Talking Vision 804 Week Beginning 3rd of November 2025

Sam catches up with Vision Australia's manager of radio and audio services, Conrad Browne, about the recent CBAA conference in Hobart and the awards night where Vision Australia Radio picked up three awards, and Peter Greco was added to the community radio honour roll for his three decades of service to the sector.

You'll also hear from Sara McDonald and Belinda Marcon who join us to chat about the Melbourne Airport Assist program, designed to help passengers with disabilities find their way around the land side of the airport, including check in and baggage claim.

Support this Vision Australia Radio program: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate?src=radio&type=0&_ga=2.182040610.46191917.1644183916-1718358749.1627963141

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Episode Transcript

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):
All of those categories just really reflect how much we
are doing in this space and really pushing ourselves right
across the whole network. All of those shows and people
that I mentioned are not just from Melbourne, they're from
Adelaide and Perth and regional Victoria, and they really reflect
the incredible talent that we've got within our team.

S2 (01:02):
Welcome to the program. This week we feature Conrad Brown,
manager of radio and audio services, who's here to chat
to us about the CAA conference which just concluded in Hobart,
as well as the awards night where Vision Australia picked
up three awards and Peter Greco was added to the

(01:26):
Community Radio Hall of Fame. Then, after you hear from Conrad,
I chat with Sarah McDonald and Belinda marcon from Melbourne
Airport about the Airport Assist program for people with disabilities
to get from point A to point B and onto

(01:47):
the plane safely and accessibly. And we finish up with
a flying information wrap up with editor of FYI, Liz
de la Cruz. I hope you'll enjoy this week's episode
of Talking Vision. Joining me now, it's my great pleasure

(02:08):
to welcome back an absolute favourite of ours on Talking Vision,
its radio and audio manager Conrad Brown, fresh from the
Cbaa conference in Hobart. Here to tell us all about
the conference and how Vision Australia Radio fared at the

(02:29):
awards night. Conrad, welcome back to Talking Vision and welcome
back from the Cbaa conference. How are you?

S3 (02:37):
Yeah, really good. Sam. It's always a very fun and
busy conference and a really enjoyable one where we get
to talk about all things community broadcasting.

S2 (02:48):
Give us a bit of a highlight package. Conrad, what
did you really enjoy over those days at the conference?

S3 (02:55):
Well, I guess I should start off with the fact
that I'm based in Melbourne and the conference was in Hobart.
So always lovely to head to Tassie and meet up
with all of my fellow community radio people there. The
conference itself was its, I guess, usual mix of really
interesting presenters, conference guests and also different sessions looking at

(03:20):
different areas within community broadcasting that there's either some innovative
or new things happening there, or just an opportunity for
people to get together and talk about some issues or
certain things that are happening within their stations that they
may need to just share or get some advice on,
or share their experience on as well. So a really

(03:41):
great mix of all of those things, which for me
always makes a really great conference. Um, some of the
highlights for me, uh, was the presentation by Adrian Sergeant,
who is, from his knowledge, the only professor of fundraising
in the world. And as you can imagine, fundraising plays

(04:03):
a really big part in many community radio stations. And
he really brought all of the lessons that he has
learnt from his time, going through different fundraising programs and
learning about how different organizations operate. To come up with
these tools to really help people connect with their donors

(04:24):
and also make the most of their fundraising campaigns. And
he was just a really interesting presentation, regardless of your
fundraising knowledge. I guess the other thing that was very
much the talk of the whole conference, as you could imagine,
was the proliferation of AI. And how do we kind

(04:46):
of look at artificial intelligence in a way that can
actually help us in community broadcasting? That caused a lot
of really interesting conversations.

S2 (04:56):
And Konrad understand the whole thing took on a bit
of a different format. How did that work for you?
What were the differences there and how was that received?

S3 (05:07):
They tried to do something a little bit different this year.
Sam was give a little bit more time to certain topics.
So there was less sessions. Some of them went a
little bit longer, but they also really tried to find
different themes within the program so that if you're a
content maker, you know you love making your radio program

(05:28):
or a podcast. There was a programming strand that you
could go to. If you're a station manager and you're
looking for ways to kind of improve your station or
things that you can do that will help you in
different compliance or fundraising things. There was a strand for that.
There was a technical strand, and then there was, I guess,

(05:48):
enough in there that you could pick and choose. So
I was a bit of a taking a bit out
of every box to try and I guess get the
most out of the conference. As I mentioned, I was
featured in three sessions that I went to, and one
of the best one was practical AI for Community Radio,
and it was hosted by Tea Uglow, who was a

(06:11):
former engineer at Google. 18 years at Google so brought
so much insight and experience to talking about AI and
being very honest about the fact that in many ways,
it's out of the box. You can't rein it back in.
So you need to know what it does and how
it works. And based on that, you can kind of

(06:32):
figure out whether or not it's right for you and
different areas you can use it in as well. So
it was those types of sessions, I guess, that we
had more time to hear about the different areas and
issues that are happening there. But overall, you know, like
all good conferences, there was enough time in there as
well for those very important catch ups with many people

(06:54):
that a lot of them for me, I only see
them once a year at the conference and just connect
and hear how they're going, find out what the challenges are,
what the opportunities are, and just reconnect and have those
incidental dental conversations, which I find to be some of
the most valuable as well.

S2 (07:12):
Absolutely. And one of the other highlights, of course, Conrad,
was the Cbaa Awards night on Saturday night, and Vision
Australia Radio was rather successful, taking home four awards. Quite
exciting and very well deserved to all programs and people

(07:32):
involved there.

S3 (07:34):
Absolutely. We actually had nine nominations this year, Sam, which
I'm pretty sure is our all time record, and it
was such a fantastic, diverse mix of nominations, which I
think really reflects the incredible programming and people that we
have involved at the Vision Australia radio network, including yourself. Um,

(07:57):
you were shortlisted in the News and Current Affairs Outstanding
Presenter category. We also had nominees in the Outstanding Youth contribution,
Best Program, News and Current Affairs, Best Program for sports
excellence and disability content and engagement, and also best program talks.
All of those categories just really reflect how much we

(08:21):
are doing in this space and really pushing ourselves right
across the whole network. All of those shows and people
that I mentioned are not just from Melbourne, they're from
Adelaide and Perth and regional Victoria, and they really reflect
the incredible talent that we've got within our team. But
as you mentioned, we picked up three awards. Really brilliant. Again,

(08:45):
celebrating the diversity in our team. We got the best
new program for In Plain Sight, which is a Perth
based program hosted by Simon Chong that looks at really
the experiences of people who are blind or have low
vision and highlights their voices, and particularly from a Western
Australian perspective, which is really wonderful, and Simon and the

(09:08):
team do a fantastic job with that. And we also
picked up outstanding fundraising and sponsorship contribution for Jason Gibbs,
one of our valued team members, and recognizing his incredible
contribution to ensuring our network remains sustainable and impactful. And
one of the ones, Sam, that you and I can

(09:29):
take a little bit of credit for as well, was
excellence in special events and outside broadcasting, which we won
for our Midsummer Carnival Day 2025 live broadcast, which was
held in January of this year. And that whole collaboration
with Midsummer Festival is really about celebrating community diversity and

(09:51):
inclusion and really showcases the importance of access and intersectionality
as well. I know those are lots of big words
to throw around, but live broadcasts are something that we
do every now and then, and there are a lot
of work. There's a lot of infrastructure that goes into it.
And this one has become, you know, an annual event

(10:12):
for us. And it's so wonderful that it got acknowledged
in this category up against some really fantastic other nominees
in that category as well.

S2 (10:21):
Absolutely. And let's also give a shout out to Peter Greco,
who is now one of the members of the CBA
Honor Roll, for his services to community radio over three decades,
well over three decades by now, and couldn't pick a

(10:42):
better person. Just absolutely fantastic contribution to Vision Australia radio
over those, um, 30 plus years. Just an absolute stalwart
of the network.

S3 (10:55):
Absolutely. Um, they only introduced this category last year, and
I'm so incredibly glad that they did because as you
could imagine, so many people in the community The broadcasting
sector who have given many years to a specific station
or service. And this is a way of not just
acknowledging their program or a specific project or event that

(11:17):
they're involved in, but their overall contribution. And for this year,
we were delighted to be able to put Peter Greco forward.
He was one of six people who were added to
the honor roll this year. Um, it is such a
huge honor for a sector that has thousands of people
involved in it as well. And as you said, it's

(11:38):
just an incredible acknowledgement of Peter's dedication and support for
the service and his incredible contribution, all from Adelaide through
thick or thin. Peter makes sure that those three programs
go to air every week across the Vision Australia radio network.
And he's just a really amazing example of the talent

(12:00):
that we have within Vision Australia Radio. And he exemplifies
really what we do and the importance of what we
do as well.

S2 (12:08):
What a perfect note to end on. Conrad. Thank you
so much. I've been speaking today with Conrad Browne, manager
of radio and audio services here at Vision Australia. Conrad,
thank you, as always for your time and great to
hear all about the conference.

S3 (12:26):
Thank you Sam. Always a pleasure to be on Talking
Vision with you.

S2 (12:35):
I'm Sam Kelly 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 that
conversation there with Conrad. If you missed any part of
my chat with Conrad or you'd love to hear it again.

(12:56):
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 VA radio dot. That's VA radio. All one word.

(13:16):
And now let's hear from Sharon Bell from Melbourne Airport.
I'm here today with two guests from the Melbourne Airport
Assist program, Sarah McDonald and Belinda marcon. They're here to
tell us all about the program and how it can
help people with disabilities navigate the airport safely and accessibly.

(13:40):
Sarah Bell, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much
for your time.

S4 (13:45):
Hi. Good morning Sam. Thank you.

S5 (13:47):
Thanks for having us, Sam.

S2 (13:49):
Now, firstly, let's get into the details around the Melbourne
Airport Assist program. Tell us a bit about it.

S4 (13:58):
Okay, so the Melbourne Airport Assist program runs seven days
a week, including public holidays. The service operates from 6 a.m.
to 10 p.m.. We support people coming to the airport
who are living with disabilities or mobility requirements, or passengers
who may have a little bit extra luggage or just
need help wayfinding. So with arriving passengers, they may be

(14:21):
arriving from a regional coach dropping off a hire car,
and they just need a little bit of extra support
or find that distance too far to get to check in.
We can take the passenger to check in, introduce them
to the airline staff, who then get the passenger through
to the gate. For those passengers arriving coming back into Melbourne,
we can meet them at the baggage reclaim area where
they pick up their luggage and then get them back

(14:41):
out to their taxi car or regional bus. So our
service runs landside only for anything through security. The airline
would help passenger get through to the gate.

S2 (14:51):
And how did the program come about?

S5 (14:54):
So Travellers Aid has been talking with Melbourne Airport on
and off for quite a number of years about different
services that we may be able to offer, and obviously
replicating some of the programs that Travelers Aid has at
the moment through the train station, Southern Cross and Flinders Street,
and regionally through some of the V line stations. And

(15:14):
obviously the, you know, the white Paper into the aviation
industry sort of put a bit of a prompt to
push that along. And Melbourne Airport wanted to be one
of the first airports to trial something. And, and so
last year we actually conducted a four month pilot. Uh,
it seems like the wrong word to use in terms
of an airport, a four month trial, maybe of this

(15:35):
exact service to see how it would work, where it
would be most beneficial at the time. We ran it
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and overwhelmingly
the feedback was which we knew it would be, but was.
Obviously we need this service seven days a week and
much longer hours. But in that four month period, we
assisted 8500 people. And so it was pretty clear almost

(15:58):
from day one that the service was needed and there
was a demand for it, and that gave us the
opportunity once the trial ended, to step back. The airport
put out a public tender for it and which obviously
they were successful in winning. But I think that that
trial really paved the way for us to be able
to just slot back in in September this year when

(16:18):
we started the program again and hit the ground running
with something that we knew would work ultimately for for travelers,
which is our goal throughout the whole program.

S2 (16:27):
Following on from that, let's have a bit of a
chat about who the program is designed to assist. Are
there any particular groups in mind of people with disabilities
that have expressed a need for these sort of services,
or is it more of a broader outlook?

S4 (16:47):
I'd definitely say a broader outlook. Yes. As I mentioned
earlier on, passengers travelling with mobility requirements. Melbourne Airport is
quite large, quite big to get around, and some passengers
find that distance can be quite overwhelming. It also may
be passengers who have come back from a holiday, who
have injured themselves, who need that extra support to get around.
In terms of people living with disability, it may be

(17:10):
people living with low vision or hearing impaired hidden disability
passengers as well. So really, it's quite a broad range
of passengers that we assist through the airport, not one
particular niche.

S2 (17:22):
And how can people access the programme? How can they
let you know? I do need this service at this time,
on this day. What's the best way for people to
let you know there?

S4 (17:34):
Sure. So there's quite a number of ways that passengers
can book. The first being via the Melbourne Airport website.
There's a booking form the passenger can complete which will
come to us, and then we'll create the booking and
meet the passenger on their day of arrival. The other
option is on the day of arrival. Passenger can call
and let us know that they're at the airport. We

(17:54):
can come out to meet them, take them where they
need to, go to the airline counter or check in counter. Alternatively,
we have a team of about 30 staff and maybe
about ten a day between the hours that we run
the program who are very proactive, and they also may
see a passenger who needs that extra support, and they're
not afraid to approach that passenger and see what kind
of assistance they can need or provide. So you can

(18:16):
either come to us and pre-book, or maybe we'll bump
into you and we'll provide you that service.

S2 (18:21):
Perfect. And just very quickly, before we move on, let's
super briefly recap what days and times those are for
people out there.

S4 (18:32):
So seven days a week, including public holidays from 6 a.m.
to 10 p.m..

S2 (18:38):
Okay, perfect. Now, are you aware of other programs in
Australia or around the world have done similar? And if so,
did they play a role in the model that you've
built here in Melbourne?

S5 (18:51):
We weren't able to find an identical kind of program.
There's definitely a lot of similar programs that operate, uh,
around the world. This particular program is the first of
its kind in Australia, but some of the larger airports,
particularly Heathrow, they have similar programs. One of the things

(19:12):
that we really wanted to incorporate into this was that
part that Bell just spoke about, where the staff were
quite proactive, so we didn't necessarily want it to be
a purely booked service because we know that people don't always,
you know, plans change or they can arrive at the
airport and best laid plans they thought they were going

(19:33):
to be, you know, physically able or, or in a,
in the right headspace to walk from A to B
and they get there and, you know, the wheels have
fallen off the cart or it's just not the day
for it. And they need that extra support. So be
able to get that without feeling like I had to
book it, you know, three days in advance and now
there's not there's not someone available. So that was something
we really wanted to incorporate into it. And we hadn't

(19:54):
seen a model that was similar to that elsewhere in
the world, but we definitely learned from Travelers Aid, a
part of an international organization. So there's travelers aids in
the United States in particular, and they have services in
the airport. So we certainly learned a lot from their
experiences and the experiences of travelers around the world, but
also train stations as well. Uh, one of our colleagues

(20:15):
did a study tour last year, um, through the UK
and through our own train station works. Uh, you know,
there are similar sorts of programs out there using different
types of equipment. But yeah, we really just wanted to
have something that was suitable to the service user and
adaptable to their needs and on the day as well.
So it didn't have to be something that you could
predict for the future, that you could just access as

(20:37):
you need and in the form that you needed as well.
So we've got a buggy there that operates between terminal
three and the T4 carpark, terminal four carpark. But power
wheelchairs and the staff can walk with service users as well.
So if that's your preference, if you prefer to walk
from A to B and you maybe just need some
assistance with a luggage or guidance to get to your
check sticking point or out to the car, then we

(20:59):
can walk with you as well. So it's very much
designed to be what the service user requires, as opposed
to a prescriptive service.

S2 (21:06):
For people who would like to find out a bit more,
or get in touch with the airport to request one
of the services. Bell what's the best way for people
to do that?

S4 (21:19):
Sure. So there's two ways that passengers can contact us
or find out some more information about Melbourne Airport Assist
and the types of services that we offer. So travelers
can book on the Melbourne Airport website and the Mobility
Access page or Travelers Aid website. Alternatively, if a passenger
would prefer to call and speak with one of us,
they're more than welcome to do so. The phone number

(21:40):
is 0492 868 960.

S2 (21:45):
Perfect. Well, I've been speaking today with Sarah McDonald and
Belinda marcon, all about the Travellers Aid services at Melbourne
Airport to help people get from point A to point
B and onto the plane safely and accessibly. Bill, Sarah,
thank you so much for your time today. It was

(22:07):
great to catch up with you and hear all about
the program.

S4 (22:11):
Thank you for having us, Sam.

S5 (22:13):
Thanks, Sam.

S2 (22:16):
Well, the weather's warming up, and if you're a Melbourne listener,
hope you've had the opportunity to take a four day
weekend and go somewhere nice. And while you're kicking back,
you've had the opportunity to have a read of the
latest issue of For Your Information, otherwise known as FYI.
But if you haven't, here's Liz Darling chorus to give

(22:38):
us a little bit of an overview. Liz, thank you
so much for your time. Welcome back to Talking Vision.

S6 (22:44):
Thank you Sam, I always love coming on the show.

S2 (22:47):
And we love having you. Now Liz, first up, let's
have a bit of a chat about the support at
home changes that are coming in.

S6 (22:55):
Yeah. So as we've been hearing for a little while
now that home care packages are no more and they're
being replaced with support at home, and those new changes
are coming into effect on Saturday, November 1st. So it's
been a long time coming and it's finally here. It's
an exciting time for the aged care sector. And inside
the latest edition of FYI, we have a new article

(23:16):
that explains about the introduction of the new statement of Rights.
They've replaced what was previously known as the Charter of
Aged Care Rights, and now it puts your rights at
the centre of your own care. So it's a really
exciting change.

S2 (23:28):
And something very closely related to that. We've got some
new stand up for your rights guides, which quite nicely
dovetail into those sort of conversations.

S6 (23:41):
Yeah, absolutely. It does. We have a series of what
is actually 12 guides that cover things like standing up
for yourself generally, and how to make a complaint to government,
to helping your child advocate for themselves at school. So
in the FYI, every fortnight we're putting in two new
resources for you to download and have a read of yourself.

(24:02):
So these guides have been written to give you practical tips,
clear information, and they're just helpful resources that make it
easier to understand your protections, take action and feel supported
every step of the way.

S2 (24:13):
And Liz, there's been some changes to how people access
the taxi transport subsidy scheme. Tell us a bit about
that one.

S6 (24:23):
Yes. So it's currently just in New South Wales, but
the New South Wales government is introducing a new taxi
transport subsidy scheme, which you might know as TS the
travel docket book, to support the recent improvements to accessible
taxi services. So now TS participants need to order a
new book as your existing pink dockets won't be accepted

(24:44):
after the 30th of November, but your books are now
available to order and they will support updated payment incentives
that have now been created. So you can keep using
your pink dockets until the 30th of November, but just
don't forget to order that new book so you can
keep receiving your subsidies after that date.

S2 (25:01):
And in other news, Liz, there's been some renovations at
the MCG that's quite exciting.

S6 (25:09):
It is. It's really cool. So the Melbourne Cricket ground,
the MCG, they're committed just to creating an inclusive and
accessible experience for everyone who steps through their doors. So
whether you're going there for an event, you're going to
the footy, you're having a tour of the stadium or
you're just having an explore of what's around. The MCG
has made these new updates, so you can make sure
that everyone feels comfortable and safe when on ground.

S2 (25:33):
Perfect. I'm looking forward to checking them out when the
cricket's coming up. There's a lot of amazing cricket and, um, yeah,
definitely the footy next year. Very exciting. Now, Liz, just finally,
the Santa Fun Run is running a competition in partnership
with Brooks, which is pretty cool.

S6 (25:52):
Yeah, it's really cool. Our Santa Fun run is always
a super fun time of year. If you haven't registered,
you should. It's always a great time going for a
run with lots of different Santas, but our friends at
Brooks have just entered into a competition with us, and
they're celebrating 25 years of their adrenaline GTS shoe. So
those runners have been around for 25 years and have

(26:12):
been popular since day one, and you can go in
the draw to win your own pair. Valued at $269.95.

S2 (26:20):
Oh my God. Yeah, that's really cool. Okay, well, if
you would love to find out a little bit more,
head to Australia. To get your name onto the mailing
list and receive for your information every fortnight in your inbox. Liz,

(26:40):
thank you so much for your time today. Great to
catch up and have a chat with you about FYI.

S6 (26:46):
Yeah, thank you for having me, Sam. It's always fun.

S2 (26:55):
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

(27:20):
Vision Australia dot. But until next week it's Sam Coley
saying bye for now.

S1 (27:29):
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
business hours on one 384 7406. That's one 384 74
six or by visiting Vision Australia, that's Vision Australia.