October 29, 2025 • 28 mins
Sam speaks to CEO of Bus Stop Films, Tracey Corbin-Matchett about an upcoming disability employment summit that Bus Stop Films has been involved in running, now is its second year.
The summit is called Driving Change, taking place over three days on 25-27 November both in Bondi and online, for members of the screen industry and creatives with lived experience of disability including but not limited to deafness, neurodivergence or mobility needs.
We also finish up with a bit of news and information, and Frances joins the show with a Reader Recommended.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:21):
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
your host, Sam Colley.
S2 (00:31):
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 (00:38):
We have lots of big conferences and networking events. Q
and A's, where you might have a disabled person on
one panel, or there might be one panel within a
conference about disability, but this is unlocking that. And every
panel across the two days is really exploring that.
S2 (00:57):
Welcome to the program. This week we catch up with
Tracey Corbin Matchett, CEO of Bus Stop Films, who's the
organizer of the upcoming Disability Employment Summit driving change taking
place in late November, both in Bondi and online. I
(01:18):
chat with Tracy all about the summit, including all the
information and more about the topics and sessions people attending
can expect to head along to, and her hopes for
the industry in the future for people in the disability community.
We also finish up with a little bit of news
(01:39):
and information, but for the time being, I hope you
enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. Driving change, the
Disability Employment Summit for members of the screen industry with
a disability, is coming back in just a month's time,
(02:03):
and to have a chat with me all about it,
I'm very pleased to welcome to Talking Vision, the CEO
of Bus Stop Films. The organizer of the summit, Tracy
Corbin Matchett. Tracy, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you so
much for your time.
S3 (02:22):
Thank you so much, Sam, for having me.
S2 (02:24):
Now, of course, Tracy, we're here to chat about Driving
Change the Disability Employment Summit, which is coming up in
just a month's time, roughly. So tell us a bit
about the Disability Employment Summit.
S3 (02:41):
So the Driving Change Disability Employment Summit is an event
focusing on the employment of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people
across film, TV and commercial production and advertising. Looking at
the employment of people with disability on both sides of
the camera. And it's an event that Bus Stop Films
(03:04):
launched last year, and we're running it again this year,
both in person at Bondi and online, Mine, and it
came about from an experience I had that I'm calling
an advocacy tantrum, which is a term I made up myself.
But in 2023, the federal government held an employment summit
(03:25):
in Canberra. And it was, you know, bringing together key players, policymakers,
industries to discuss employment. And I was really determined to
see that disability employment within the screen industry was discussed.
And so I sort of tracked down who from our
industry was representing our concerns, which was screen producers Australia
(03:49):
and two representatives from that organisation attended. Unfortunately, disability employment
didn't make the agenda within the context of the screen industry,
and I was really disappointed about that because to me,
the industry is such a powerful medium for social change
in terms of storytelling and advocacy, but it also employs
a lot of people and receives a significant amount of
(04:11):
government support. And my theory is if you're getting support
from the federal government, from any government actually at any level,
that you should be considering how your programs and processes
support people with disabilities. So I was like, well, you know,
if you don't get invited to dinner, build a table
and invite your friends around and host your own dinner.
(04:32):
So I said to my board, we should really host
our own summit and engage with the industry and bring
the industry together to elevate and celebrate the employment of
people with disability in our sector. But if we're going
to do it, we have to do it in a
way that's parallel to how the screen industry gets together,
because I'm sure you may appreciate Sam, sometimes events around
(04:55):
the disability sector are really boring. They're in a scout
hall somewhere. You get bad coffee and a packet of biscuits,
and no one really makes an effort to make it
really engaging in special. So I said, let's, you know,
do it how the screen industry does it. It has
to have welcome drinks. It has to be networking. It
has to be a little bit sexy. So, you know,
Bondi is Australia's own answer to Hollywood in some respects.
(05:16):
So we hosted it at Bondi and it was an
amazing event. So we're doing it again this year, both
in person at Bondi and live streamed.
S2 (05:24):
Perfect. Well, let's have a bit of a chat. More
about that summit in Bondi coming up. And I understand
there's a couple of key sessions that are coming up
for people to check out. So tell us a bit
about those ones.
S3 (05:41):
So the summit goes across two days, um, with a
welcome reception. Um, the night before, hosted by the governor General,
Sam Mohsen, who is a patron of Bustop films. And
the summit across the two days is looking at different
elements across film, TV and commercial production, both in the
(06:01):
creativity side and the storytelling side, the policy side and
the production. We have over 75 speakers, with more than
half of those representing the deaf, disabled and neurodivergent community,
which is amazing. Last year at the summit, we had
an all deaf panel, and I've been part of the
hard of hearing and deaf community for a very long
(06:23):
time now, and I had never seen an all deaf panel,
and it was suggested by one of our team members,
you know, let's build on that for 2025 and have
a panel that was really celebrating the blind, low vision community.
And so I said yes. So we have this amazing
panel hosted by Matt Formston, who is a blind surfer
(06:44):
and filmmaker, together with Nars Campanella, disability affairs reporter from
the ABC, and Nicole, who's a singer and star of
the ami TV commercial, and Ben Phillips, who's an amazing
actor who's blind, who we've worked with a number of
times at Bus Stop Films, which is really an amazing
opportunity to celebrate the blind, low vision community in terms
(07:09):
of screen and media and storytelling. I guess many people
wouldn't really always associate the blind community with such a
visual medium, but it's a great medium to connect everyone's
stories together. And, you know, last year we worked on
a major production touch with Mastercard, and Ben was part
of that production, and that involved a soundscape feature film
(07:32):
really aimed at the blind, low vision community. And we
worked with a number of creatives from the community, both
in Australia and around the world on that production. We
have an amazing keynote coming all the way from the UK.
Ben Roberts. She is an editorial trainee that worked on
Netflix's film series The Adolescents, and she's also an amazing
(07:54):
content creator. She has an Instagram and TikTok called Bella
Does Editing, and recently won the UK Content Creator of
the year. She lives with lymphedema and is a really
great advocate for people with disability as well. Coming out
to speak, I think it's always great to get a
perspective from what's happening globally, um, in terms of disability
advocacy and employment in the sector. Some other fun sessions
(08:17):
or some really informative sessions. Is disability and sex on screen?
That is, you know, it's still a bit of a
taboo topic, but equally having some great impact. And we've
got some wonderful speakers on that. Hannah Diviney, Emily Dash
and Emma myers together with Caroline Caspar, who's an intimacy coordinator.
And so that'll really explore sexuality, disability, how it's portrayed
(08:38):
on screen, and the authenticity that lived experience contributes to that.
Moving the needle on that being a taboo disability on screen.
We've got the amazing Abby Faulkner, who you may see
in the Assembly interviewing some stellar talent, Knox Gibson from
The Hunger Games, Chris Bunten, who is part of our
feature film boss Cat, together with Dylan Alcott. Amazing actors
(09:02):
who also are amazing athletes as well, really exploring that
disability representation and that authentic storytelling. I'm a policy geek,
and so I always like to embed a bit of
a policy aspect in there. So I really want to
unpack where we're up to in terms of equity, the
Arts and Disability Associated Plan, which was launched around the
(09:23):
summit last year, which is the federal government's blueprint for
how they will engage with people with disability, both as
content creators, producers, creatives as well as audiences over the
next few years. And you know, that piece of policy
has been active for a year now. So we want
to unpack where that's up to. We're bringing back our
all deaf panel, but really have made an effort to
(09:46):
not just repurpose last year's speakers, but to get new speakers,
to unlock new opportunities, to have broader and different discussions.
So we've got a good mate of mine, Alex Jones,
who's the senior manager of access at Sydney Opera House,
also an amazing actor from the deaf community, facilitating a
conversation with Samira Cox, who's one of our members, Charlie,
(10:07):
who's a young person who's coming up in death acting
as well as Sam Martin. Sam's a deaf queer filmmaker
from Melbourne who is an Aftrs graduate and is doing
a really great working on a piece of research called
Sign on Screen. It's really exploring the celebration and use
and incorporation of sign language on our screen, which I
(10:28):
think is really important to understand that in terms of
how we reference the nuance of storytelling through Auslan and
other sign languages. Reality TV Sam, love it or hate it,
it's part of the modern entertainment zeitgeist. And so we're
going to unpack that. And what does that look like
for the disabled community? We've got Bethany Woodman. She's from
(10:51):
the Assembly, um, which is a project that bus stop
was an inclusion partner on, which is about upskilling neurodivergent
people in the art of journalism. She will be grilling
Ronan Sousa. He's also part of our community. He's from
love on the spectrum. Um, we've got Melissa McLean, who's
an executive producer of the Assembly, as well as Diana Cleary,
(11:14):
who is the director and executive producer of love on
the spectrum, the Emmy winning show together with Daniel Bartholomew,
who's part of this season's cohort. I really think it's
important that we look at all the different aspects of
entertainment and broadcast and media, and how the disability community
can be included in them. So we've got a panel
(11:35):
on sport and disability on our screens. Australia loves their sport,
particularly in Melbourne. You guys love it. You has many
of Australia's leading sporting events. So we've got Elizabeth Wright
who is a Paralympian, chatting to Kerri Taru from Tennis Australia.
Annie Williams is a Paralympian and presenter on Wide World
of Sports and Alicia Ferguson from the Matildas, and Elise Northam,
(11:58):
who's a para Matilda herself, chatting on that one. And
we want to look at how disability and sport connect
in terms of storytelling but also broadcast the production of it,
as well as the role that broadcasters have in terms
of highlighting disability sport on our screen. And we've seen
a growth in that. And, you know, on the back
of the Paralympics and even in the work that bus
(12:19):
stop has done together with the Australian Deaf Games.
S2 (12:27):
I'm Sam Colley and you're listening to Talking Vision on
Vision Australia Radio, associated stations of the Radio Reading Network
and the Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed the
first half of my conversation with Tracy Corbin Matchett. If
you missed any part of my chat with Tracy or
(12:48):
you'd love to hear it again. Talking vision is available
on the podcast app of your choice or through the
Vision Australia library. You can also find the program on
the Vision Australia Radio website. Simply head to Radio.com. That's
VA radio. And now here's part two of my conversation
(13:11):
with Tracy, where she covers a few more topics that
people can expect if they head along to the Disability
Employment Summit.
S3 (13:20):
Tech, AI. You know, it is a critical conversation that
we need to have in terms of how does AI
support people with disability to be actively engaged in, you know,
screen and media? We rely on tech. I use Bluetooth
hearing aids, so I know how important technology is to me.
But it's also, you know, it comes with concerns or
(13:42):
things that we need to further explore about how AI
works and how does that include inclusion in its freedom
in the development. So we'll be looking at gaming assistive technology.
We've got Sophie Thompson on that particular panel. She is
one of our bus stop employment members, and she is
on this current season of the Assembly. And she uses
(14:03):
augmentative and alternative communication to converse. We've also got on
that panel, Michaela monk from Netflix and Adam Archer from
spectrum VFX, who are leading our Lumina project, which is
around supporting neurodivergent people to be skilled in VFX, to
work on some really major productions through Netflix, which is
(14:23):
really exciting. The broadcasters and streamers have a role in
terms of being employers in the industry. When you think
about Sam, our big employers within the screen industry in Australia,
your channel nine, your ABC, SBS, they employ a lot
of people within their organisations, but they also have the
responsibility and courage of broadcasting the stories that audiences share.
(14:46):
So having a panel that looks at what are they
doing internally, but also how are they broadcasting together with
Netflix as well? Being a streamer, you know, where are
they up to? What projects are they leaning into? What
are some of their strategic objectives in modern times? The
role of the influencer and content creators is part of
(15:07):
our entertainment platform that as audiences, we love to view.
So we've got Nathan Borg, who is an amazing actor
and advocate and producer from the deaf community, facilitating a
conversation with Loz Booth, who's a stand up comedian. He
does really great stuff on Instagram. Carly Findlay, an amazing
writer and appearance advocate, Tim Hands, and he produces an
(15:28):
awesome online platform for young people that are from the
down syndrome community. Sean and Marlee together with Laura Winston,
who founded CBD talent. There's a lot on. It's a
big panel over, over two days, and of course we're
going to be celebrating our own feature film, boss Cat,
which is inclusion in the long form and chatting to
(15:49):
the team behind that, our lead actor Olivia Groder, our
writer and director Genevieve Clay Smith, together with our producing team,
and Michael Gallien, who was one of our attachments to explore,
you know, how do we move from short form to
long form in terms of disability, employment. What does that
look like? Um, so it's a pretty jam packed two days.
(16:09):
We want to elevate, celebrate, explore, unpack, connect around disability
employment in the screen industry. I often say there's no
more powerful medium for social change than content, and a
well-told story can really change people's lives. But it also
can change attitudes around disability and remove some of the
(16:32):
low expectations that people might have of those from the
disabled community and shift it to something of higher expectations,
and particularly with employment. I personally want to see more
people with disability employed in the screen industry.
S2 (16:47):
I'd love to absolutely follow on from that, and give
you a bit of an opportunity to answer those questions
around why these sort of events are so important for
creatives with Disabilities in the industry and getting together and
having these really important conversations and networking and taking things
(17:12):
to another level. What does that mean for you with
lived experience of disability, to be involved so heavily in that?
S3 (17:21):
Well, Sam, the screen industry is a really unique beast.
It really is. You know, an industry where jobs are
not advertised readily. It does come down to who you know,
and networking and those relationships is a big part of that.
And sadly, often people with disability are not on the
guest list for the networking drinks or they're not on
(17:41):
the red carpet list and they're not getting invited to
the conferences and things, or they're a challenge for them
to get to, or they're not accessible. So they're not
part of the infrastructure that supports the conversations where meetings happen,
project ideas get explored, and then people get their projects
up and employment happens, or they're not in the contact
list and someone on their phone when they're crawling up
(18:03):
for production. You know, I often say you don't get
hired on job B unless you get hired on job A.
So part of the impetus for the summit is to
bring the disability community into the event and the networking
in the way that the screen industry gets together. You know,
we have lots of big conferences and networking events, Q
and A's, where you might have a disabled person on
(18:27):
one panel, or there might be one panel within a
conference about disability, but this is unlocking that. And every
panel across the two days is really exploring that. So
I think that's really important. And giving people opportunity to
network and connect both with other disabled creatives or peers
and allies, because allyship is a really critical player here
(18:48):
as well. Um, and to be able to be shoulder
to shoulder with screen agency representatives or producers is really powerful.
And I think as well, when we held the summit
last year, it shifted the needle on how conferences and
events can be accessible, and showed that you could still
have a really fun, engaging, sexy, impactful event, but have
(19:14):
inclusion built in to every layer. So, you know, we're
bringing that back as well. And for me, you know,
I understand my community, but I'm still you're always still learning.
And no one individual can represent you or everyone in
your community. Um, so it's really lovely to be able
to bring a broader perspective of disability and that intersectionality
(19:35):
as well to the event I find really powerful and
important and to really showcase back to the industry the
breadth of talent as well across the deaf, disabled and
neurodivergent community in front and behind the camera and in
different roles, I think is really important for me as well,
because I, you know, for my personal hat and my
(19:56):
role as CEO of Bustop Films and also as an
ambassador to the Human Rights Commission on Disability Employment through
their Equality at Work strategy. I want to see more
people with disability employed in the sector, and the summit
is part of that.
S2 (20:10):
Thank you so much for being so candid and, you know,
sharing such important stories and why these sort of things
are so impactful and really looking forward to seeing how
all of that goes. And, Tracy, if people would love
to head along and be part of the summit, either
(20:32):
in person in Bondi or heading along online, what's the
easiest way for them to grab tickets? Or maybe just
find out a little bit more about the summit.
S3 (20:44):
If they head online to our website, which is driving
Change Summit, they can find out the program, they can
purchase tickets. So it's just driving Change Summit. Com to
purchase tickets for either in person or online. They can
see the program there and the speakers across the two days,
or they can jump on the Bus Stop Films website
(21:06):
as well. If people who are interested in learning more
about our programs or support. So our accessible filmmaking program
is primarily aimed at people who have intellectual disability or autism,
or might have down syndrome or global developmental delay. And
we have programs across Australia with that. And then our
employment service bus stop employment is open to people with
(21:26):
any type of disability deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, blind, low vision
who might be looking for work in the screen industry. And,
you know, it's about working with individuals to understand what
their skill sets are, what their interests are, and getting
them job ready and plugging them into the opportunities that
come along across film, TV and commercial production.
S2 (21:46):
Perfect. Well, I've been speaking today with Tracy Corbin Matchett,
CEO of Bus Stop Films, here to chat to me
today all about the upcoming driving change Disability Employment Summit
happening over the 25th to the 27th of November in
(22:08):
both Bondi and online for people to join. Tracy, thank
you so much for your time today. Great to catch
up with you and have a chat all about the summit.
S3 (22:19):
Thanks so much, Sam. I really appreciate you having me
on today.
S2 (22:25):
The Melbourne Disability Expo is coming up on Friday the
21st and Saturday the 22nd of November 2025, from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Are you looking for disability services, support networks or inclusive
(22:47):
employment opportunities in Melbourne and surrounding areas? The Melbourne Disability
Expo seeks to bring all these together under one accessible
roof over one big weekend. Whether you're seeking greater independence,
exploring NDIS options or connecting with local providers, this event
(23:09):
is designed to empower people of all abilities by meeting
face to face with service providers, support organisations and community groups,
offering everything from assistive technology to inclusive housing, health services
and more. You can attend presentations and workshops where you
(23:30):
hear from industry leaders, advocates and changemakers in disability support,
as well as interactive sessions and live stage talks. There's
inclusive entertainment for all ages and it's an accessibility first expo.
They've designed the Melbourne Disability Expo to be inclusive and
(23:53):
stress free with live captioning on stage Auslan interpreters available.
A quiet hour between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on
Saturday the 22nd of November. It's service animal friendly with
watering stations and the venue. Parking and drop off zones
(24:13):
are all designed to be accessible. To plan your visit,
head to Melbourne Disability Expo. That's Melbourne Disability Expo all
one word COVID-19. And now here's Frances Callan with a
(24:39):
reader recommended.
S4 (24:40):
Today's reader recommended book is by Robert Got and it
is the first in a series. It's called Good Murder
and it's part one of the William Power series. It's
an Australian novel. It's 1942. The small coastal Queensland town
of Maryborough is not prepared for the arrival of a
troop troupe of incompetent actors. When a young woman is
(25:01):
found floating dead in the town's water supply. William Powell
becomes the prime suspect in her murder. As I said,
this is part one of a series. Let's hear a
sample now of Good Murder, narrated by Paul English.
S5 (25:14):
The water tower in Maryborough sat on the corner of
Adelaide and Ann Streets. It held 1 million gallons of
water and for two weeks in August 1942, it also
held the body of a 24 year old woman named
Polly Drummond. Afterwards, it was impossible not to be appalled
by the realization that each time we drank a cup
of tea, we were imbibing Polly Drummond, and that each
(25:37):
time we took a bath we were splashing ourselves with
Polly Drummond as she slowly dissolved up there, bloating and
exuding the corrupt gases and liquids of the dead. We
in the town strained her through our teeth, gargled her,
washed our hair with her, and embedded her in the
very clothes we wore. I was among the gawkers who
(25:58):
gathered at the bottom of the tower when word was
passed around that her body had been found. My interest
was not entirely voyeuristic. I was, after all, the main
suspect in her murder. She had been discovered by two
council workers who had climbed the 52ft to the top
of the tower to fix a faulty indicator. They knew
immediately who it was floating face down in that reservoir.
(26:21):
The Maryborough Chronicle had been publishing almost daily accounts of
the search for the missing woman in a small town
like Maryborough. Everyone knew Polly Drummond and everyone had a
theory about what had happened to her. Many of those
theories featured me.
S4 (26:35):
So that was good. Murder by Robert got. There are
four that we have in the series in the library.
If you would like to join Vision Australia Library, they
would love to hear from you. The number is one
306 54 656. That's 1300Â 654Â 656. Or you can email them
at library at Vision Australia. That's. library at Vision Australia.
S2 (26:59):
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 Australia. That's talking vision all one word at
(27:24):
Vision Australia. But until next week it's Sam Coley saying
bye for now.
S1 (27:34):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 384 74 six. 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 (00:31):
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 (00:38):
We have lots of big conferences and networking events. Q
and A's, where you might have a disabled person on
one panel, or there might be one panel within a
conference about disability, but this is unlocking that. And every
panel across the two days is really exploring that.
S2 (00:57):
Welcome to the program. This week we catch up with
Tracey Corbin Matchett, CEO of Bus Stop Films, who's the
organizer of the upcoming Disability Employment Summit driving change taking
place in late November, both in Bondi and online. I
(01:18):
chat with Tracy all about the summit, including all the
information and more about the topics and sessions people attending
can expect to head along to, and her hopes for
the industry in the future for people in the disability community.
We also finish up with a little bit of news
(01:39):
and information, but for the time being, I hope you
enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. Driving change, the
Disability Employment Summit for members of the screen industry with
a disability, is coming back in just a month's time,
(02:03):
and to have a chat with me all about it,
I'm very pleased to welcome to Talking Vision, the CEO
of Bus Stop Films. The organizer of the summit, Tracy
Corbin Matchett. Tracy, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you so
much for your time.
S3 (02:22):
Thank you so much, Sam, for having me.
S2 (02:24):
Now, of course, Tracy, we're here to chat about Driving
Change the Disability Employment Summit, which is coming up in
just a month's time, roughly. So tell us a bit
about the Disability Employment Summit.
S3 (02:41):
So the Driving Change Disability Employment Summit is an event
focusing on the employment of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people
across film, TV and commercial production and advertising. Looking at
the employment of people with disability on both sides of
the camera. And it's an event that Bus Stop Films
(03:04):
launched last year, and we're running it again this year,
both in person at Bondi and online, Mine, and it
came about from an experience I had that I'm calling
an advocacy tantrum, which is a term I made up myself.
But in 2023, the federal government held an employment summit
(03:25):
in Canberra. And it was, you know, bringing together key players, policymakers,
industries to discuss employment. And I was really determined to
see that disability employment within the screen industry was discussed.
And so I sort of tracked down who from our
industry was representing our concerns, which was screen producers Australia
(03:49):
and two representatives from that organisation attended. Unfortunately, disability employment
didn't make the agenda within the context of the screen industry,
and I was really disappointed about that because to me,
the industry is such a powerful medium for social change
in terms of storytelling and advocacy, but it also employs
a lot of people and receives a significant amount of
(04:11):
government support. And my theory is if you're getting support
from the federal government, from any government actually at any level,
that you should be considering how your programs and processes
support people with disabilities. So I was like, well, you know,
if you don't get invited to dinner, build a table
and invite your friends around and host your own dinner.
(04:32):
So I said to my board, we should really host
our own summit and engage with the industry and bring
the industry together to elevate and celebrate the employment of
people with disability in our sector. But if we're going
to do it, we have to do it in a
way that's parallel to how the screen industry gets together,
because I'm sure you may appreciate Sam, sometimes events around
(04:55):
the disability sector are really boring. They're in a scout
hall somewhere. You get bad coffee and a packet of biscuits,
and no one really makes an effort to make it
really engaging in special. So I said, let's, you know,
do it how the screen industry does it. It has
to have welcome drinks. It has to be networking. It
has to be a little bit sexy. So, you know,
Bondi is Australia's own answer to Hollywood in some respects.
(05:16):
So we hosted it at Bondi and it was an
amazing event. So we're doing it again this year, both
in person at Bondi and live streamed.
S2 (05:24):
Perfect. Well, let's have a bit of a chat. More
about that summit in Bondi coming up. And I understand
there's a couple of key sessions that are coming up
for people to check out. So tell us a bit
about those ones.
S3 (05:41):
So the summit goes across two days, um, with a
welcome reception. Um, the night before, hosted by the governor General,
Sam Mohsen, who is a patron of Bustop films. And
the summit across the two days is looking at different
elements across film, TV and commercial production, both in the
(06:01):
creativity side and the storytelling side, the policy side and
the production. We have over 75 speakers, with more than
half of those representing the deaf, disabled and neurodivergent community,
which is amazing. Last year at the summit, we had
an all deaf panel, and I've been part of the
hard of hearing and deaf community for a very long
(06:23):
time now, and I had never seen an all deaf panel,
and it was suggested by one of our team members,
you know, let's build on that for 2025 and have
a panel that was really celebrating the blind, low vision community.
And so I said yes. So we have this amazing
panel hosted by Matt Formston, who is a blind surfer
(06:44):
and filmmaker, together with Nars Campanella, disability affairs reporter from
the ABC, and Nicole, who's a singer and star of
the ami TV commercial, and Ben Phillips, who's an amazing
actor who's blind, who we've worked with a number of
times at Bus Stop Films, which is really an amazing
opportunity to celebrate the blind, low vision community in terms
(07:09):
of screen and media and storytelling. I guess many people
wouldn't really always associate the blind community with such a
visual medium, but it's a great medium to connect everyone's
stories together. And, you know, last year we worked on
a major production touch with Mastercard, and Ben was part
of that production, and that involved a soundscape feature film
(07:32):
really aimed at the blind, low vision community. And we
worked with a number of creatives from the community, both
in Australia and around the world on that production. We
have an amazing keynote coming all the way from the UK.
Ben Roberts. She is an editorial trainee that worked on
Netflix's film series The Adolescents, and she's also an amazing
(07:54):
content creator. She has an Instagram and TikTok called Bella
Does Editing, and recently won the UK Content Creator of
the year. She lives with lymphedema and is a really
great advocate for people with disability as well. Coming out
to speak, I think it's always great to get a
perspective from what's happening globally, um, in terms of disability
advocacy and employment in the sector. Some other fun sessions
(08:17):
or some really informative sessions. Is disability and sex on screen?
That is, you know, it's still a bit of a
taboo topic, but equally having some great impact. And we've
got some wonderful speakers on that. Hannah Diviney, Emily Dash
and Emma myers together with Caroline Caspar, who's an intimacy coordinator.
And so that'll really explore sexuality, disability, how it's portrayed
(08:38):
on screen, and the authenticity that lived experience contributes to that.
Moving the needle on that being a taboo disability on screen.
We've got the amazing Abby Faulkner, who you may see
in the Assembly interviewing some stellar talent, Knox Gibson from
The Hunger Games, Chris Bunten, who is part of our
feature film boss Cat, together with Dylan Alcott. Amazing actors
(09:02):
who also are amazing athletes as well, really exploring that
disability representation and that authentic storytelling. I'm a policy geek,
and so I always like to embed a bit of
a policy aspect in there. So I really want to
unpack where we're up to in terms of equity, the
Arts and Disability Associated Plan, which was launched around the
(09:23):
summit last year, which is the federal government's blueprint for
how they will engage with people with disability, both as
content creators, producers, creatives as well as audiences over the
next few years. And you know, that piece of policy
has been active for a year now. So we want
to unpack where that's up to. We're bringing back our
all deaf panel, but really have made an effort to
(09:46):
not just repurpose last year's speakers, but to get new speakers,
to unlock new opportunities, to have broader and different discussions.
So we've got a good mate of mine, Alex Jones,
who's the senior manager of access at Sydney Opera House,
also an amazing actor from the deaf community, facilitating a
conversation with Samira Cox, who's one of our members, Charlie,
(10:07):
who's a young person who's coming up in death acting
as well as Sam Martin. Sam's a deaf queer filmmaker
from Melbourne who is an Aftrs graduate and is doing
a really great working on a piece of research called
Sign on Screen. It's really exploring the celebration and use
and incorporation of sign language on our screen, which I
(10:28):
think is really important to understand that in terms of
how we reference the nuance of storytelling through Auslan and
other sign languages. Reality TV Sam, love it or hate it,
it's part of the modern entertainment zeitgeist. And so we're
going to unpack that. And what does that look like
for the disabled community? We've got Bethany Woodman. She's from
(10:51):
the Assembly, um, which is a project that bus stop
was an inclusion partner on, which is about upskilling neurodivergent
people in the art of journalism. She will be grilling
Ronan Sousa. He's also part of our community. He's from
love on the spectrum. Um, we've got Melissa McLean, who's
an executive producer of the Assembly, as well as Diana Cleary,
(11:14):
who is the director and executive producer of love on
the spectrum, the Emmy winning show together with Daniel Bartholomew,
who's part of this season's cohort. I really think it's
important that we look at all the different aspects of
entertainment and broadcast and media, and how the disability community
can be included in them. So we've got a panel
(11:35):
on sport and disability on our screens. Australia loves their sport,
particularly in Melbourne. You guys love it. You has many
of Australia's leading sporting events. So we've got Elizabeth Wright
who is a Paralympian, chatting to Kerri Taru from Tennis Australia.
Annie Williams is a Paralympian and presenter on Wide World
of Sports and Alicia Ferguson from the Matildas, and Elise Northam,
(11:58):
who's a para Matilda herself, chatting on that one. And
we want to look at how disability and sport connect
in terms of storytelling but also broadcast the production of it,
as well as the role that broadcasters have in terms
of highlighting disability sport on our screen. And we've seen
a growth in that. And, you know, on the back
of the Paralympics and even in the work that bus
(12:19):
stop has done together with the Australian Deaf Games.
S2 (12:27):
I'm Sam Colley and you're listening to Talking Vision on
Vision Australia Radio, associated stations of the Radio Reading Network
and the Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed the
first half of my conversation with Tracy Corbin Matchett. If
you missed any part of my chat with Tracy or
(12:48):
you'd love to hear it again. Talking vision is available
on the podcast app of your choice or through the
Vision Australia library. You can also find the program on
the Vision Australia Radio website. Simply head to Radio.com. That's
VA radio. And now here's part two of my conversation
(13:11):
with Tracy, where she covers a few more topics that
people can expect if they head along to the Disability
Employment Summit.
S3 (13:20):
Tech, AI. You know, it is a critical conversation that
we need to have in terms of how does AI
support people with disability to be actively engaged in, you know,
screen and media? We rely on tech. I use Bluetooth
hearing aids, so I know how important technology is to me.
But it's also, you know, it comes with concerns or
(13:42):
things that we need to further explore about how AI
works and how does that include inclusion in its freedom
in the development. So we'll be looking at gaming assistive technology.
We've got Sophie Thompson on that particular panel. She is
one of our bus stop employment members, and she is
on this current season of the Assembly. And she uses
(14:03):
augmentative and alternative communication to converse. We've also got on
that panel, Michaela monk from Netflix and Adam Archer from
spectrum VFX, who are leading our Lumina project, which is
around supporting neurodivergent people to be skilled in VFX, to
work on some really major productions through Netflix, which is
(14:23):
really exciting. The broadcasters and streamers have a role in
terms of being employers in the industry. When you think
about Sam, our big employers within the screen industry in Australia,
your channel nine, your ABC, SBS, they employ a lot
of people within their organisations, but they also have the
responsibility and courage of broadcasting the stories that audiences share.
(14:46):
So having a panel that looks at what are they
doing internally, but also how are they broadcasting together with
Netflix as well? Being a streamer, you know, where are
they up to? What projects are they leaning into? What
are some of their strategic objectives in modern times? The
role of the influencer and content creators is part of
(15:07):
our entertainment platform that as audiences, we love to view.
So we've got Nathan Borg, who is an amazing actor
and advocate and producer from the deaf community, facilitating a
conversation with Loz Booth, who's a stand up comedian. He
does really great stuff on Instagram. Carly Findlay, an amazing
writer and appearance advocate, Tim Hands, and he produces an
(15:28):
awesome online platform for young people that are from the
down syndrome community. Sean and Marlee together with Laura Winston,
who founded CBD talent. There's a lot on. It's a
big panel over, over two days, and of course we're
going to be celebrating our own feature film, boss Cat,
which is inclusion in the long form and chatting to
(15:49):
the team behind that, our lead actor Olivia Groder, our
writer and director Genevieve Clay Smith, together with our producing team,
and Michael Gallien, who was one of our attachments to explore,
you know, how do we move from short form to
long form in terms of disability, employment. What does that
look like? Um, so it's a pretty jam packed two days.
(16:09):
We want to elevate, celebrate, explore, unpack, connect around disability
employment in the screen industry. I often say there's no
more powerful medium for social change than content, and a
well-told story can really change people's lives. But it also
can change attitudes around disability and remove some of the
(16:32):
low expectations that people might have of those from the
disabled community and shift it to something of higher expectations,
and particularly with employment. I personally want to see more
people with disability employed in the screen industry.
S2 (16:47):
I'd love to absolutely follow on from that, and give
you a bit of an opportunity to answer those questions
around why these sort of events are so important for
creatives with Disabilities in the industry and getting together and
having these really important conversations and networking and taking things
(17:12):
to another level. What does that mean for you with
lived experience of disability, to be involved so heavily in that?
S3 (17:21):
Well, Sam, the screen industry is a really unique beast.
It really is. You know, an industry where jobs are
not advertised readily. It does come down to who you know,
and networking and those relationships is a big part of that.
And sadly, often people with disability are not on the
guest list for the networking drinks or they're not on
(17:41):
the red carpet list and they're not getting invited to
the conferences and things, or they're a challenge for them
to get to, or they're not accessible. So they're not
part of the infrastructure that supports the conversations where meetings happen,
project ideas get explored, and then people get their projects
up and employment happens, or they're not in the contact
list and someone on their phone when they're crawling up
(18:03):
for production. You know, I often say you don't get
hired on job B unless you get hired on job A.
So part of the impetus for the summit is to
bring the disability community into the event and the networking
in the way that the screen industry gets together. You know,
we have lots of big conferences and networking events, Q
and A's, where you might have a disabled person on
(18:27):
one panel, or there might be one panel within a
conference about disability, but this is unlocking that. And every
panel across the two days is really exploring that. So
I think that's really important. And giving people opportunity to
network and connect both with other disabled creatives or peers
and allies, because allyship is a really critical player here
(18:48):
as well. Um, and to be able to be shoulder
to shoulder with screen agency representatives or producers is really powerful.
And I think as well, when we held the summit
last year, it shifted the needle on how conferences and
events can be accessible, and showed that you could still
have a really fun, engaging, sexy, impactful event, but have
(19:14):
inclusion built in to every layer. So, you know, we're
bringing that back as well. And for me, you know,
I understand my community, but I'm still you're always still learning.
And no one individual can represent you or everyone in
your community. Um, so it's really lovely to be able
to bring a broader perspective of disability and that intersectionality
(19:35):
as well to the event I find really powerful and
important and to really showcase back to the industry the
breadth of talent as well across the deaf, disabled and
neurodivergent community in front and behind the camera and in
different roles, I think is really important for me as well,
because I, you know, for my personal hat and my
(19:56):
role as CEO of Bustop Films and also as an
ambassador to the Human Rights Commission on Disability Employment through
their Equality at Work strategy. I want to see more
people with disability employed in the sector, and the summit
is part of that.
S2 (20:10):
Thank you so much for being so candid and, you know,
sharing such important stories and why these sort of things
are so impactful and really looking forward to seeing how
all of that goes. And, Tracy, if people would love
to head along and be part of the summit, either
(20:32):
in person in Bondi or heading along online, what's the
easiest way for them to grab tickets? Or maybe just
find out a little bit more about the summit.
S3 (20:44):
If they head online to our website, which is driving
Change Summit, they can find out the program, they can
purchase tickets. So it's just driving Change Summit. Com to
purchase tickets for either in person or online. They can
see the program there and the speakers across the two days,
or they can jump on the Bus Stop Films website
(21:06):
as well. If people who are interested in learning more
about our programs or support. So our accessible filmmaking program
is primarily aimed at people who have intellectual disability or autism,
or might have down syndrome or global developmental delay. And
we have programs across Australia with that. And then our
employment service bus stop employment is open to people with
(21:26):
any type of disability deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, blind, low vision
who might be looking for work in the screen industry. And,
you know, it's about working with individuals to understand what
their skill sets are, what their interests are, and getting
them job ready and plugging them into the opportunities that
come along across film, TV and commercial production.
S2 (21:46):
Perfect. Well, I've been speaking today with Tracy Corbin Matchett,
CEO of Bus Stop Films, here to chat to me
today all about the upcoming driving change Disability Employment Summit
happening over the 25th to the 27th of November in
(22:08):
both Bondi and online for people to join. Tracy, thank
you so much for your time today. Great to catch
up with you and have a chat all about the summit.
S3 (22:19):
Thanks so much, Sam. I really appreciate you having me
on today.
S2 (22:25):
The Melbourne Disability Expo is coming up on Friday the
21st and Saturday the 22nd of November 2025, from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Are you looking for disability services, support networks or inclusive
(22:47):
employment opportunities in Melbourne and surrounding areas? The Melbourne Disability
Expo seeks to bring all these together under one accessible
roof over one big weekend. Whether you're seeking greater independence,
exploring NDIS options or connecting with local providers, this event
(23:09):
is designed to empower people of all abilities by meeting
face to face with service providers, support organisations and community groups,
offering everything from assistive technology to inclusive housing, health services
and more. You can attend presentations and workshops where you
(23:30):
hear from industry leaders, advocates and changemakers in disability support,
as well as interactive sessions and live stage talks. There's
inclusive entertainment for all ages and it's an accessibility first expo.
They've designed the Melbourne Disability Expo to be inclusive and
(23:53):
stress free with live captioning on stage Auslan interpreters available.
A quiet hour between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on
Saturday the 22nd of November. It's service animal friendly with
watering stations and the venue. Parking and drop off zones
(24:13):
are all designed to be accessible. To plan your visit,
head to Melbourne Disability Expo. That's Melbourne Disability Expo all
one word COVID-19. And now here's Frances Callan with a
(24:39):
reader recommended.
S4 (24:40):
Today's reader recommended book is by Robert Got and it
is the first in a series. It's called Good Murder
and it's part one of the William Power series. It's
an Australian novel. It's 1942. The small coastal Queensland town
of Maryborough is not prepared for the arrival of a
troop troupe of incompetent actors. When a young woman is
(25:01):
found floating dead in the town's water supply. William Powell
becomes the prime suspect in her murder. As I said,
this is part one of a series. Let's hear a
sample now of Good Murder, narrated by Paul English.
S5 (25:14):
The water tower in Maryborough sat on the corner of
Adelaide and Ann Streets. It held 1 million gallons of
water and for two weeks in August 1942, it also
held the body of a 24 year old woman named
Polly Drummond. Afterwards, it was impossible not to be appalled
by the realization that each time we drank a cup
of tea, we were imbibing Polly Drummond, and that each
(25:37):
time we took a bath we were splashing ourselves with
Polly Drummond as she slowly dissolved up there, bloating and
exuding the corrupt gases and liquids of the dead. We
in the town strained her through our teeth, gargled her,
washed our hair with her, and embedded her in the
very clothes we wore. I was among the gawkers who
(25:58):
gathered at the bottom of the tower when word was
passed around that her body had been found. My interest
was not entirely voyeuristic. I was, after all, the main
suspect in her murder. She had been discovered by two
council workers who had climbed the 52ft to the top
of the tower to fix a faulty indicator. They knew
immediately who it was floating face down in that reservoir.
(26:21):
The Maryborough Chronicle had been publishing almost daily accounts of
the search for the missing woman in a small town
like Maryborough. Everyone knew Polly Drummond and everyone had a
theory about what had happened to her. Many of those
theories featured me.
S4 (26:35):
So that was good. Murder by Robert got. There are
four that we have in the series in the library.
If you would like to join Vision Australia Library, they
would love to hear from you. The number is one
306 54 656. That's 1300Â 654Â 656. Or you can email them
at library at Vision Australia. That's. library at Vision Australia.
S2 (26:59):
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 Australia. That's talking vision all one word at
(27:24):
Vision Australia. But until next week it's Sam Coley saying
bye for now.
S1 (27:34):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 384 74 six. That's one 384
74 six or by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.
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