Australian Greens Senator, Rachel Siewert, has moved a motion calling on the Government to change the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 so audio description is required on free-to-air and subscription television programs across all networks, similarly to captioning.
Audio description is delivered through a separate aural track, by a narrator explaining what is happening in a television program, during the natural pauses in dialogue. It describes elements such as scenery and settings, changing facial expressions, a person’s actions, costumes, and abrupt scene changes.
In her media release the Senator noted the availability of these services in several other countries while pointing out the lack of any audio description on Australian free-to-air television broadcasts. “With approximately 350,000 people in Australia who are blind or have low vision, this is simply not good enough. The Senate acknowledged this today in supporting my motion”, Senator Siewert stated.
Vision Australia’s General Manager of Advocacy and Engagement, Maryanne Diamond AO, welcomed the Senator’s motion. “It’s heartening to see Senator Siewert bring attention to this important issue”.
“We want the Australian public to understand that people who are blind or have low vision can enjoy television, in the same way as the sighted community, when audio description is made more readily available”, she continued.
“This service has minimal impact on the wider community but makes every difference to our ability to get the whole story when watching current affairs, drama, or children’s programs. At the moment, when footage is shown without dialogue, I’m reliant on someone else telling me what’s happening or I’ll miss that point altogether.
“Today, people are familiar with captioning for the deaf community. This development came about through the introduction of laws requiring this service. Senator Siewert’s motion is an important step towards achieving the same result for the blindness and low vision community” Maryanne concluded.
In another development, Stephen Jolley has launched a Change.org petition to urge Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to change the Broadcasting Services Act so audio description will become available on Australian free-to-air TV.
This follows approximately 250 Vision Australia clients participating in a letter writing campaign to Minister Turnbull. People took the opportunity to complete an online web-form, made available through the Vision Australia website, to explain their personal experiences to the Minister and why they would want audio description on Australian television.
In another statement Senator Siewert conveyed that “It is time for us to catch-up and offer this service across the board. I hope Senate support for this motion increases momentum on the issue and encourages positive outcomes”.
For more information:
- Read the full text of the motion
- Sign Stephen Jolley’s Petition and tell all your friends about it
- Read more about Vision Australia’s Tell the Whole Story campaign on audio description