Kelly Vincent – Vision Australia Interview on Mad March
02/03/2016
On Wednesday 2nd March 2016, Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent was interviewed on Vision Australia radio station to discuss the Adelaide festival season and the concern that some venues are still inaccessible to people with disabilities. Here is the audio and transcript from the interview.
Pam Green: Time now to welcome to 5RPH Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent. Hi Kelly.
Kelly Vincent: Hi Pam.
Pam Green: Well Kelly, now that it is Mad March, how are the services holding up for people with disabilities.
Kelly Vincent: Well certainly there’s a lot going on in Adelaide at the moment Pam, as many of your listeners would already know with the Adelaide Festival, Fringe Festival as well as the Clipsal – so we’re really spoiled for choice. But when you take a closer look you’ll find that for people with disabilities the choice probably isn’t as great because a lot of venues and events are not fully accessible.
Pam Green: So what are the impacts on people?
Kelly Vincent: Every year even in 2016 we continue to hear stories about the disappointment that people feel when they can’t get into show or an exhibition or an event they would like to attend. So unfortunately it still seems necessary to keep pressure on the organisers of events to actually think about all of their patrons, from people with disabilities to older people and so on. So we had a very small win this week, when one of our Dignity for Disability members was disappointed about not being able to see an exhibition called ‘Grit’ down at Port Adelaide. Following enquiries from the organisers they’ve managed to install a portable ramp to make the exhibition at least part way accessible. So a very very small win, but again very disappointing that it’s still an afterthought in this day and age and that members of the public have to be so vigilant to make sure that things do continue to be accessible.
Pam Green: So going to some Fringe and festival events just isn’t an option at the moment for some people with disabilities, huh?
Kelly Vincent: Sadly that is true, the options can be very limited for people with access needs. If you’re in a situation when you have to ring up to check the venue which if the first thing to do on a list of many, to make sure it is actually accessible. And then of course the information that you get may or may not be accurate. So this brings up the benefits of universal design yet again, because when we design buildings to be universally accessible to people with disabilities, older people, people with prams, bicycle riders and so on, that has a real big flow on affect. It is unfortunate though that for existing venues we still have to be this vigilant and really ring up and complain when things don’t go right. So at Dignity for Disability we’re really calling on event organisers to think about not only who might be coming to their events at the moment but who might like to come and spend their time and their money there and not be able to as well.
Pam Green: So how can we get better provision of these services for people, Kelly?
Kelly Vincent: Well certainly as I said, Dignity for Disability has been successful in getting some amendments up in universal design for future builds and future developments in South Australia. But of course, that doesn’t help the existing situation. So we’re happy to hear feedback from the public about the general accessibility or otherwise of events that they’re attending. And this is certainly something that’s come up again, following a recent article in the Advertiser about the inaccessibility of many venues around the CBD of Adelaide. So I’m certainly very happy to hear from anyone about venues that they’re concerned about and make representations on their behalf to make sure that we improve now and far into the future.
Pam Green: So how exactly can people get behind this?
Kelly Vincent: Well as I said I am happy to hear from anyone with any concerns or even positive feedback about what we could do more of to make the festival season more accessible to everyone. So you can contact my office on email, [email protected] or phone 8237 9543 or my Facebook and Twitter pages as well. So when things are done in writing it’s great because it gives us an opportunity to record and compare what we’re being told, but feel free to contact us in any way that you would like and we’ll be sure to make representations for you.
Pam Green: Thanks so much for your time Kelly and hopefully I might see you at a Fringe event.
Kelly Vincent: Looking forward to that. Thanks Pam.
