April 1, 2025 • 27 mins
Sam is joined by Vision Australia Radio's Jason Gipps to chat about 100K Your Way, a fitness challenge taking place over the month of April to raise vital funds for Vision Australia Radio, you can join the challenge or donate here.
You'll also hear from Liz Dalakouras, editor of For Your Information, she's here to tell us about what's in store for readers in the latest issue of FYI.
Then to wrap up the show, we hear a small clip from the upcoming Career Path podcast with Fiona Herron from Commonwealth Bank, talking to Sam about disclosing your vision condition at work and dealing with questions around blindness and low vision.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:13):
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host Sam Colley.
S2 (00:23):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
and low vision.
S3 (00:30):
Now, seeing how much quicker I can kind of get
up to speed in work or feel comfortable in participating,
all of that is now like, I can't imagine going
backwards now because I feel so much more able to
concentrate on what I'm there to do, rather than the
stress and anxiety of like, okay, there's this other layer,
and do I tell people and that sort of thing.
(00:50):
I can enjoy now, like a comfort of I can
talk about it if I want to or I need to,
but it's also out there as information. I don't feel
like I have to unless there's something, so it's a
bit more. I feel a bit more in control of
the story.
S2 (01:04):
Welcome to the show. You'll hear that interview later. That's
Fiona Herron from Commonwealth Bank talking about disclosing her vision
condition at work. She caught up with me as part
of the Career Path podcast, which will be launching early
next month, so make sure to keep tabs on that one.
(01:26):
But before we hear that small clip from my chat
with Fiona, I'm very pleased to be joined by Jason
Gipps from Vision Australia Radio talking about 100 K Your Way,
taking place from April 1 to 30. And then I
catch up with the editor of For Your Information, otherwise
(01:48):
known as FYI, Liz Dalakouras to discuss this month's issue
for the month of April. I hope you'll enjoy this
week's episode of Talking Vision. Well, April is upon us
and at Vision Australia Radio. That can only mean one
(02:09):
thing in recent years. It's time for 100 K your way. Now,
you've probably heard a lot about 100 K already, but
to fill us in about some of the details, I'm
very pleased to welcome back to Talking Vision, one of
our favorites on the show. Vision Australia Radio's own Jason Gibbs.
(02:33):
Welcome back Jason, thank you very much for your time.
S4 (02:36):
Always good to be on Talking Vision. Sam. Thanks for
having me.
S2 (02:39):
Now, Jason, we're here today to talk about something very exciting.
It's the 100 K Your Way challenge which has just
kicked off. So let's get a bit of a lowdown
about the 100 K your way challenge, in case people
haven't heard about it.
S4 (02:56):
Yeah. So the 100 K challenge has been around for
a few years now. Sam. Um, it's a Vision Australia fundraiser,
which means all different departments and services across the organisation
are supported by this wonderful, um, initiative. And yeah, I
guess it's a it is a fundraising opportunity for VA.
It is an opportunity for the community to come together
to get fit, keep active, um, have a social element
(03:18):
to it, as well as, uh, asking your friends and
family to support really important causes. And for a second
year running, Vision Australia Radio is joining the challenge. Uh,
we've got four teams participating across our different broadcast regions,
and we're asking our wonderful listeners to sign up and
join one of our teams. And the good news is
that if you sign up to a Vision Australia radio team,
(03:40):
you directly support our community radio service.
S2 (03:43):
You certainly do, and it's very greatly appreciated. It does
go a long way and we do appreciate every little bit. Now, Jason,
how can people complete their 100 K. There's a variety
of ways as I understand it.
S4 (03:58):
Absolutely right. Sam. Look, I don't think there's been a
fundraising challenge out there that is more flexible than this.
You don't have to do 100 across the month of
April if you don't want to. You can choose a
lower target. You can choose a higher target. You can run.
You can jog. You can walk, you can ride. You
can swim. You can roll it absolutely accessible. However you
(04:21):
would like to get out in the fresh air or
get on your treadmill or jump in a pool. You
can certainly take part in this challenge and do your
absolute best to, you know, knock over some kilometers and
fundraise for Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (04:35):
And, um, you can also get creative. I know there's
people that have danced their way to 100 K, so
I mean, if you can measure it, you can do it.
Isn't that right?
S4 (04:48):
Absolutely. Look, it's supposed to be a bit of fun.
I mean, if you it's. Look, it is getting harder
and harder for organizations to fundraise. Uh, the overheads for
Vision Australia Radio are astronomical. We say that every year,
even with the power of 600 volunteers, we still have
some overheads and, you know, unavoidable costs that we really
need to tackle. So that's where sponsorship comes in. That's
(05:09):
where in-kind donations and fundraising comes in, like this one.
So it we proved to ourselves last year we did
a pretty good job for a first year participating. And uh,
some of these wonderful people are back to be part
of the fundraising challenge this year. But what we're really
hoping today is that some, you know, a handful perhaps,
of Talking Vision listeners might like to join one of
(05:30):
our teams. So if you feel like you would like
to get fit, get active, get out in the sun and,
you know, hang out with some friends or even just
do it independently, you very much can. And we've got
more information on our website, VA radio.org.
S2 (05:43):
And we'll get back to the finer details about how
people can sign up or perhaps donate if there's friends
or family that have joined up already or they'd like
to join up themselves. But before we do that, Jason,
let's get into some of the things in store for
people that are up for grabs if they do sign up.
S4 (06:06):
There are some lots, lots of wonderful, uh, incentives, thanks
to our supporters, uh, our sponsors of the fundraiser. So,
for example, uh, the first 100 people that make a
self donation of $50 or more by April 30th will
receive a Brooks Sweatband. That's pretty cool. Always handy. Uh,
goal setter raising $100 on your online fundraising page by
(06:27):
April 30th. We'll give you a chance to win one
of five $100 Brooks vouchers. If you raise $250 on
your fundraising page, you'll have a chance to win one
of four $250 book vouchers. And boy, they have some
good shoes. Uh, I've been looking at their website. Charity
champion raised $500 for your chance to win one of
two $500 book vouchers. That will go far. Um, if
(06:49):
you're the highest individual fundraiser on April 30th, you'll be
rewarded with a Brooks running kit featuring $500 Brooks voucher
with some new kicks, drink bottle and a sweatband. So
that's the whole hog there, Sam. There's also weekly winners,
so every Thursday in April is Donate and Hydrate Day,
so you'll receive a donation of any size on your
(07:10):
fundraising page on Thursday for a chance to win one
of five made by Fresco Move drink bottles. These are
pretty cool drink bottles. I don't usually get excited by
drink bottles, but these are nice. These are nice looking
drink bottles and they look sturdy. They're big so you
don't have to keep going back to the tap. They're
very handy.
S2 (07:27):
Yeah, everyone loves a good drink bottle. Jason, I think that's,
you know. Yeah.
S4 (07:31):
Especially when there's also some team incentives. Can I share them?
S2 (07:34):
Yes, you certainly can.
S4 (07:36):
So for every $500 raised by a team, the team
will receive up to eight Vision Australia caps, which is
pretty cool. They'll come in handy when the sun comes
back at the end of the year, and for every
$1,000 raised, the team will receive up to eight custom
100 colorway t shirts. And the exciting thing about that
for us, Sam, is that we don't have a lot
(07:56):
of Vision Australia Radio branded merch, and this year the
100 K t shirts for our Vision Australia radio teams
will have Vision Australia radio team names on them, so
we're pretty excited about that. That means if you join
our RVA, Radio Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne or regional radio teams
and the team raises over $1,000, you should be getting
your hands on a t shirt. And I'm pleased to
(08:17):
say we've got out pretty quickly. And in particular, our
regional radio team and our Perth team have already exceeded
our well exceeded that $1,000 bar. I guess that they
need to. So a little bit of work still to
go in Adelaide and Melbourne. And that's where you guys
come in listening today.
S2 (08:32):
Yes, exactly. But if people would like to sign up
or donate, Jason, let's get those details for people right now.
How can they join the challenge?
S4 (08:44):
Yeah, well, we would absolutely love if our Vision Australia
Radio listeners and sponsors would like to directly support Vision
Australia Radio's efforts in the challenge by going to our
home page, you know by now. The radio's there's a
handy banner there that you can click on that link.
Select that link and it'll take you to information on
joining one of our four teams. If you would like
(09:06):
to donate as opposed to actually join the challenge, you
can also do that. There's a donate link on each
of our pages.
S2 (09:13):
For people out there. Again, you can join for Melbourne, Adelaide,
Perth or regional Victoria, whichever is your preference. We always
do appreciate everyone joining up. Whether you sign up or donate,
every little bit helps, every K, every dollar. It all
goes to a fantastic cause and it's greatly appreciated. So yeah,
(09:37):
it's very exciting Jason. Let's see how it all goes.
S4 (09:40):
Yeah. We've got to get our steps on Sam. We
certainly do go for a walk after this. Yeah.
S2 (09:44):
Yeah. Sounds fantastic. Thank you so much for your time.
S4 (09:49):
Thank you Sam.
S2 (09:50):
That was Jason Gibson from Vision Australia Radio. Having a
chat with me today, all about 100 Koa running from
the 1st to the 30th of April. I'm Sam Culley
and you're listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio.
(10:13):
Associated stations of Reading Radio and the Community Radio Network.
I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Jason. They're having
a chat with me about 100 Koa. If you missed
any part of that conversation with Jason or you'd love
to hear it again. Talking vision is available on the
(10:35):
Vision Australia Radio website. Simply head to RVA radio. That's
RVA radio all one word.org or you can find the
program on the podcast app of your choice or through
the Vision Australia library. It's a new month, which means
it's time for one of the two fortnightly installments of
(10:58):
Vision Australia's newsletter for your information. Otherwise known as FYI.
And of course, that means it's my great pleasure to
welcome back the editor of FYI, Liz Dalakouras to Talking Vision. Liz,
welcome back to Talking Vision. Great to have you as always.
S5 (11:18):
And as always. It's great to be here. Sam.
S2 (11:20):
Now, Liz, today we're here to chat about aged care.
There's quite a few things that are going on in
the aged care space.
S5 (11:29):
Yeah, there is quite a lot going on this side
of the year, with some changes looking to come across
in July. So as a part of a campaign with
the Vision Australia advocacy team, we've set out, we've written
an entire series of new articles. And one of them,
It speaks about the way that the aged care system
is evolving. And those updates are looking to mirror the
(11:49):
NDIS a little bit more, because they're going to be
aimed at increasing choice, transparency and service quality and control.
And so a lot of Vision Australia clients won't see
immediate changes, but those transitioning from a home care package
to support at home, they may experience a new process
to accessing the services. We have more information about that
(12:09):
on our website.
S2 (12:10):
Perfect. But Liz, unfortunately, there are also people out there.
There's scammers that are targeting certain older Australians in the community.
So tell us a bit about some measures that are
there to combat that, and something for people to be
aware of.
S5 (12:30):
Yeah, absolutely. Sam. It's just it is terrible to hear
that scammers are impersonating officials from the NDIS, from Services Australia,
Centrelink and myGov, all those places that offer support to
particularly our blind, low vision clients. You may find that
you're receiving text messages or emails that have links asking
(12:50):
you to update your details through myGov. They are not real.
Do not click on them. Speak to someone who is
tech savvy and get them to see if it is
a scam. You can find more information about this on
the Services Australia website. Just don't click anything.
S2 (13:07):
Certainly don't click anything. And there are some bits of
advice from the real organisations out there who do send
messages saying we won't contact you in this certain way.
You know, if you get this sort of stuff, contact them,
because they also want to know that this stuff is
out there so they can look into it and look
(13:30):
to stamp it out so everyone works together. It'll all
be sorted out, but what else is there in store
for people out there in terms of aged care and useless.
S5 (13:42):
As a part of that same advocacy campaign that we're doing.
We spoke to a lot of clients, and we understand
that just understanding and navigating the aged care system can
be quite overwhelming. It can be hard to know what
you should be focusing on when you should be focusing
on it. Not to mention all these new changes that
are coming in that you now have to factor in.
(14:03):
So that's why we have broken it all down for you.
And we've simplified the common challenges, just helping you figure
out what exactly you want and what you need to
get the right support to stay living in your own home.
S2 (14:16):
Perfect.
S5 (14:17):
If you need to make aged, yeah, you need to
make aged care clearer. Jump on our website. Have a
read of these new resources.
S2 (14:23):
Certainly a lot of great resources out there for people
to check out. And in some other exciting news, Liz,
there's some news around one of the largest contingents that
are heading to the special Winter Olympics this year. So
tell us a little bit about that. That's pretty cool.
S5 (14:43):
It is so cool and some really exciting news in
what can otherwise be a little bit concerning in other
areas of the media, but Australia is sending their largest
ever team to the Special Olympics World Winter games, so
will be represented by 14 athletes for the first time ever.
And they luckily get to fly to Italy to compete.
S2 (15:05):
Oh that's fantastic. Up in the snowfields in Italy, up
in the Alps. You can't get any much better than that.
So that's just going to be an experience of a lifetime, really.
So very keen to hear from them and see how
they all go there and hopefully lots of gold medals.
S5 (15:23):
Not to mention the food.
S2 (15:25):
Oh, that's very true. Oh, wow. That'll just be unforgettable. Now, Liz,
there's some audio description offerings at the Sydney Opera House,
specifically Picnic at hanging Rock.
S5 (15:37):
Yeah, that's that's a really exciting one because like so
many people at school, you study picnic and hanging Rock
as a novel. And so that is now going to
be on the stage at the Sydney Opera House in
on April the 5th. And just as excitingly, it's going
to be audio described. So you can enjoy that classic
(15:58):
story that we all sort of grew up with on
stage at the Sydney Opera House.
S2 (16:04):
Perfect. That's wonderful. So yeah, for all our Sydney listeners
out there, or if you know someone who can get
to the opera House and would absolutely love to head along,
feel free to let them know. And Liz, the Tertiary
Ready program is back in 2025, so that's pretty exciting.
S5 (16:26):
It is so exciting. It's such a popular program and
it's been designed for young people so aged between 14
and 18 who are blind or have low vision, and
they are interested in pursuing further tertiary education. So when
they're in high school, they're just not sure what do
I want to be when I grow up? But I
know I want to be something. This program is perfect.
(16:48):
It's available across the country in online sessions, and it
just helps your child make informed choices about their future.
It's a great little program.
S2 (16:58):
Certainly it's a great little program. And FYI is a
great little newsletter. And if you'd like to sign up
to receive FYI every two weeks in your inbox, simply
head to Vision Australia's website at Vision Australia. That's Vision
Australia all one word.org and search. Sign up to FYI
(17:23):
to add your details to the mailing list. Well Liz,
it's been great to chat with you today. It's always
a pleasure. So thank you very much for joining me today.
I've been speaking today with Liz Dalakouras, editor of For
your Information. Otherwise known as FYI for this month's issue
(17:46):
in April. Liz, thank you so much for your time today.
S5 (17:50):
Thank you for having me, Sam. It was a pleasure,
as always.
S2 (18:00):
And now, finally, this week, we feature a small clip
from the Career Path podcast, set to come out in
early May. This episode I catch up with Fiona Heron
from Commonwealth Bank, who chats to me all about how
she disclosed her vision condition, but also the process she
(18:23):
went through when experiencing vision loss to come to terms
with her vision condition and how to talk about it
with other people. How can someone with vision loss determine
the right time to disclose their vision condition during the
job application process?
S3 (18:42):
It's such an important point to get to. It really
differs for different people where you're at on your sort
of vision acceptance journey. And I think it's also up
to the employer to kind of let you know what's
happening during the recruitment process, so you can understand where
you might experience a barrier. But I have been kind
of on all sides of that. I've done a lot
(19:02):
of recruitment. I've done a lot of interviewing, and I'm
really at a point in my life where I want to, like,
loudly and proudly share it, because there's going to be
times when you need the other people to know about that.
So particularly if you're meeting your who's going to be
your people leader, it's really helpful to let them know
upfront so they can try to be as supportive as possible.
(19:25):
You know, we're setting other people up for failure to
let us down if we're not bringing them on the
journey with us. So I'm a big encourager of it,
which is funny because, you know, this time a year ago,
even I was I really struggled to talk about this,
but definitely during recruitment I tried to always share it.
It's then once you're in the role and how things go,
(19:45):
I wasn't so open about it, but it's quite life
changing to really embrace it and make it part of
who you are.
S2 (19:52):
When people are sort of jumping into this sort of thing,
there's no doubt a few fears, a few concerns that
they might have. So how can focusing on your strengths
and accomplishments help overcome this fear of disclosing a vision condition?
S3 (20:10):
It's so critical to it, really. That's been how I've
kind of approached it. I felt like really thinking about
my strengths and also my values. It really helped me align.
Like I really value being authentic and having a bit
of a laugh. I'm quite like to, you know, inject
a bit of humor. And so when I wasn't talking
about it, or when I talked about it in a somber,
(20:33):
serious way, which sometimes it needs to be, it can
be a really an emotional topic. But realizing for myself,
like being able to make a joke about it or
say something kind of light heartedly and let other people
know it's okay to then ask questions and those sorts
of things. So thinking about it in how you sort
(20:53):
of value how you communicate, but then also playing it
up as well, like it's such a strength for me.
I know this isn't the case for all people with
low vision or blindness, but I have really great hearing.
So I sort of really lean into that a lot,
as that can be a real strength, because I sort
of got like moderate low vision. And my peripheral vision
is 2020 due to the macular degeneration that I have.
(21:15):
And so through that, the way I sort of view things,
I can identify things that are out of pattern or
out of sort quite quickly as well. So if I'm
skimming over something I can really see or out of
the corner of my eye. See? Really? Well, there's an
error somewhere, or this isn't lined up or that sort
of thing. So there's all sorts of little things and it's. Yeah,
it just sort of adds to it. And being able
to be your real self lets other people kind of
(21:36):
know that strength about you as well. And it doesn't
have to be kind of a taboo subject.
S2 (21:41):
And Fe, I guess following on from that a little bit,
what were your biggest worries and concerns before disclosing your
vision loss at work and what ultimately led you to share?
S3 (21:54):
Mm. Been reflecting on that a little bit because honestly,
the first time coming back to like the main topic
of the episode, disclosing during recruitment, the very first time
I did that was about seven years ago, right about now,
to be honest, and I genuinely thought they were going
to retract the offer. I hadn't disclosed it during the recruitment,
but when I was completing that new starter paperwork, there
(22:18):
was a question and I can't even remember what the
question was. But I remember being like, oh, I've had
these struggles and it's always really frustrating to like, tell
my boss once I've started and that I don't know
what to ask for. So why do I need to
tell them that I have a condition when I don't
know how they can help? So I was really in
that spiral and I then filled out that new starter paperwork.
(22:39):
But because it had been, I hadn't shared it during
the recruitment, the manager was trying to understand and I
honestly was convinced for like two weeks they were just
going to be like, sorry, you can't work here. But
spoiler alert, that was at commbank and I still work
there seven years later.
S2 (22:53):
So there you.
S3 (22:54):
Go. That worked out well.
S2 (22:55):
It did. Sounds like it for sure.
S3 (22:57):
And it's been really scary. So that kind of was
a catalyst to go, okay, that wasn't so scary or
it was very scary, but I got through it. It
wasn't so hard I suppose. And then so it's just
kind of chipped away and taking a little step each time,
you know, when I met different people. So my boss
knew that. So he tried to really have inclusive meetings,
and it was sort of my first taste of that
and doing projects and seeing how people can find ways
(23:20):
to support that, I can't think of was sort of
a nice taste of like, oh, I don't have to
have the solution. I can just tell people, I can't
read that thing that you're showing me. And then so
they're like, oh, I can just read it out loud
as we do this, or how about we project it
up on the screen and make it bigger, like just
other people thinking of how to overcome barriers was my
(23:41):
sort of my first experience of that. So that was
really great. And then it's just been bit by bit going, okay,
oh yeah, I'm going to tell people during recruitment or
tell people, you know, I did I've done a lot
of onboarding of other people. So telling other new starters
and being one of the signposts that like, hey, you
can be yourself here too, and you can share these things.
And then, yeah, really sort of slowly just stepping a
(24:04):
little bit more into the light and owning the narrative
and now seeing how much quicker I can kind of
get up to speed in work or feel comfortable in participating.
All of that is now like, I can't imagine going
backwards now because I feel so much more able to
concentrate on what I'm there to do, rather than the
stress and anxiety of like, okay, there's this other layer,
(24:25):
and do I tell people and that sort of thing.
I can enjoy now, like a comfort of I can
talk about it if I want to or I need to,
but it's also out there as information. I don't feel
like I have to unless there's something, so it's a
bit more. I feel a bit more in control of
the story.
S2 (24:41):
I'm keen to jump over to a bit more of
the legal side of things now. So, um, when is
it legally necessary to disclose your vision condition during the
job application process, and how should it be approached? I mean,
from your perspective, but I guess from a legal standpoint
(25:01):
as well.
S3 (25:02):
Yeah, I'm not an expert in this field. So like
all the asterisks around this, this is just mostly my
opinion and a little bit of experience in work I've
done in in HR over the last 17 years. It's
about what the job you're applying for is if the
part of the role is a requirement for a driver's license,
and you don't hold a driver's license. That's going to
be really legally necessary to talk about that, and you're
(25:25):
probably not eligible for that role. I think that's kind
of the main one. So again, it comes back to
the employer being really clear about what's the requirements or
inherent requirements is a term that's used a lot as
well of what's going to be required in the role.
So from my viewpoint, that's kind of the main part
of it. I don't know if you guys have other
advice on when it's legally necessary, but I think it's that, yeah,
(25:47):
if it's going to impact your ability to do the
role as it's been described, it doesn't mean you can't
necessarily apply or can't find ways to adjust how that
role is worked. I think that's the exciting conversation that
we're starting to see more movement on of. We don't
all have to do the same job in the same way.
So how can we adjust the environment so people can
get the work done? But that's a bit of a
(26:08):
different one around that. Right. To request adjustment in the workplace.
S2 (26:17):
And that's all the time we have for today. You've
been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
So please get in touch anytime on our email at
Talking Vision at Vision Australia. That's talking vision all. One
(26:42):
word at Vision Australia. But until next week it's Sam
Kerley saying bye for now.
S1 (26:52):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on 130084746. That's one 384 74 six. Or
by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host Sam Colley.
S2 (00:23):
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
and low vision.
S3 (00:30):
Now, seeing how much quicker I can kind of get
up to speed in work or feel comfortable in participating,
all of that is now like, I can't imagine going
backwards now because I feel so much more able to
concentrate on what I'm there to do, rather than the
stress and anxiety of like, okay, there's this other layer,
and do I tell people and that sort of thing.
(00:50):
I can enjoy now, like a comfort of I can
talk about it if I want to or I need to,
but it's also out there as information. I don't feel
like I have to unless there's something, so it's a
bit more. I feel a bit more in control of
the story.
S2 (01:04):
Welcome to the show. You'll hear that interview later. That's
Fiona Herron from Commonwealth Bank talking about disclosing her vision
condition at work. She caught up with me as part
of the Career Path podcast, which will be launching early
next month, so make sure to keep tabs on that one.
(01:26):
But before we hear that small clip from my chat
with Fiona, I'm very pleased to be joined by Jason
Gipps from Vision Australia Radio talking about 100 K Your Way,
taking place from April 1 to 30. And then I
catch up with the editor of For Your Information, otherwise
(01:48):
known as FYI, Liz Dalakouras to discuss this month's issue
for the month of April. I hope you'll enjoy this
week's episode of Talking Vision. Well, April is upon us
and at Vision Australia Radio. That can only mean one
(02:09):
thing in recent years. It's time for 100 K your way. Now,
you've probably heard a lot about 100 K already, but
to fill us in about some of the details, I'm
very pleased to welcome back to Talking Vision, one of
our favorites on the show. Vision Australia Radio's own Jason Gibbs.
(02:33):
Welcome back Jason, thank you very much for your time.
S4 (02:36):
Always good to be on Talking Vision. Sam. Thanks for
having me.
S2 (02:39):
Now, Jason, we're here today to talk about something very exciting.
It's the 100 K Your Way challenge which has just
kicked off. So let's get a bit of a lowdown
about the 100 K your way challenge, in case people
haven't heard about it.
S4 (02:56):
Yeah. So the 100 K challenge has been around for
a few years now. Sam. Um, it's a Vision Australia fundraiser,
which means all different departments and services across the organisation
are supported by this wonderful, um, initiative. And yeah, I
guess it's a it is a fundraising opportunity for VA.
It is an opportunity for the community to come together
to get fit, keep active, um, have a social element
(03:18):
to it, as well as, uh, asking your friends and
family to support really important causes. And for a second
year running, Vision Australia Radio is joining the challenge. Uh,
we've got four teams participating across our different broadcast regions,
and we're asking our wonderful listeners to sign up and
join one of our teams. And the good news is
that if you sign up to a Vision Australia radio team,
(03:40):
you directly support our community radio service.
S2 (03:43):
You certainly do, and it's very greatly appreciated. It does
go a long way and we do appreciate every little bit. Now, Jason,
how can people complete their 100 K. There's a variety
of ways as I understand it.
S4 (03:58):
Absolutely right. Sam. Look, I don't think there's been a
fundraising challenge out there that is more flexible than this.
You don't have to do 100 across the month of
April if you don't want to. You can choose a
lower target. You can choose a higher target. You can run.
You can jog. You can walk, you can ride. You
can swim. You can roll it absolutely accessible. However you
(04:21):
would like to get out in the fresh air or
get on your treadmill or jump in a pool. You
can certainly take part in this challenge and do your
absolute best to, you know, knock over some kilometers and
fundraise for Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (04:35):
And, um, you can also get creative. I know there's
people that have danced their way to 100 K, so
I mean, if you can measure it, you can do it.
Isn't that right?
S4 (04:48):
Absolutely. Look, it's supposed to be a bit of fun.
I mean, if you it's. Look, it is getting harder
and harder for organizations to fundraise. Uh, the overheads for
Vision Australia Radio are astronomical. We say that every year,
even with the power of 600 volunteers, we still have
some overheads and, you know, unavoidable costs that we really
need to tackle. So that's where sponsorship comes in. That's
(05:09):
where in-kind donations and fundraising comes in, like this one.
So it we proved to ourselves last year we did
a pretty good job for a first year participating. And uh,
some of these wonderful people are back to be part
of the fundraising challenge this year. But what we're really
hoping today is that some, you know, a handful perhaps,
of Talking Vision listeners might like to join one of
(05:30):
our teams. So if you feel like you would like
to get fit, get active, get out in the sun and,
you know, hang out with some friends or even just
do it independently, you very much can. And we've got
more information on our website, VA radio.org.
S2 (05:43):
And we'll get back to the finer details about how
people can sign up or perhaps donate if there's friends
or family that have joined up already or they'd like
to join up themselves. But before we do that, Jason,
let's get into some of the things in store for
people that are up for grabs if they do sign up.
S4 (06:06):
There are some lots, lots of wonderful, uh, incentives, thanks
to our supporters, uh, our sponsors of the fundraiser. So,
for example, uh, the first 100 people that make a
self donation of $50 or more by April 30th will
receive a Brooks Sweatband. That's pretty cool. Always handy. Uh,
goal setter raising $100 on your online fundraising page by
(06:27):
April 30th. We'll give you a chance to win one
of five $100 Brooks vouchers. If you raise $250 on
your fundraising page, you'll have a chance to win one
of four $250 book vouchers. And boy, they have some
good shoes. Uh, I've been looking at their website. Charity
champion raised $500 for your chance to win one of
two $500 book vouchers. That will go far. Um, if
(06:49):
you're the highest individual fundraiser on April 30th, you'll be
rewarded with a Brooks running kit featuring $500 Brooks voucher
with some new kicks, drink bottle and a sweatband. So
that's the whole hog there, Sam. There's also weekly winners,
so every Thursday in April is Donate and Hydrate Day,
so you'll receive a donation of any size on your
(07:10):
fundraising page on Thursday for a chance to win one
of five made by Fresco Move drink bottles. These are
pretty cool drink bottles. I don't usually get excited by
drink bottles, but these are nice. These are nice looking
drink bottles and they look sturdy. They're big so you
don't have to keep going back to the tap. They're
very handy.
S2 (07:27):
Yeah, everyone loves a good drink bottle. Jason, I think that's,
you know. Yeah.
S4 (07:31):
Especially when there's also some team incentives. Can I share them?
S2 (07:34):
Yes, you certainly can.
S4 (07:36):
So for every $500 raised by a team, the team
will receive up to eight Vision Australia caps, which is
pretty cool. They'll come in handy when the sun comes
back at the end of the year, and for every
$1,000 raised, the team will receive up to eight custom
100 colorway t shirts. And the exciting thing about that
for us, Sam, is that we don't have a lot
(07:56):
of Vision Australia Radio branded merch, and this year the
100 K t shirts for our Vision Australia radio teams
will have Vision Australia radio team names on them, so
we're pretty excited about that. That means if you join
our RVA, Radio Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne or regional radio teams
and the team raises over $1,000, you should be getting
your hands on a t shirt. And I'm pleased to
(08:17):
say we've got out pretty quickly. And in particular, our
regional radio team and our Perth team have already exceeded
our well exceeded that $1,000 bar. I guess that they
need to. So a little bit of work still to
go in Adelaide and Melbourne. And that's where you guys
come in listening today.
S2 (08:32):
Yes, exactly. But if people would like to sign up
or donate, Jason, let's get those details for people right now.
How can they join the challenge?
S4 (08:44):
Yeah, well, we would absolutely love if our Vision Australia
Radio listeners and sponsors would like to directly support Vision
Australia Radio's efforts in the challenge by going to our
home page, you know by now. The radio's there's a
handy banner there that you can click on that link.
Select that link and it'll take you to information on
joining one of our four teams. If you would like
(09:06):
to donate as opposed to actually join the challenge, you
can also do that. There's a donate link on each
of our pages.
S2 (09:13):
For people out there. Again, you can join for Melbourne, Adelaide,
Perth or regional Victoria, whichever is your preference. We always
do appreciate everyone joining up. Whether you sign up or donate,
every little bit helps, every K, every dollar. It all
goes to a fantastic cause and it's greatly appreciated. So yeah,
(09:37):
it's very exciting Jason. Let's see how it all goes.
S4 (09:40):
Yeah. We've got to get our steps on Sam. We
certainly do go for a walk after this. Yeah.
S2 (09:44):
Yeah. Sounds fantastic. Thank you so much for your time.
S4 (09:49):
Thank you Sam.
S2 (09:50):
That was Jason Gibson from Vision Australia Radio. Having a
chat with me today, all about 100 Koa running from
the 1st to the 30th of April. I'm Sam Culley
and you're listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio.
(10:13):
Associated stations of Reading Radio and the Community Radio Network.
I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Jason. They're having
a chat with me about 100 Koa. If you missed
any part of that conversation with Jason or you'd love
to hear it again. Talking vision is available on the
(10:35):
Vision Australia Radio website. Simply head to RVA radio. That's
RVA radio all one word.org or you can find the
program on the podcast app of your choice or through
the Vision Australia library. It's a new month, which means
it's time for one of the two fortnightly installments of
(10:58):
Vision Australia's newsletter for your information. Otherwise known as FYI.
And of course, that means it's my great pleasure to
welcome back the editor of FYI, Liz Dalakouras to Talking Vision. Liz,
welcome back to Talking Vision. Great to have you as always.
S5 (11:18):
And as always. It's great to be here. Sam.
S2 (11:20):
Now, Liz, today we're here to chat about aged care.
There's quite a few things that are going on in
the aged care space.
S5 (11:29):
Yeah, there is quite a lot going on this side
of the year, with some changes looking to come across
in July. So as a part of a campaign with
the Vision Australia advocacy team, we've set out, we've written
an entire series of new articles. And one of them,
It speaks about the way that the aged care system
is evolving. And those updates are looking to mirror the
(11:49):
NDIS a little bit more, because they're going to be
aimed at increasing choice, transparency and service quality and control.
And so a lot of Vision Australia clients won't see
immediate changes, but those transitioning from a home care package
to support at home, they may experience a new process
to accessing the services. We have more information about that
(12:09):
on our website.
S2 (12:10):
Perfect. But Liz, unfortunately, there are also people out there.
There's scammers that are targeting certain older Australians in the community.
So tell us a bit about some measures that are
there to combat that, and something for people to be
aware of.
S5 (12:30):
Yeah, absolutely. Sam. It's just it is terrible to hear
that scammers are impersonating officials from the NDIS, from Services Australia,
Centrelink and myGov, all those places that offer support to
particularly our blind, low vision clients. You may find that
you're receiving text messages or emails that have links asking
(12:50):
you to update your details through myGov. They are not real.
Do not click on them. Speak to someone who is
tech savvy and get them to see if it is
a scam. You can find more information about this on
the Services Australia website. Just don't click anything.
S2 (13:07):
Certainly don't click anything. And there are some bits of
advice from the real organisations out there who do send
messages saying we won't contact you in this certain way.
You know, if you get this sort of stuff, contact them,
because they also want to know that this stuff is
out there so they can look into it and look
(13:30):
to stamp it out so everyone works together. It'll all
be sorted out, but what else is there in store
for people out there in terms of aged care and useless.
S5 (13:42):
As a part of that same advocacy campaign that we're doing.
We spoke to a lot of clients, and we understand
that just understanding and navigating the aged care system can
be quite overwhelming. It can be hard to know what
you should be focusing on when you should be focusing
on it. Not to mention all these new changes that
are coming in that you now have to factor in.
(14:03):
So that's why we have broken it all down for you.
And we've simplified the common challenges, just helping you figure
out what exactly you want and what you need to
get the right support to stay living in your own home.
S2 (14:16):
Perfect.
S5 (14:17):
If you need to make aged, yeah, you need to
make aged care clearer. Jump on our website. Have a
read of these new resources.
S2 (14:23):
Certainly a lot of great resources out there for people
to check out. And in some other exciting news, Liz,
there's some news around one of the largest contingents that
are heading to the special Winter Olympics this year. So
tell us a little bit about that. That's pretty cool.
S5 (14:43):
It is so cool and some really exciting news in
what can otherwise be a little bit concerning in other
areas of the media, but Australia is sending their largest
ever team to the Special Olympics World Winter games, so
will be represented by 14 athletes for the first time ever.
And they luckily get to fly to Italy to compete.
S2 (15:05):
Oh that's fantastic. Up in the snowfields in Italy, up
in the Alps. You can't get any much better than that.
So that's just going to be an experience of a lifetime, really.
So very keen to hear from them and see how
they all go there and hopefully lots of gold medals.
S5 (15:23):
Not to mention the food.
S2 (15:25):
Oh, that's very true. Oh, wow. That'll just be unforgettable. Now, Liz,
there's some audio description offerings at the Sydney Opera House,
specifically Picnic at hanging Rock.
S5 (15:37):
Yeah, that's that's a really exciting one because like so
many people at school, you study picnic and hanging Rock
as a novel. And so that is now going to
be on the stage at the Sydney Opera House in
on April the 5th. And just as excitingly, it's going
to be audio described. So you can enjoy that classic
(15:58):
story that we all sort of grew up with on
stage at the Sydney Opera House.
S2 (16:04):
Perfect. That's wonderful. So yeah, for all our Sydney listeners
out there, or if you know someone who can get
to the opera House and would absolutely love to head along,
feel free to let them know. And Liz, the Tertiary
Ready program is back in 2025, so that's pretty exciting.
S5 (16:26):
It is so exciting. It's such a popular program and
it's been designed for young people so aged between 14
and 18 who are blind or have low vision, and
they are interested in pursuing further tertiary education. So when
they're in high school, they're just not sure what do
I want to be when I grow up? But I
know I want to be something. This program is perfect.
(16:48):
It's available across the country in online sessions, and it
just helps your child make informed choices about their future.
It's a great little program.
S2 (16:58):
Certainly it's a great little program. And FYI is a
great little newsletter. And if you'd like to sign up
to receive FYI every two weeks in your inbox, simply
head to Vision Australia's website at Vision Australia. That's Vision
Australia all one word.org and search. Sign up to FYI
(17:23):
to add your details to the mailing list. Well Liz,
it's been great to chat with you today. It's always
a pleasure. So thank you very much for joining me today.
I've been speaking today with Liz Dalakouras, editor of For
your Information. Otherwise known as FYI for this month's issue
(17:46):
in April. Liz, thank you so much for your time today.
S5 (17:50):
Thank you for having me, Sam. It was a pleasure,
as always.
S2 (18:00):
And now, finally, this week, we feature a small clip
from the Career Path podcast, set to come out in
early May. This episode I catch up with Fiona Heron
from Commonwealth Bank, who chats to me all about how
she disclosed her vision condition, but also the process she
(18:23):
went through when experiencing vision loss to come to terms
with her vision condition and how to talk about it
with other people. How can someone with vision loss determine
the right time to disclose their vision condition during the
job application process?
S3 (18:42):
It's such an important point to get to. It really
differs for different people where you're at on your sort
of vision acceptance journey. And I think it's also up
to the employer to kind of let you know what's
happening during the recruitment process, so you can understand where
you might experience a barrier. But I have been kind
of on all sides of that. I've done a lot
(19:02):
of recruitment. I've done a lot of interviewing, and I'm
really at a point in my life where I want to, like,
loudly and proudly share it, because there's going to be
times when you need the other people to know about that.
So particularly if you're meeting your who's going to be
your people leader, it's really helpful to let them know
upfront so they can try to be as supportive as possible.
(19:25):
You know, we're setting other people up for failure to
let us down if we're not bringing them on the
journey with us. So I'm a big encourager of it,
which is funny because, you know, this time a year ago,
even I was I really struggled to talk about this,
but definitely during recruitment I tried to always share it.
It's then once you're in the role and how things go,
(19:45):
I wasn't so open about it, but it's quite life
changing to really embrace it and make it part of
who you are.
S2 (19:52):
When people are sort of jumping into this sort of thing,
there's no doubt a few fears, a few concerns that
they might have. So how can focusing on your strengths
and accomplishments help overcome this fear of disclosing a vision condition?
S3 (20:10):
It's so critical to it, really. That's been how I've
kind of approached it. I felt like really thinking about
my strengths and also my values. It really helped me align.
Like I really value being authentic and having a bit
of a laugh. I'm quite like to, you know, inject
a bit of humor. And so when I wasn't talking
about it, or when I talked about it in a somber,
(20:33):
serious way, which sometimes it needs to be, it can
be a really an emotional topic. But realizing for myself,
like being able to make a joke about it or
say something kind of light heartedly and let other people
know it's okay to then ask questions and those sorts
of things. So thinking about it in how you sort
(20:53):
of value how you communicate, but then also playing it
up as well, like it's such a strength for me.
I know this isn't the case for all people with
low vision or blindness, but I have really great hearing.
So I sort of really lean into that a lot,
as that can be a real strength, because I sort
of got like moderate low vision. And my peripheral vision
is 2020 due to the macular degeneration that I have.
(21:15):
And so through that, the way I sort of view things,
I can identify things that are out of pattern or
out of sort quite quickly as well. So if I'm
skimming over something I can really see or out of
the corner of my eye. See? Really? Well, there's an
error somewhere, or this isn't lined up or that sort
of thing. So there's all sorts of little things and it's. Yeah,
it just sort of adds to it. And being able
to be your real self lets other people kind of
(21:36):
know that strength about you as well. And it doesn't
have to be kind of a taboo subject.
S2 (21:41):
And Fe, I guess following on from that a little bit,
what were your biggest worries and concerns before disclosing your
vision loss at work and what ultimately led you to share?
S3 (21:54):
Mm. Been reflecting on that a little bit because honestly,
the first time coming back to like the main topic
of the episode, disclosing during recruitment, the very first time
I did that was about seven years ago, right about now,
to be honest, and I genuinely thought they were going
to retract the offer. I hadn't disclosed it during the recruitment,
but when I was completing that new starter paperwork, there
(22:18):
was a question and I can't even remember what the
question was. But I remember being like, oh, I've had
these struggles and it's always really frustrating to like, tell
my boss once I've started and that I don't know
what to ask for. So why do I need to
tell them that I have a condition when I don't
know how they can help? So I was really in
that spiral and I then filled out that new starter paperwork.
(22:39):
But because it had been, I hadn't shared it during
the recruitment, the manager was trying to understand and I
honestly was convinced for like two weeks they were just
going to be like, sorry, you can't work here. But
spoiler alert, that was at commbank and I still work
there seven years later.
S2 (22:53):
So there you.
S3 (22:54):
Go. That worked out well.
S2 (22:55):
It did. Sounds like it for sure.
S3 (22:57):
And it's been really scary. So that kind of was
a catalyst to go, okay, that wasn't so scary or
it was very scary, but I got through it. It
wasn't so hard I suppose. And then so it's just
kind of chipped away and taking a little step each time,
you know, when I met different people. So my boss
knew that. So he tried to really have inclusive meetings,
and it was sort of my first taste of that
and doing projects and seeing how people can find ways
(23:20):
to support that, I can't think of was sort of
a nice taste of like, oh, I don't have to
have the solution. I can just tell people, I can't
read that thing that you're showing me. And then so
they're like, oh, I can just read it out loud
as we do this, or how about we project it
up on the screen and make it bigger, like just
other people thinking of how to overcome barriers was my
(23:41):
sort of my first experience of that. So that was
really great. And then it's just been bit by bit going, okay,
oh yeah, I'm going to tell people during recruitment or
tell people, you know, I did I've done a lot
of onboarding of other people. So telling other new starters
and being one of the signposts that like, hey, you
can be yourself here too, and you can share these things.
And then, yeah, really sort of slowly just stepping a
(24:04):
little bit more into the light and owning the narrative
and now seeing how much quicker I can kind of
get up to speed in work or feel comfortable in participating.
All of that is now like, I can't imagine going
backwards now because I feel so much more able to
concentrate on what I'm there to do, rather than the
stress and anxiety of like, okay, there's this other layer,
(24:25):
and do I tell people and that sort of thing.
I can enjoy now, like a comfort of I can
talk about it if I want to or I need to,
but it's also out there as information. I don't feel
like I have to unless there's something, so it's a
bit more. I feel a bit more in control of
the story.
S2 (24:41):
I'm keen to jump over to a bit more of
the legal side of things now. So, um, when is
it legally necessary to disclose your vision condition during the
job application process, and how should it be approached? I mean,
from your perspective, but I guess from a legal standpoint
(25:01):
as well.
S3 (25:02):
Yeah, I'm not an expert in this field. So like
all the asterisks around this, this is just mostly my
opinion and a little bit of experience in work I've
done in in HR over the last 17 years. It's
about what the job you're applying for is if the
part of the role is a requirement for a driver's license,
and you don't hold a driver's license. That's going to
be really legally necessary to talk about that, and you're
(25:25):
probably not eligible for that role. I think that's kind
of the main one. So again, it comes back to
the employer being really clear about what's the requirements or
inherent requirements is a term that's used a lot as
well of what's going to be required in the role.
So from my viewpoint, that's kind of the main part
of it. I don't know if you guys have other
advice on when it's legally necessary, but I think it's that, yeah,
(25:47):
if it's going to impact your ability to do the
role as it's been described, it doesn't mean you can't
necessarily apply or can't find ways to adjust how that
role is worked. I think that's the exciting conversation that
we're starting to see more movement on of. We don't
all have to do the same job in the same way.
So how can we adjust the environment so people can
get the work done? But that's a bit of a
(26:08):
different one around that. Right. To request adjustment in the workplace.
S2 (26:17):
And that's all the time we have for today. You've
been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
So please get in touch anytime on our email at
Talking Vision at Vision Australia. That's talking vision all. One
(26:42):
word at Vision Australia. But until next week it's Sam
Kerley saying bye for now.
S1 (26:52):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on 130084746. That's one 384 74 six. Or
by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.
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