Blind Citizens Australia

This week's An Eye For Business features Steve Sparrow. Steve lives in Brisbane and has run his own recording business for over twenty years. He regularly plays in entertainment venues around Brisbane and beyond and has released several albums. Steve describes his thoughts as he started out in the industry, some of the adaptations he has made to equipment and some of the barriers he found when starting his own business as a Blind person. You can find Steve's music on streaming platforms. His website is: http://www.sparrowsound.com.au Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this week's New Horizons, we harken back to an interview recorded in early 2016. Daniel Kish discusses Echo-location and Orientation and Mobility generally. Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this week's edition of An Eye For Business, we speak with Duncan Meerding, a furniture and lighting designer living in Tasmania. Duncan discusses his significanct and rapid vision loss, and how it affected his choices and led to running his own business. We find out about some of the adaptations Duncan has made to his workshop and how he has worked with other disabled woodworkers to teach and mentor them. If you'd like to know more about Duncan's business, see http://www.duncanmeerding.com Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this week's episode, we bring you the second part of the keynote speech given at the International Council on English Braille general assembly in 2020. Also, some news for Tasmanian branch members of Blind Citizens Australia. Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this episode of An Eye For Business, we bring you an interview with Elise Lonsdale. Elise has a significant work history in web development, assistive technology training and more. Elise has been running her own business for several years now, teaching people who are Blind or Vision Impaired how to use technology which inriches their communication and contributes significantly to their lives. We hear about Elise's story and how you too, could be running your own business. For more information about Elise's work, check out http://www.dataaustralasia.com.au An Eye For Business is a podcast series brought to you in partnership between Vision Australia and Blind Citizens Australia. It acknowledges the contributions of individuals who are Blind or Vision Impaired who have decided to run their own businesses. It comes from the Entrepreneurial Mindset webinar series run as a part of Blind Citizens Australia's Eye To The Future project. For more information, check out https://www.bca.org.au Find out more a

This week we bring you a repeat of episode 679, the keynote speech from the General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille, held in 2020. This is the first of a two programme series originally broadcast in 2020.

Information Alternatives has been supporting the information needs of people who are Blind or Vision Impaired for close to forty years. John Simpson explains the genesis of the business, some of the pitfall he and his partners have experienced as Blind or Vision Impaired business owners, and how the business has changed over the years, to keep abreast of emerging technologies and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse community of interest.

This week we bring you a BCA update. Sally Aurisch discusses the upcoming AGM, new board director, NDIS review and next week's BCA Inform. Also, a call for Tasmanians to provide their stories on the assisted voting process discussed in New Horizons a couple of weeks ago. To provide your story, E-mail vaughn@disabilityvoicestas.org.au Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In episode 4 of An Eye For Business we speak with Craig Shanahan. Craig is a chef, and is owner and manager of the Blind Chef Cafe in New South Wales. Craig describes his working life, how he has used skills acquired as a result of his recently gained vision impairment to start a thriving business. Craig also describes the measures he has taken to ensure every customer enjoys visiting his cafe and the work he has done to ensure accessibility for all customers. Find Craig's website at http://www.bccafe.com.au Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

This week we feature part ii of our series on Emergency Response planning for people who are blind or vision impaired. This is the second part of extracts from the session held at BCA Connect 2022, facilitated by Jane Britt, Policy and Advocacy Team Leader, with Blind Citizens Australia.

Amanda Heal is a keynote speaker and author. In episode 3 of the An Eye For Business podcast series, we hear about Amanda's journey to finding her purpose, and how she manages her busy speaking scheudle. She discusses some of the pitfalls to running yourw own business as a Blind person and how these can be managed. An Eye For Business is brought to you in partnership between Blind Citizens Australia and Vision Australia. It is part of the Entripreneurial Mindset program, under the An Eye to the Future project. Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

This week we bring you the first in a two-part series on emergency and disaster planning. Blind Citizens Australia has been working with the sector in various ways to facilitate appropriate measures for people with disability who are affected by emergency situations and disasters. We bring you the first part of a two-part series featuring extracts from the panel discussion delivered at the recently held BCA Connect, lead by Jane Britt, Policy and Advocacy Team Leader with BCA. Hear about some of the work being undertaken, and we hear some things you can do to protect yourself against fire.

In Episode 2 of An Eye for Business, we speak with Duncan Steward. Hear about Duncan's entrepreneurial journey to success as manager of several very successful music artists. An Eye for Business is brought to you in partnership with Blind Citizens Australia and Vision Australia. It is closely linked to the Entrepreneurial Mindset webinar series, part of the Eye to the Future Project. For more information, contact Blind Citizens Australia on 1800-033-660, or check out https://www.bca.org.au Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

This week we focus on the local government elections in Tasmania. These have been, for the first time, made compulsory and are held by inaccessible postal ballot - which of course renders the voting process inaccessible to Blind and Vision Impaired people. We hear from Duncan Meerding, chair of the Tasmania branch of Blind Citizens Australia, about advocacy being undertaken in conjunction with Disability Voices Tasmania and the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, to put together an assisted voting service for people with a print disability. We also hear from Sally Aurisch, CEO of Blind Citizens Australia, about the national perspective and work being done to develop accessible voting for all elections in Australia. To book an appointment, contact the TEC on 1800-801-701 during business hours. Appointments will be held between the 17th and 21st of October.

This week, we are visited by an old friend of the program. Lauren Henley has been working for many years now to promote the cause of Audio Description on Australian television. Recent events provide us with some hope, but it is not all plain sailing! Lauren describes the work she and others have been conducting on behalf of all Australians who are Blind or Vision Impaired, and we discuss the potential outcomes.

An Eye for Business is a podcast series featuring people who are blind or vision impaired, who run their own businesses. It is brought to you in partnership between Blind Citizens Australia and Vision Australia, and is closely linked with the Entrepreneurial Mindset webinar series. In this first episode we feature Janelle Colquhoun, who for over 20 years, has been an agent for artists with disability in Queensland. Janelle, through her company Salubrious Productions, has produced concerts, worked on international festivals and played a significant part in raising awareness of artists with disability all over Australia. In this program, Janelle explains what it took for her to start her own business, some pitfalls to watch out for and some sound advice for anyone thinking of starting their own small business, and particularly working in the arts. Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this episode, we meet Erica Chiandotto who started with BCA fairly recently. Erica describes her background and her interesting new role with BCA. Also, a reminder about program themes for our usual end of year series. Please contact new.horizons@bca.org.au if you have any ideas.

In this week's program we discuss the Entrepreneurial Mindset project, which is being run by BCA in partnership with Vision Australia. The first of the webinars is scheduled for early next week. Hear about the project and the special podcast series which goes alongside, called "An Eye For Business". Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this week's episode, we update you on BCA Connect. This is the third such programme and we are joined by Deb Deshays, manager of projects and engagement with Blind Citizens Australia, and board member and event host, Doug McGinn. Register for BCA Connect from the BCA website, https://bca.org.au Find out more at https://new-horizons.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

This week we are joined by Jane Britt, Policy and Advocacy Team Leader with Blind Citizens Australia to talk about the increasing problem that proving one's identity poses for Australians who are blind or vision impaired. Jane discusses why this is becoming an increasing problem, how we might advocate in this area and work BCA is doing to make it easier for people who are blind and vision impaired to prove their identity and conduct their daily business. Also, some thoughts on how we, as blind and vision impaired people, might prove the identity of others.