell during the week. Anyway,

(58:17):
this film features this coming Wednesday. Sam Rickard, who helps
out with ledge Link and Focal Point and Studio One
Wednesday nights caught up with the driving forces behind this
particular film. Timothy and Tristan Kenyon. Let's hear a little
bit about what they had to say.

S10 (58:36):
Hey, Sam, how's it going? Really good. Thanks for having us.

S5 (58:39):
You might say that this.

S10 (58:40):
Film.

S5 (58:40):
Is, um, 25 or 24.5 years in the making, as
it were.

S10 (58:45):
Very much so, yeah. Look, 25 years ago, Tim and
I both went to the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000. And, um, geez,
I was about 15 years old at the time and, um,
not a very happy person. I was, um, quite depressed.
You know, I'd gone through, um, probably about 2 or

(59:05):
3 years worth of quite severe cystic acne. So I
was on, uh, particular medication, which I'm fairly sure is
banned now. In fact, both of us were on that medication,
aren't we? Unfortunately, yes. And one of the big side
effects of that medication was depression as well. So it
was a bit of a double whammy. So we went yeah,
we went to the Paralympic Games and it there was
such a such a huge inspiration to see athletes from

(59:26):
all around the world, um, come and achieve amazing results
despite their disabilities. So yeah, that was that was a
really big inspirational moment for us and just a beacon
of hope as well in a in a dark time.
So I'd say it's exactly what we needed at that
moment in our life. Just a little bit beacon of hope. Yeah.
Gordon said something quite profound to me. Uh, a few

(59:47):
weeks ago, one of the screenings he mentioned. He likes
to think of them as athletes with a disability rather
than disabled athletes. And, uh, I really felt that at
the time when I saw the Sydney 2000 Paralympics and
working with them now as well really feels that way.
These are incredible athletes, uh, achieving things at the same

(01:00:08):
level as the Olympians, despite what they've been through. And
I think that's truly the amazing story here indeed.

S5 (01:00:14):
So we'll talk about the movie now a bit more. So.
So you're, um, concentrating mainly on three different athletes, but
there are, of course, a few other people that sort
of will come through because, well, it's a documentary. So
maybe tell us a little bit about the three people
that you're concentrating on.

S10 (01:00:32):
So the three main, main athletes that we chose to
focus on that you have, um, Emily Petricola, who was, um,
diagnosed at age 27 with, uh, Ms.. And went through
quite a period of depression there before, um, before moving
through that and discovering cycling. We also have, uh, Corey Boddington, who, um, experienced, um,

(01:00:57):
quite a few traumatic accidents in his, in his youth,
which resulted in a brain injury and affect effects to
his right side. And then, um, finally, we have, uh,
Ken Paris, who was born with albinism and as a result,
has grown up with low vision. So we have, uh, yeah,
there are three main, uh, focus. And then of course,

(01:01:20):
we have, um, the rest of the Paris team as well,
that sort of feature in different ways in there and
cover off different sort of themes that we wanted to explore,
such as mental health and, um, and those sorts of things.

S5 (01:01:31):
So where and when did you shoot all of the footage?

S10 (01:01:34):
We started with, um, working in Paris. So, um, we
went across to, um, to be with the team in Bordeaux,
which was their, uh, what's called their staging camp lead
up to the Paralympics. So that was, um, about, uh, August, uh,
last year, 2024. And, um, we wanted to have a

(01:01:55):
small footprint there. We didn't want to do any interviews.
We just wanted to sort of get to know them,
get some footage, and make sure we, you know, covered
things like them going to and from events, those sorts
of things, and really just get to build that rapport
so that, um, when we came back, we sort of
worked backwards. And then, um, Tim and I, uh, were

(01:02:15):
filming all around Australia because obviously the team is dotted
all around Australia. So we got to fly all around
the country and visit them all in their different states and, um,
shoot different, um, interviews and other bits and pieces as well.

S5 (01:02:29):
So the film is coming out, um, on the 3rd
of December and literally coming out everywhere. I've had a
bit of a look around, uh, there. So if anyone
wants to, um, is curious now and wants to go
and see it, what would they do?

S11 (01:02:44):
Well, um, it's available to watch, uh, either through Village
Cinemas or Event Cinemas. Uh, the two big chains are
the following at the moment, but we've also got some
independents that have picked it up here and there as well.
So I think the best thing to do is to
look at your local cinema and look for changing track and, um, it's, uh,
it should be showing somewhere near you on the 3rd
of December. And you could.

S10 (01:03:05):
Also jump on our website, which is changing track and, uh, put,
you know, if you need to put a forward slash
and then put tickets and, um, yeah, we have everything
listed on there as well If you need to have
a quick link to to, you know, find the nearest
one in your state.

S5 (01:03:19):
Now, a lot of our listeners here are blind or
vision impaired. So the big um bugbear is audio description.
Will any of will any of this be audio described.

S11 (01:03:29):
So, uh, we're quite proud of uh, that side of
this film. When we went into it, we decided that
we wanted to make a film that was equally enjoyable
to somebody that couldn't actually, uh, get the full experience from,
from the visual side of things. So we put a
lot of work into, uh, working with our composer, Anthony LMR,

(01:03:49):
who produced an absolutely wonderful music score for this film.
We worked with Rumble Studios to produce an incredible soundscape
that happens with it as well. So there are some
scenes in the film where we focused on the concept
of what we call flow state, which is that moment
when somebody is just in the zone, they're in their moment,
they're just on their bike and everything's going the way

(01:04:10):
they want it to go. We really want the audience
to feel that. And for somebody that can't, uh, isn't
able to, uh, experience the visual side of it, we
wanted to enjoy it from an audio perspective as well. And, uh, finally,
what we also did was we produced, uh, an incredible
audio descriptive track for this film as well, uh, which
is available in the cinemas, um, at request, with the

(01:04:32):
cinema chain.

S5 (01:04:33):
So to round things off, why should you go and
see this movie?

S11 (01:04:37):
I'd say, uh, from my perspective, it reaches into, uh, the,
the methods I use to get out of some dark
times in my life. When I was at a at
a rough point, I found that by being passionate about
something and finding a community that, uh, I could get
right into, uh, was basically my, my path out of

(01:04:58):
that dark time. And I think that's what these guys
have done as well. They found a community that supports
them and something that they can be passionate about and
make their life about, and has helped them get through
a difficult time. And I think this film tells that story.
For anybody that's going through some kind of darkness or
a difficult time, there is a way out. And, um,

(01:05:18):
you just need to find that thing you can be
passionate about and start to surround yourself with the right
kind of people. As, uh, Emily and Corey said in
the film. And, uh, I think that's why people should
see this. It's a very inspiring film filled with hope.
At least that's what we hope it gives.

S10 (01:05:33):
You know, often with films we go, oh, okay, December
3rd is the first date and it's usually playing for
a few weeks. Well, which is an independent documentary, December
3rd is literally the date it's playing. And after that
it's not it's not playing again. So unless, you know,
we're lucky enough to secure, you know, another cinema or two,
but not on this scale I.

S11 (01:05:51):
Think, as well. Um, it's been quite an uphill battle
recently in the film industry to convince the public to
go to the cinema. Yeah, everybody seems to we keep
getting asked the question over and over again. Uh, so
what are you going to do with this? Uh, is
it going to get released on streaming? And, um, it's
it's very important that people continue to go to the cinema.
That is the gauge of success of a film still

(01:06:14):
is how how it does at the cinema. And everything
that happens after this moment relies on how it does
in the cinema on December 3rd. So we're really pushing
hard for December 3rd and trying to convince people that's
when you want to see it. It's made for the
big screen, uh, and it's got a beautiful surround sound

(01:06:34):
music score as well. So even if people aren't able
to appreciate the full extent of the visual side of it,
we always both look at each other in the cinema
when it comes up to the rainforest section in the film,
all the bellbirds are all around you. It's just such
a saturating experience to see it at the cinema rather
than on your mobile phone.

S5 (01:06:53):
Well, thank you guys. Um, and uh. Yeah, go go
go see it.

S11 (01:06:57):
Great.

S10 (01:06:58):
Thanks, Sam.

S11 (01:06:59):
Sam.

S1 (01:07:01):
You want to hear more, don't you? Well, you can
this Wednesday evening, 8:00 on studio one. If you can't
catch it, then you can also go to your favorite
podcast or streaming service and seek out Studio One. If
you want to find out more about the film. Go
to the website. Changing track. Simple as that. Changing track.

(01:07:24):
That was Tristan and Timothy Kenyon speaking to Sam Rickard.
Thank you for that great work and we look forward
to hearing the show in full on Wednesday night. Time
for yoga on the radio. And the only person to
do yoga on the radio is Riva Riva. Good to

(01:07:46):
have you back with us again. Thank you for your time.

S12 (01:07:48):
That's all right, Peter. Hello. Hello to everyone listening in.
Because this is our last before 2026. I know this
has gone very quickly. You know for sure. Yes.

S1 (01:08:01):
What have you got for us?

S12 (01:08:02):
Well, it's actually three postures. There can be done separately,
but put together it really. It relaxes you and gets
you that nice awake, fresh sort of feeling.

S1 (01:08:15):
Mhm.

S12 (01:08:16):
Good stretches for the body but very simple to do.
So the first one is Tadasana which is a standing stretch.
So you stand erect with your feet slightly apart. And
that just gives you, you know, helps with your balance.
So you look forward with your eyes focusing on the

(01:08:37):
wall or something in front of you that doesn't move.
Do you take a breath in? You raise your arms up, out,
sideways and up. Interlock your fingers so the palms of
the hands face up. Then breathing in and out, keeping
your pose. Take another breath in. Stretch your hands up,
lengthening your whole torso up and out of the hips
and come onto your toes or just onto the ball

(01:08:59):
of the foot. As long as you feel balanced, if
you start wobbling, just put the heels down and just
stretch up that high. Um, it's a really, really good
stretch to hold our 3 to 4 times. Just repeating. And, um,
then you bring your arms back alongside and heels onto
the ground. That's it. That's one very, very simple one.

(01:09:23):
Now the next one is on the waist.

S1 (01:09:28):
Okay.

S12 (01:09:29):
It's a waist rotating pose. So it's called kata chakrasana.
So you stand erect with your feet out past your
hips a little bit not, you know, don't stretch them
out as far as you can. You still need to
be sort of relaxed. No overstretching at all. But the legs,
feet out a bit wider than your hips. Now again,

(01:09:52):
you stretch your arms out sideways. Now twist the upper
part of your body to the right. Bring the left
hand to the right shoulder and wrap the right arm
behind the trunk of the body and comes into one
smooth motion. Then it comes back to the center, and
you're changing your arms so that you'll take the right

(01:10:13):
hand over to the left shoulder and bring your left
arm behind you. And then you just keep repeating that,
going from one side to the other side, moving your
arms in time with your body. No movement. Now to
add to that, as you go to your right, taking
that left hand to your right shoulder, you're turning to

(01:10:35):
your right. You take your left leg back behind you.

S1 (01:10:39):
Right.

S12 (01:10:39):
You're coming to the center. You bring that leg back
to the center, and then you go to the opposite side,
right hand to left shoulder, and you take the right
leg back. Back behind you. Not out sideways, back behind.
Then you come back to the center and you just
repeat that, taking that leg back behind you and doing
that each side Another term. It's all nice. Slow moving.

(01:11:04):
You're not going fast. And that last one. I'm sure
that it helps our brain.

S1 (01:11:11):
Could you have to think.

S12 (01:11:12):
You're taking that opposite leg, you know.

S1 (01:11:14):
Yeah.

S12 (01:11:15):
And that gives the body a little bit. And look,
you can do those as long as you like. Don't overdo.
You know, seven times you can do that particular one
bringing the leg back behind you. It's up to you
how many times you do it. And whether, you know,
if you find that you can't do one of them
that well, just stick to one to start with and

(01:11:36):
then come down to the next one and then the
next one. Taking that leg behind you now benefits. Let's
have a look here. Now for Tadasana develops a rectus
abdominis muscles that's very small muscles, stretches the abdominal muscles
and intestines. If a proper spinal bone growth and clears

(01:11:58):
out Increased congestion of the spinal nerves at the point
where they emerge from the spinal column. So you're lifting
and there are there are back muscles that have been
lifted up at the same time as your spine has
been taken up. And that's a really good stretch if
you've been sitting down for a long.

S1 (01:12:16):
Yeah.

S12 (01:12:17):
Now bringing in the rotating pose was working on your waistline.
It helps to reduce the fat there.

S1 (01:12:25):
Uh, um.

S12 (01:12:28):
It works on the back and hip joints. It's useful
for correcting spinal stiffness postural defects. And it helps to re.
Well I mentioned the waistline. It redistributes that fat. Mhm.
And that always makes me think don't overeat over Christmas.

S1 (01:12:45):
No that's exactly right. Very tired.

S12 (01:12:48):
Well she might have to do that you know, more time.

S1 (01:12:52):
Uh, Ruby, you're very cheeky.

S12 (01:12:55):
And that last one taking the leg back. Of course
you're moving your hips and the leg as well. So you.
It's all the whole body is getting a stretch and moving,
so it makes you more mobile as well. So that's.
It won't be. Just go through it again at all. Peter.

S1 (01:13:15):
Yeah. Let go through them all again and then we
can wrap it up.

S12 (01:13:18):
Okay. Now to Tadasana. The first one, the standing stretch.
We stand up nice and straight feet just a little
bit apart. It gives you a bit bit of balance then.
Now you look forward. Focus your eyes on something in
front of you, a wall. It doesn't matter what as
long as it's not moving. Now you take a breath in,

(01:13:41):
raising your arms out sideways and bringing them right up.
Interlock your fingers so the palms of your hands face up,
or turn it so the palms, the hands face up,
let the breath out. Just keeping that pose and then
another breath in and just lift the hands and arms up.
And your stretch the whole body, the trunk of the

(01:14:01):
body right up. And you can come onto the toes
or just the ball of the foot, just bringing your
heels off. So there's a nice stretch throughout the whole body,
particularly the spine or the abdominal area. Every part.

S1 (01:14:16):
Yep.

S12 (01:14:17):
Then you come down onto your feet. Bring those heels down.
Relax a little bit. Now you take your legs wide apart,
the feet wide apart. Not too wide. But pass your hips.
And then you swing to your right. Turn the body
trunk of the body to your right and bring the
right hand over onto your left shoulder, and the left

(01:14:40):
arm goes behind you.

S1 (01:14:42):
Yep.

S12 (01:14:43):
Then you change. You bring the left hand you over
to your right shoulder and the right arm is behind you.
So you're twisting, you're getting. You turn, twist around as
much as you can. As you turn and twist, you
can also come up onto the toes. You don't have
to keep the feet flat. Now, when we add to that,

(01:15:03):
when you turn to the right and you've got that
left hand up on your shoulder, right arm behind you.
You take your leg, the left leg back behind you.
Then you change, rotating around the other side and your
right leg will go back behind you. Basically working on
the whole body there. Peter.

S1 (01:15:24):
Yeah. Well, loosening up.

S12 (01:15:26):
So much. Um, there. We've used utilizing the muscles, and
you don't have to do them all. I might just
throw another quick one in. Um, if you're feeling a
bit tired in that when you do the one, just
hold it for 2 or 3 breaths and then come
forward and down. Let your hands just roll down, you know,

(01:15:49):
on your legs and hold down for 3 to 4 breathing,
and then bring your arms forward and come straight back
up again. And then you can slowly go down again.
That's I'm just adding on, um, with the head go.
And taking the trunk of the body forward and down.
It is relaxing. You're bringing the blood down into your head,

(01:16:11):
into your brain. Um, and, um, again, that one, you know,
it helps you brighten you up as well. That's a
fourth one there.

S1 (01:16:19):
All right. That's a great one.

S12 (01:16:21):
The first one though. Yeah. Just techniques to help you
over through the Christmas period. And I always say to
people prepare yourself beforehand as much as you can. And
if on the day anything happens, don't panic and still
take a few breaths in. Or even do these that

(01:16:42):
I've just mentioned today, and you'll feel much better and
you'll be calmer. And that's the main thing. And particularly
if other people around you starting to screech or whatever.

S1 (01:16:55):
Uh, Reba. Now, Reba, if people want to contact you
for some one on one, we can get in touch
with you.

S12 (01:17:00):
Yes they can. I'm on mobile 0412 860 967.

S1 (01:17:09):
Thank you so, so much for your wonderful work throughout
the year. We've really appreciated. You've been going for over
20 years. We we love listening to you. We love
having you on. I hope that you and yours have
a really relaxing and wonderful Christmas, and we hope that
you're going to be back with us at the end
of January.

S12 (01:17:27):
Yes, I will come back. I'd miss it. I think
if I did.

S1 (01:17:29):
It exactly, we wouldn't. We we'd come and chase you,
Riva and.

S12 (01:17:35):
Yeah. And Peter, I'll wish you a very Merry Christmas
and a exciting new year, healthy new year. And the
same to all our listeners. Take care of yourself. Be happy.
Be cheerful. Look after yourself.

S1 (01:17:53):
You're a wonderful role model. Thank you for spending some
time with us.

S12 (01:17:56):
Oh that's fine. I enjoyed and she probably Gavin.

S1 (01:18:00):
Yeah, well, we enjoy, we enjoy. You enjoying it? Have
a good night.

S12 (01:18:04):
Thank you. Talk to you in 2026.

S1 (01:18:07):
Riva Bryce there. Riva with Ryoga on the radio every
month around about this time the last week of each month.
Join Reverend Riva back with us in 2026. Always great
hearing about the latest in the area of technology and
the best person on earth to talk about it is

(01:18:29):
Adjunct Professor Denise Wood from USC. And it's great to
catch up again.

S13 (01:18:33):
Lovely to be with you, Peter.

S1 (01:18:35):
Yeah, well chat GPT, I think it just celebrated three
years old and some more news about it.

S13 (01:18:40):
Yes. Well they keep, you know, improving and enhancing the features.
So I've talked before about ChatGPT voice functionality. Well, they've
just made some fairly significant enhancements. So. So you can
use the voice now right inside your chat. So it
used to be a separate mode, but now you can

(01:19:01):
just go to the normal text chat. You can choose
the talk and you can watch your answers appear, uh,
review your messages and see visuals and images and maps
in real time. So that's, uh, currently rolling out to
users on mobile and web. You just have to update
your app. So you need to be using the ChatGPT app.

(01:19:22):
So you also now get a live transcript of your discussion.
And you can therefore review those earlier messages regardless of
whether you're using voice. So it's kind of, uh, blends
your voice text. And if you like information to give
what you need at a glance. Now, there is always

(01:19:42):
a caveat with these things. As you know, we are
to ChatGPT version 5.1, which is fantastic. One of their well,
it is their best model, but the voice sessions are
still are limited to chat, GPT four, oh or and mini.
And you do need the paid ChatGPT plan uh to

(01:20:08):
benefit from the the ChatGPT four model so you don't
have to be a full, you know, paid up member
to use the voice. But to get the best model
you do. So check it out if you it certainly
make it a lot easier than having to type your messages.

S1 (01:20:26):
Yeah.

S13 (01:20:27):
Your preferred mode of communication.

S1 (01:20:30):
Fantastic. It's come a long way in that three years,
hasn't it?

S13 (01:20:33):
Yes. Yes, absolutely.

S1 (01:20:36):
Alright. Now a great friend of the program, someone that
you and I know very well, Scott Hawley and the
center for accessibility. Ability. Um, over in WA, they've had
their big awards announcement.

S13 (01:20:46):
Ah that's right. So, you know, the, uh, these are
Australian access Awards are, uh, have been going now for
four years. Um, so they were held this year on
November the 12th in Perth. Their guests include the minister
and a senator, our good colleague and friend from Edith Cowan.

(01:21:08):
Professor Justin Brown was emcee. So the winners were the
number of winners, including so not for profit community website
of the year. The Volunteering Gateway, a not for profit
community app for the year was Ember app, the government
website of the year, believe it or not, was New
South Wales government. The government after the year was Queensland

(01:21:32):
Digital License app from the Queensland Government. The education site
of the year was my former university, CQ University.

S1 (01:21:42):
Okay. Yeah.

S13 (01:21:44):
And apathy year was the Moodle learning management system. Bunnings
got to look in as a best corporate website. So
good news for Bunnings and the corporate app of the
year went to Coles Accessibility initiative of the year was
DC Accessibility Studio, also part of the New South Wales Government,

(01:22:06):
the Hall of Fame Accessibility Advocate of the year, Keely
Johnson and the Accessibility Specialist of the year Julie Grundy. So, uh,
some well known names and some well known companies in
the mix there. So fantastic that centre for Accessibility Australia, uh,
runs these awards. Um, you know, which now into their

(01:22:30):
fourth year and, and really canvassing the best of the
accessibility websites and apps and Advocates in the space is
is really commendable. So good news.

S1 (01:22:43):
I've spoken about this this cop before, but it's such
a great idea that they give the golden carrot. I mean,
obviously the carrot is so much more powerful than the stick.
And it's, you know, it's about reinforcing positivity rather than saying, oh,
you blokes are no good or you people don't think
about inclusion. It's, it's you're doing a good job. You know,
that's great praise to you for doing that.

S13 (01:23:03):
Absolutely. Yes. The the nuance of the symbolism is very strong.
So that's right. And center for accessibility is also going
to run a free live stream presentation on International Day
of People with disability, which as you know, is December
the 3rd, which is next week, uh, featuring junior digital

(01:23:26):
accessibility analyst Glenn Wilson and Artie Nathan. Uh, so that's, uh,
if you want to tune in, uh, that's Wednesday, the
3rd of December, 10 a.m.. Now that's Australian Western Standard
Time every afternoon. Yeah, which would be 1:00 Australian Eastern

(01:23:48):
Daylight Time. Yeah I think in South Australia. 1230. That's it. It's, uh,
45 minutes, but there'll also be opportunity for Q and A,
so go to the centre for Accessibility Australia website. You
can register online with their service there. And then you'll

(01:24:08):
get a team's link to to join that event.

S1 (01:24:12):
I'm sure we'll speak more about the awards and to
some of the winners and weeks to come. But it's
a great sort of concept because people nominate their, uh,
app or website and kind of judging panel vote on
it as well. So it's very, uh, eclectic in terms
of the input that it gets.

S13 (01:24:28):
Absolutely. So, uh, yeah. So it's really, really good to
see that continuing initiative now. So Elsa heading into their
fifth year next year. So we look forward to that.

S1 (01:24:39):
And I know I say this often, but it's kind
of easy to make the government's the whipping horses for
anything that doesn't go right, but it's good to see
they've been well represented here, both the New South Wales
and Queensland. So full marks for them.

S13 (01:24:52):
Yes. So let's hope we see the South Australian government
of the future.

S1 (01:24:57):
I know Matt Cook speaks very highly about the work
they're doing, so maybe that'll be recognised in years to come. Denise,
one of the big things that happens over this long weekend,
of course yesterday we had Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
On Monday these sales kind of they they start early
and finish late. So if people are out there for
some technology products, there's a good chance you might get

(01:25:17):
a bit of a bargain.

S13 (01:25:18):
Oh, there's some really good ones at the moment Peter.
Most certainly check out Amazon. They have some amazing smartphone
specials on really significant savings. Bose, Breville Dell. Dyson, HP Lenovo. Meta. Maya. Ninja. Kitchen. Optus.

(01:25:39):
Samsung are the good guys and JB Hi-Fi Apple are
doing trade ins on old iPhones for the new iPhone 17,
which we've talked about before. JB Hi-Fi has got Google Pixel,
Samsung Galaxy devices and you know most. And Amazon has
not only got a lot of phone handsets, they've got

(01:26:02):
e-book readers as well as tablets and obviously computers, iPads,
Apple iPads, uh, Kindles. So, uh, yeah. So if you're
in the market for some tech and with the cost
of living as it is, um, and you do need
new tech, this is most definitely the best time, uh,

(01:26:23):
Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But, you know, getting quick because, uh,
once Cyber Monday goes, they tend to disappear again.

S1 (01:26:33):
They've replaced their Boxing Day. But haven't they this weekend?

S13 (01:26:37):
Well, it's probably even bigger than Boxing Day in some ways,
because Boxing Day was often associated. We know with the
with the rush, the physical rush into the store. But, uh,
but obviously Black Friday and Cyber Monday have always had
much more of a tech focus. And I guess that continues,
although it's broadened and lots of retailers are getting on

(01:27:00):
the bandwagon. But, you know, certainly from a technology point
of view, it's it's an ideal opportunity to get your upgrades.
And as we've talked about throughout the year, Peter, my
goodness me, there's been some in fact, amazing developments over
the year. And we've I think every month we've had
a another big event. So this is the opportunity to

(01:27:22):
consolidate with some of those technologies now available at a
reasonable price. But you know, given it's you know, we're
talking Black Friday and Cyber Monday being, you know, early December.
And we're talking about the awards and, you know, the
International Day of Disability. Um, it it is a reminder
that we are fast approaching the end of the year.

(01:27:43):
And in fact, this, of course, is my last segment
with you for, for this year. So I did want
to take the opportunity to thank you, Peter, and all
of your listeners, for your dedication to people with disability
and improving accessibility and the lives of everyone through inclusion. And, uh,
wish you all a really safe, happy and healthy Christmas.

(01:28:07):
And of course, New Year.

S1 (01:28:10):
Denise, the same for you. Thank you so, so much.
And I know there's a couple of other topics we
wanted to cover. We'll have to do that next year.
Because you said before coming to where you come back
next year, which made me very happy. We'll catch up
in January to you and, uh, all the wonderful work
that you do. May you, like, continue. You really are
making a difference. We appreciate that. All the best. Have
a bit of a rest on that all the time,

(01:28:31):
but you can manage a few days rest. That'll be
good and we'll catch up with you in 2026.

S13 (01:28:37):
And likewise to you, Peter, as well, and all your listeners.
Thank you.

S1 (01:28:41):
That's wonderful. That's that's a very wonderful adjunct professors in
Eastwood from USC talking all stuff about technology. And good news,
Denise will be back in the new year. There we go.
The leisure link charm lives on three out of three.
As far as people signing up again for next year.

(01:29:03):
Alison Davies, Riva Bryce and adjunct professor Denise Wood all
back with us in 2026. We'll catch up with some
more regulars over the next few weeks. Now a couple
of quotes before we go. Here's one from Devon who
sends one in. He says, when you're finished changing, you

(01:29:23):
are finished. All right, Devon, Kevin, thank you so much
for that. Have to think about that one. And also
one from Karen over in Western Australia often contributes. I
can hope things are going well over there for you.
Karen says to plant a tree is to believe in tomorrow.
Very very apt. So Karen, thank you for your quote.

(01:29:44):
Some birthdays before we go. Bo Vernon having a birthday.
One of the mighty Aussie Steelers world championship winner. So
happy birthday to you gormless. Having a birthday. Good on
ya gal. What a great job Gail does. At the
moment it's sunny but it's been involved with arts for
many many years. Very talented artist and very good administrator. Gail,

(01:30:05):
happy birthday to you. And also Emma Verdi also from
Western Australia. Always a bit of a WA influence on
this program. Emma, I'm going to call her an author,
has written some wonderful stories, so I'm calling Emma an author. Emma,
happy birthday to you too. That's it for the program. Sam. Richard,
thanks so much for your help. Pam Green, thanks so

(01:30:26):
much for your ongoing support. Wonderful you are. James and Kev,
thanks for your help as well. Appreciate you helping us
put the programme to air. If you're listening through 1197
and Adelaide, I know what you'll be doing. You'll be
staying tuned because coming up is Vicki Cousins with Australian Geographic.
Be kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others.

(01:30:49):
All being well let's look back at the same time
next week on Vision Australia Radio and the Reading Radio Network.
This is leisure link.

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