0:15

Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here

0:17

on Vision Australia Radio 1190

0:20

7 a.m. in Adelaide via

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Digital in Adelaide and via Radio

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Digital in Darwin. Peter Greco

0:40

on behalf of Philip Vandepeer saying wonderful

0:42

to be here. Thank you so much for joining us.

0:44

A big cheerio to Wendy McDougall listening

0:46

in this program. Coming to you

0:49

from Ghana land, coming to

0:51

you very, very shortly. We'll speak to Annette

0:53

Leishman who's got a fantastic

0:55

initiative called Birding by Ear

0:57

a chance to get back to nature,

1:00

help your physical and mental health will

1:02

find out more about that from Annette very shortly.

1:04

We'll then speak to Kyra Quinlan

1:06

Levin, who will tell us about,

1:08

um, what domestic violence that's such

1:11

a scourge at the moment. A lot of

1:13

publicity about it. A chance

1:15

for you to maybe help out in a very small

1:17

but significant way, especially

1:19

if you've got a spare phone that you don't

1:22

use anymore. Kyra will tell

1:24

us more about that. Then catch up

1:26

with Leanne Sajadi from the Australia

1:28

Library. They're involved very much with

1:30

the Melbourne Writers Festival. A chance

1:32

for you to get involved as well. Online.

1:35

Doesn't matter where you are, you can still take part.

1:37

And then we'll catch up with Joseph Freedman

1:39

from an organization called About Time.

1:42

They're about to launch a newspaper

1:45

for people who are incarcerated,

1:47

or for people who are involved with

1:50

people who are incarcerated. And

1:52

some good news, particularly if you like,

1:54

listen to Australia Radio. We'll

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tell you a little bit more before we go.

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If you're listening through 1190 7

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a.m. and 8:00 for your listening pleasure,

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studio one will be here with

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Lizzie and Sam just before we

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hear what's on their program. Some news

2:09

through from Humanware that

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version 1.3 for

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the Victor three is out,

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so if you've got one, get

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it checked out and get it updated.

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Its free. Of course, that's a great thing and

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Sam and Lizzy here from studio one.

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Join us after Focal Point.

2:44

We speak to Rina Gothi and

2:46

Fleurir El-Masri, the co-founders

2:48

of Sisterhood Haircare, about accessible

2:50

beauty products for women with a vision impairment.

2:53

Tune in at 8:00.

2:58

Well. It's always great to tell about new initiatives,

3:00

different initiatives, initiatives. And

3:03

this one has got a really clever name too.

3:05

Let's chat about it with Annette Leishman.

3:07

Annette. Lovely to catch up with you again. Thanks so much for your

3:09

time.

3:10

Thanks, Peter. Lovely to catch up with you again

3:12

too.

3:12

Now tell us about this. As I say, the

3:14

the name of the programme

3:16

or project or initiative is fantastic.

3:19

Maybe we could start with that, I think. Was

3:21

your idea to come up with the name?

3:22

Uh, not really on

3:25

my own. It was a joint decision between Nita

3:27

from Parks Victoria. She's a parks

3:30

parks manager of program manager.

3:32

And, um. So I

3:35

met Nita through a walk that I was doing

3:37

with Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria.

3:39

They offer quite a few different walks

3:42

at different times, and some of those are in

3:44

conjunction with Parks Victoria.

3:46

And so when I

3:48

was at a walk, uh,

3:51

at Plenty Gorge, Nita,

3:53

um, was chatting to me and

3:55

asked me if I'd like to do a

3:58

volunteer walk as a sensory

4:00

guide, and I

4:02

thought that would be really great. I

4:04

wasn't sure what it was going to involve,

4:07

but, um, the idea,

4:09

um, between us came up for birding by

4:11

ear. Um, Westgate Park

4:13

sensory walk, uh, birding

4:16

by ear. And so that's how it all started.

4:18

And I guess it's fairly self-explanatory.

4:20

What, uh, birding by ear is.

4:22

Well, it is Peter. Um, I'll tell

4:25

you about Westgate Park, though. Yeah.

4:27

Um, the reason it's at

4:29

Westgate Park, and

4:31

it may seem a very unlikely place

4:33

for those who know Victoria, but,

4:36

um, Westgate Park is actually

4:38

almost under the Westgate Bridge.

4:40

And, uh, so,

4:43

um, the reason I, Nita

4:45

actually gave me a list of different parks

4:47

that we could do this project in

4:50

for birding by ear and

4:52

Westgate Park seemed to be the one that was closest

4:55

to where I live. And

4:57

so that's why I chose that one. I had never

4:59

been there before, but Westgate Park,

5:02

um, as I said, um, it's

5:04

under almost under the Westgate

5:06

Bridge, which is a very, very busy

5:09

bridge which leads in and out of the CBD.

5:12

And, you know, it's packed

5:14

with cars and trucks at nearly all

5:16

times of the day, but particularly

5:18

peak hour. And

5:20

so it's quite

5:22

noisy when you arrive in the car

5:25

park at Westgate Park. And the first time

5:27

you go there, well, I thought, oh, gee,

5:29

I don't know if there'll be any birds here. We probably

5:32

won't be able to hear them. But once

5:34

you start walking into the park, into the

5:36

woodlands, it's just unbelievable.

5:38

There are so many birds there, different sorts

5:41

of birds you've got. Uh,

5:43

I'm trying to think of some of the moorhens,

5:46

um, coots, different types of herons

5:48

and magpies, other small

5:50

birds, such or small birds such

5:52

as willie wagtails and fairy wrens.

5:55

And it's just so lovely to be there

5:57

amongst all that bird life and you

5:59

can't become completely oblivious

6:01

to the, uh, you know,

6:04

the fact that you're almost in the you're

6:06

at Port Melbourne, but almost,

6:08

you know, probably only a

6:10

few minutes away from the CBD. It's

6:13

very unusual. And the,

6:15

uh, Westgate Park was originally a salt

6:17

mine in the 1930s, and

6:19

then it became a a building site

6:22

for the Westgate Bridge. And then it

6:24

wasn't until about 1984

6:27

it was declared a park.

6:30

And then, um, between

6:32

1984 and 1999,

6:34

friends of um Westgate

6:36

Park, a group of people got together,

6:39

thought they'd tidy it up, and they

6:41

planted 300,000 species

6:43

of native flora there.

6:46

And. Yeah. So that's, um,

6:48

you know, lots of birds because of their

6:50

work there. Lots of birds have gone there

6:52

to make that place their home, which is

6:55

just fantastic.

6:56

We've chatted you in the past and you've often spoken

6:58

about, uh, sort of health and fitness.

7:01

And I guess this is kind of part of it as well, but

7:03

it's kind of maybe a bit more mental health

7:05

related, if we could say, oh, absolutely.

7:07

Because the outdoors, as

7:09

we know, um, being in

7:11

the outdoors can give us

7:14

a I think I'm not sure what

7:16

it's called, serotonin lifting the brain. I

7:18

think that's what it is. And I have actually

7:20

witnessed that firsthand because,

7:22

uh, sometimes when you start

7:24

a walk, many people are, you

7:26

know, not very happy. They've had

7:29

a bad morning, they've knocked

7:31

about 16 things over in their house.

7:33

And, you know, lots of different things happen if you're visually

7:35

impaired and it takes a while to

7:37

get going. But from the beginning

7:40

of the walk until the end of the walk,

7:42

I have noticed a shift in

7:44

the mood of people, including myself,

7:48

and it's just fantastic.

7:50

But Peter, I must also

7:53

point out that this walk is an

7:55

inclusive walk. So it's not just for people

7:57

who are. Visually impaired, but it's

7:59

for everyone. And NATO

8:02

advertises advertises

8:04

it on Eventbrite.

8:06

Um, for everyone. And then Rachel

8:09

from Blind Sports also advertises

8:11

it on our website. And

8:13

so we get a real mix of people and

8:15

it's just fantastic. And everyone just

8:18

really gets involved and

8:20

just enjoys listening to the birds.

8:22

And it's it's fantastic.

8:24

It really is a mood lifter.

8:26

You got the fresh air plus the social interaction

8:28

as well. Yes.

8:29

Yeah that's right. Yeah.

8:31

And I believe you run some rather,

8:33

uh, unique, uh shall we say competitions

8:36

or uh, games.

8:37

Oh yes. Yes. We just started.

8:39

Uh, so, uh, I don't do this

8:42

on my own. Of course. So I

8:44

lead the sensory part of the walk.

8:46

So we always have a volunteer. So

8:48

that's me volunteer. And

8:51

we also have a park ranger. This is the

8:53

same for any walks offered by Parks

8:55

Victoria. They always have a park

8:57

ranger and a volunteer. And,

8:59

uh, so with this one, MYP came

9:02

up with the idea MYP Grant is

9:04

the park ranger who, you know,

9:06

we work together and

9:08

MYP, um, just loves birds

9:10

and he knows all the bird sounds and was introduced

9:12

to them by his family, I think, when he

9:15

was quite young. And

9:17

so he came up with this initiative

9:19

to make it a competition.

9:21

So the last walk we did,

9:23

which was only last week, we

9:25

tried the, uh, the bird

9:27

quiz. So it's a bird quiz. So

9:30

he plays a bird song

9:32

on his audio, and then the

9:34

park visitors have to try and guess

9:36

what it is. Some people are really good at that,

9:38

but I'm certainly not. I'm still learning.

9:40

So the way that we

9:42

do it, when people are registered

9:44

for the the walk, they

9:47

receive an audio file

9:49

of about. I think there are about a dozen birds,

9:51

and for those who can see, they can

9:54

actually their images of the birds as

9:56

well. Um, but it gives

9:58

the, the name of the bird and an audio

10:00

little a short audio file

10:02

of the bird sound as well. And that's

10:04

just fantastic. People love that. So

10:06

some people try and the

10:09

younger ones in particular, I found

10:11

they will listen and try and remember

10:13

those sounds. Yeah. Um,

10:15

yeah. So it's, it's really good. And

10:17

the other initiative we had, we incorporated

10:20

a mindfulness session

10:22

as well because, um, Westgate

10:24

Park is fairly small as compared to other

10:26

parks. It's only 40 hectares in

10:29

all. And so

10:31

an hour to an hour and a half,

10:33

um, you can complete the walk. That's why we

10:35

just added a couple of other things. But the other thing

10:37

is, um, little mindfulness

10:40

session. So we walk into this little sheoak

10:42

grove and, um, I

10:44

lead that where I just get people to,

10:47

um, just close their eyes,

10:50

you know, so there's no lighting

10:52

and just breathe slowly

10:55

and then start to listen to the bird

10:57

sounds and then

10:59

we do that for a, you know, half

11:02

a minute to a minute, and then people

11:04

have the opportunity to share if they,

11:06

you know, um, heard a bird

11:08

that they, their focus was on

11:11

more than another bird. They might want

11:13

to share that and why they, um,

11:15

enjoy the sound of that bird. So some people

11:17

will actually know what

11:19

the bird is. But, um, when we did it

11:21

last week, we didn't, um, really

11:24

get that far. But yeah, so

11:26

that's a couple of other things that we, we

11:28

do.

11:29

What's the sort of thing that we could all do ourselves

11:31

in our own backyard, or when we're going

11:33

for a walk anyway? I mean, I guess, you

11:35

know, it's kind of, well, not necessarily

11:37

smelling the roses, but, uh, birding

11:40

by ear.

11:41

Yes. Yeah. Well, I have to say,

11:43

I have been doing that more around

11:45

my place. I live, um, not

11:48

that far from Melbourne City.

11:50

I live at a place called Glenhuntly, and

11:52

it's lovely around here because there are a lot of trees

11:55

and there's a lot of bird life, but

11:57

I think it's mainly magpies

11:59

around here. And,

12:01

uh, that's why The Magpie is my favorite

12:04

bird song. So the listeners

12:06

are not sure what a magpie sounds like.

12:09

They should go online and have

12:11

a listen. It's just a really lovely sound.

12:13

Some of the birds don't have a nice

12:15

song. There's one. I can't think what it is.

12:18

Um, it might be a heron

12:21

or I can't really remember, but it

12:23

has a real growly kind of

12:25

sound. So they all have their unique

12:27

voices, and,

12:29

uh, you can get the feeling

12:31

that they're actually chatting to each other sometimes

12:33

when you're just really listening. And,

12:36

uh, it's just a lovely thing to do.

12:38

Kind of get yourself lost in it all.

12:40

Yes. Yeah. But we also there

12:42

are also some other sensory offerings

12:45

as well. So when we go to

12:47

the Sheoak Grove, we also

12:49

feel the leaves because the

12:51

Sheoaks have really unusual

12:53

leaves. They're more like um,

12:56

long needle things. But this

12:58

is a soft, feathery kind of feel.

13:01

And, um, then you've got

13:03

the, uh, black Oaks. I think they're

13:05

called. Maybe that's not right. Um,

13:07

black something and they have

13:09

a unique, um, smell.

13:11

And that's really nice, too. So we get

13:14

immersed in those other sensory

13:16

offerings as well.

13:18

Um, this birding by ear,

13:20

it's, uh, offered on a fairly regular

13:22

basis. And it has.

13:23

Been we've done three so far.

13:26

And then as a matter of fact, we had a meeting

13:28

this morning. And so

13:30

the next one, we're going to have a little break now

13:33

until the 14th of June. So

13:35

our next one will be on the 14th of

13:37

June at 10 a.m.. So 10 a.m.

13:39

to 11:30 a.m.. And then if

13:41

people want to stay longer than that,

13:43

we, you know, we stay longer and

13:45

chat to people. They'll

13:48

see it on the website if they're interested in birding

13:50

or, you know, a friend of Parks Victoria,

13:52

and then they can, um, enroll

13:54

either by going,

13:56

um, into there'll be a link to

13:59

enrolling for or registering on

14:01

Eventbrite, but also they can

14:03

email Parks Victoria and,

14:06

um, the other way to

14:08

register for that walk is to go into Blind Sports

14:10

and Recreation Victoria, because we put it up

14:12

on our website as well. So and

14:15

the other thing I just wanted to say is that

14:17

if people who are visually impaired

14:20

want to go on the walk, but

14:22

it's a good idea to have a support

14:24

person with you, but if you don't

14:26

have one, you can actually,

14:29

uh, contact Parks Victoria

14:31

about that and they will provide someone

14:34

as well. So. Oh that's fantastic. So there's

14:36

no excuse, you know, for people not

14:38

to go. It's it's so great

14:40

a really great thing to do. It really

14:42

is.

14:42

Free. Is there a cost for it.

14:44

Yes. No cost. And yeah

14:46

it's free and it's just a great thing

14:48

to do. Well, you know, it's.

14:49

Funny when you did your little mindfulness,

14:51

uh, snapshot there, Annette, I found myself

14:54

doing exactly what you were saying, closing

14:56

my eyes and just, uh, kind

14:58

of, uh, listening to your voice and. Yeah,

15:00

it was, you know, taking a few

15:02

calm breaths, so I think you'd be.

15:05

Or you are the perfect person to lead something

15:07

like this. Oh, thank.

15:08

You, Peter, I appreciate

15:10

that.

15:11

If I wasn't on air, I probably would have just, uh,

15:13

drifted off. But I gotta bring

15:15

my focus back to what I'm doing.

15:17

And that could be

15:19

because I'm boring you as well. No.

15:21

Absolutely not. No, no, it's relaxing

15:24

and have a nice. We, uh, can't relax

15:26

enough in this day and age. And what

15:28

we'll do is we'll put a couple of those links that you

15:30

gave us on our Facebook page, so people

15:32

have missed it. They can go there or

15:34

they can always call you at the radio station.

15:37

And, um, you touched

15:39

on it, but it should say a very big shout out

15:41

and thank you to, uh, MYP and also

15:43

Nita for their, uh, arrangement

15:45

of, uh, us having to chat to you because it's

15:47

such a wonderful initiative and deserving

15:50

of, uh, more people joining you. And if

15:52

you want to kind of improve your, your mental health

15:54

and just kind of feel a bit more refreshed and revived

15:56

after doing something like this, it

15:58

sounds like, uh, we can highly recommend

16:01

it.

16:01

Absolutely. I think a walk in the

16:03

morning like that is

16:05

insurance that you will have a really nice

16:07

day because it really boosts

16:09

the mood. Yeah. It's good.

16:11

Whatever time people listen to this, you've boosted

16:13

our mood. Thank you so much for sharing that with us,

16:15

Annette. We wish you well and, uh, it's always great

16:17

to catch up.

16:18

Thanks so much, Peter. I really appreciate

16:20

that. Thank you.

16:21

Annette Leishman, tell me about that wonderful initiative.

16:24

Uh, so maybe if you'd like to get involved, go to our

16:26

Facebook page. But birding by

16:28

ear. What a tremendous idea.

16:34

There's certainly been lots of news in recent times

16:36

regarding domestic violence. Let's

16:38

speak to someone who has lived experience

16:40

and also is an advocate in this area.

16:43

Cara Quinlivan Corrine, lovely to

16:45

meet you. Thank you so, so much for your time. Thank you for

16:47

having me. What's it like at this sort of time

16:49

for you, Kyra, particularly when there's so

16:51

much in the media about it? Uh. Uh,

16:53

how do you kind of respond to something like this

16:56

on a personal basis, if you don't mind us asking?

16:58

I mean.

16:58

It's pretty, uh, horrific to open

17:00

up the news these days and just day after

17:02

day, see another incident.

17:05

Um, so it's pretty frustrating. Um,

17:07

but also very sad. Um,

17:09

so, you know, it's just great that we're having

17:11

these conversations and putting awareness out there.

17:13

It could be more than that, though, doesn't it? I mean, I guess

17:15

we all are very much aware these days

17:17

via the media, but I guess,

17:20

you know, everyone has agreed that there's

17:22

more action needed. I guess it's just what

17:24

sort of form the action takes.

17:25

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I think,

17:27

um, in terms of like awareness

17:30

as well, the people are aware

17:32

that there is an issue, but I don't think they

17:34

understand the complexities of the issues

17:36

or how the systems are failing.

17:39

Um, so I think that's one of the key issues

17:41

around that awareness and why it's, you know, great

17:43

to keep talking about it.

17:45

Some of the issues sort of going

17:47

below the surface that we don't really kind of

17:49

know about, even they are maybe a

17:51

bit underreported. I mean, I guess the,

17:54

you know, the murders are reported because, you

17:56

know, they sort of result in a

17:58

death and the consequences of that. But a

18:00

lot of stuff that probably goes on that is underreported

18:02

or not reported at all.

18:04

Well, that's right. And it's things like coercive control.

18:07

That's probably one of the biggest issues

18:09

that we probably have across the nation, and

18:11

it's definitely one that's not overly reported.

18:13

I guess we don't.

18:14

Want to put the blame on any one or any, uh,

18:16

sort of organisation in particular.

18:18

But does it start with the government

18:21

and kind of we work our way down, or does

18:23

it start with us as individuals and

18:25

work our way up? What's the kind of best

18:27

way to approach something like this?

18:28

I don't think it ever just starts with one.

18:30

I think it starts with everyone at the same time.

18:33

Essentially. You know, we obviously need,

18:35

um, better, uh, law reform

18:37

around this space. We need to hold perpetrators

18:40

to account. But even just speaking

18:42

to your friends and neighbours at a local

18:44

level, just having that awareness, like

18:46

I've spoken to people who didn't actually

18:49

know that some of their behaviours were sort

18:51

of like abusive, uh, traits,

18:53

and it sort of made them think and

18:55

reflect on their own behaviours and what they need

18:58

to do to start being, you know, a better person

19:00

themselves, but also a part of that conversation.

19:02

It's part of the problem that, uh, someone might behave

19:04

that way and don't realise

19:06

the fact that, uh, you know, that

19:08

behaviour isn't appropriate, but no one kind

19:11

of says anything, and so they keep doing it.

19:12

Yeah, absolutely. And from my own experience,

19:15

um, with domestic violence, I've actually

19:17

reached out to people to ask for help and

19:19

they've actually said no to me. Um, and

19:22

for various reasons, whether they're scared of

19:24

their abuser coming after them, if they did

19:26

speak up. But, you know, I think you sometimes

19:28

see in the media where something's

19:30

happened, someone stepped in, and then they end up with

19:32

the fine. So people don't know

19:35

where their legal rights are with this. Um,

19:37

and sometimes the consequence

19:39

of speaking up against someone else,

19:41

um, you know, is impacts them too.

19:44

It's interesting, Kyra, because, you know, often

19:46

I speak to people from the lifeblood and,

19:48

you know, the asking for people to donate

19:50

blood because, you know, different times of the

19:52

year, it's it's much needed. And I often say, you know, it's

19:54

incredible how Australians can respond.

19:57

And through Covid we heard about some really

19:59

generous acts. So I think kind of

20:01

deep down people do want to do the right thing, but

20:03

it's maybe, you know, doing it the right way.

20:06

Yeah, definitely. Um, not knowing where

20:08

to start is sometimes the issue and it's like once

20:10

you start is, you know, that

20:12

first step is exactly what you needed to do.

20:14

Yeah.

20:15

As I said, you're a person who's had the lived

20:17

experience. What turns someone

20:19

who's had the lived experience into becoming

20:21

an advocate, because I guess you could probably

20:24

kind of either feel sorry for yourself or

20:26

withdraw and kind of, um, you

20:28

know, not want to sort of be out there

20:30

to, to kind of be advocating, uh, what

20:33

what makes you the person that you

20:35

are now?

20:36

I think when I,

20:38

um, sort of first came out of the DV

20:40

relationship, I

20:42

went into that withdrawal. I didn't want the world

20:45

to know who I was. I didn't want

20:47

to speak to anyone. I took

20:49

myself off social media and it wasn't shame.

20:52

It was more just sort of wanting to

20:54

disconnect and not be a part of

20:56

society anymore. I think

20:58

the, the, the motive behind my

21:00

advocacy now is

21:02

just the more deeper and deeper

21:05

I fell into like loopholes and like

21:07

legal loopholes and things. Or when the abuse

21:09

didn't stop, it's like, you know, I've had enough now,

21:12

and the only thing that I can

21:14

do is to have action. And

21:16

I think taking that step,

21:18

for me, it was almost instant. Um, I

21:20

just woke up one day and was like, you know what? I've had

21:22

enough. Um, it's now time to start

21:24

using my voice because being quiet didn't get me anywhere.

21:27

So the only thing that I can do is use my

21:29

voice.

21:29

I was there, like a moment

21:32

that that happened. Was it kind of a gradual thing

21:34

and sort of a two part question in a sense,

21:36

like, um, you know, in your younger

21:38

days, if I can say that, Kyra, were

21:41

you someone who had a sort of sense of social justice

21:43

anyway, do you think?

21:44

No, no, I think I lived quite

21:46

a privileged, uh, life where I

21:48

wasn't really exposed to the,

21:50

um, sort of the injustices of

21:52

the world. And it wasn't until I found

21:55

myself in a DV relationship, you know,

21:57

begging for answers of how did this happen to

21:59

me? I think in that journey,

22:01

um, I've kind of become

22:03

more aware and more vocal.

22:06

Um, but it's almost like it had to happen to me first

22:08

to sort of care in a way.

22:10

Um, and, um, I suppose,

22:13

you know, just going through all of that

22:15

and, um, like the trauma

22:18

that it created and the impact that it's

22:20

had on my entire life,

22:22

it really just kind of took one day

22:24

where I either it was another incident

22:26

that happened where I was just like, I've had enough.

22:29

It's now time to start being vocal

22:31

and actually calling it out. And whether it's, you

22:33

know, calling out the perpetrator,

22:36

um, whether it's, you know, speaking to

22:38

police and actually telling the story and making a report

22:40

or something like that, it just became

22:43

a point where I decided, like,

22:45

not doing anything isn't working.

22:47

How much courage does that take, Kyra?

22:49

Oh, I mean, I don't like to call myself

22:51

courageous in these matters, but I know

22:53

that, um, I've heard from other

22:55

people who do call me brave and who

22:58

do say that it's courageous. I

23:00

don't view myself as that. I just

23:02

sort of feel like I have an obligation almost

23:04

to, um, to not let it happen

23:06

to other people.

23:07

What's it like when you speak to other people that are going

23:10

through similar things that you went

23:12

through? Is there kind of a a

23:14

good connection there? Because I guess people who maybe

23:16

are going through those sort of relationships do seek

23:18

professional support, and I'm sure the

23:20

professional supporters do their best.

23:23

But, you know, often with a lot of things and,

23:25

you know, whether it's, you know, disability or

23:27

any other kind of issue until

23:29

you've actually spoken to someone that's kind of lived

23:31

it. I mean, as I say, with

23:33

the best of intentions, it probably doesn't really

23:35

cut through.

23:36

Yeah, I suppose there's a recent,

23:38

um, example that I can give you

23:40

where recently, uh, someone

23:42

reached out to me. They've seen some of the advocacy

23:45

that I do, and they were going through

23:47

something themselves and they didn't really know where

23:49

to start. They were kind of like at that very first

23:51

point of like, where do I go from here?

23:53

And I think for someone to have seen,

23:56

um, my journey to from where I was

23:58

to where I am now, it sort of gives

24:00

them a bit of hope that it does get better.

24:03

And sometimes hope is all

24:05

that someone needs in these scenarios.

24:07

But I think having someone who's

24:09

gone through something similar,

24:12

um, and been able to share experiences

24:14

and open up that line of communication

24:17

can really help guide someone

24:19

else through their emotional, um,

24:21

journey on that as well, but

24:23

also providing them to the

24:25

support networks that are available.

24:28

Um, there's there's many, many

24:30

services or initiatives that

24:33

I had never even heard of.

24:35

And it wasn't until I started talking

24:37

that I then had someone say, oh,

24:39

well, I work in social services. Did you know

24:41

that you can receive this? Or, you

24:43

know, you're doing some you see an event

24:45

and then you go to it and you learn from something that,

24:48

oh, actually, the police are supposed to do

24:50

it this way, but they didn't do it with

24:52

you. So I think having those

24:54

little conversations and understanding

24:56

and learning from that person

24:59

sort of can help guide someone through their own

25:01

journey at the same time as

25:03

educating as others as well.

25:05

Some of the stressful times, they kind of

25:07

both financially and sort of accommodation

25:09

related as well. I mean, not just the

25:11

kind of threat of physical violence,

25:13

but, you know, being out in

25:15

the street with no money.

25:17

Yeah, well, that's, uh, position that I

25:19

found myself in. My abuser

25:21

had actually, uh, stolen my money.

25:23

So when I had

25:25

my tenancy agreement, um, end,

25:27

and I had nowhere to go, I had no money.

25:30

Um, I didn't know about a lot of, um, services.

25:32

I didn't know where to go. And it's only

25:34

through this journey when you actually need the service

25:37

that you obviously, you start googling. What

25:39

do I do? So I think,

25:42

I suppose when there are people

25:44

talking about these things and is

25:46

more well known, is that you

25:48

might not need it now, but if it did

25:50

happen, you know where to go immediately. And

25:52

you don't have that time of, you know, feeling

25:54

sorry for yourself or wasting that sort of

25:56

time of, you know, googling

25:59

like, what can I do? And a constant phone

26:01

calls to support, like, uh, services,

26:04

you know, exactly where you can go.

26:06

Um, many people listening in would think, you know, this

26:08

is all really, you know, powerful

26:11

and, uh, sort of stuff

26:13

that I wish there was something I could do to help. There's

26:15

been a little bit of a kind of plan or

26:17

idea about people who might have, uh,

26:19

upgraded their phone and have got a spare

26:21

phone lying around.

26:22

Yeah, well, a phone is,

26:25

uh, a lifeline to so many

26:27

people experiencing domestic

26:29

violence. Um, whether you're

26:31

still in a. Relationship,

26:33

or whether you've escaped it, having

26:36

a new phone or a refurbished

26:38

phone that your abuser doesn't have access

26:40

to is like fundamental. So

26:42

if you're still in a relationship and you've got

26:44

a safe phone, you can leave

26:46

it at work or with a friend and have access to

26:48

that. Or if you have left that relationship

26:51

and you've escaped that abuse, having a new

26:53

phone that's completely disconnected to your old

26:55

life and that's talking about things like

26:57

your bank accounts and your emails and even

26:59

your access pin, just being able to

27:01

have a phone available

27:04

to you is something that I

27:06

don't think people realize is

27:08

an essential item, especially

27:11

in this domestic violence

27:13

relationship, is if you do have

27:15

a partner monitoring your moves and

27:17

you know, whether it's like GPS tracking on your phone

27:20

or checking your messages

27:22

or, you know, even going into your apps,

27:24

on your phone for your banking and transferring money

27:26

without your consent, having a

27:29

safe phone available to you in

27:31

whatever way that is

27:33

possible for you, whether it is leaving it with

27:36

a friend or at work, etc. it

27:38

is a lifeline and it's absolutely

27:40

crucial to have this.

27:41

And there are programs out there that if the

27:43

phone that, uh, is lying around, uh,

27:45

my, uh, shelf at home, I'm not

27:47

using it. I don't know what to do with it. Uh,

27:49

will I recycle it? I can't be bothered.

27:52

Uh, there's a there's a need, a very

27:54

useful need or a place that that can go

27:56

that can be very, very helpful.

27:57

Absolutely. DV safe phones.

27:59

Uh, it saves lives. Uh, the

28:02

phones are donated to DV phones.

28:04

There's a, uh, locations all

28:06

across Australia where you can donate these phones

28:09

in working order or just for parts.

28:11

Like all, all components of these

28:13

phones are fundamental

28:16

to being able to supply the next person

28:18

their their lifeline.

28:19

Because you made a great point. Um, you know, often,

28:22

I mean, you're talking about the phone being a lifeline.

28:24

By the same token, it can be the thing

28:27

that, uh, can also be used to, to

28:29

be abusive with. So, as you say, the,

28:31

the sort of safe phone, if we can call it that

28:33

or you are indeed calling it that. Uh,

28:35

that can be a very powerful thing.

28:37

Absolutely.

28:38

So what's the kind of, uh, what's

28:40

the kind of first step for that? So if you

28:42

know, people listening in have got a, a phone that

28:44

they're not using but would like to, you know,

28:46

literally go to a better place,

28:48

what's the best way that they can do that?

28:51

They can head on straight over to DV safe

28:53

phone org. All the information's

28:55

on there about what the what the

28:57

organization does, where to donate,

28:59

how to donate. There's lots of resources

29:02

on the website, even to do with domestic violence.

29:05

Um, all the statistics. But

29:07

the first point of call head on over to the website,

29:10

look up where where the locations

29:12

are to donate a phone, and you know,

29:14

if you can dig deep into your pockets and

29:16

donate, um, because, uh, you

29:18

know, the SIM cards and things like that for your credit

29:20

and everything are also a part of that service.

29:23

I'm not sure if you have much, uh, dealing with, uh, particularly,

29:25

say, women with disabilities, but that can even

29:27

be more at risk.

29:28

Yeah, absolutely. Statistically, um, it

29:30

does show that the records

29:33

do show that, um, people with disabilities

29:35

do have that higher risk. Um,

29:37

you know, we see that in a lot

29:40

of like intersectional areas there.

29:42

If you've got a phone where,

29:44

you know, like you need to have

29:46

like the the screen on it, like is a

29:48

smartphone, like it's like, you know, there's different

29:51

functions on these phones that can help people

29:53

with different needs.

29:54

What's the website again?

29:55

Kara DV safe. Org.

29:57

All right. And people who might be,

29:59

uh, in an abusive relationship. What

30:01

I mean, you've kind of been through it. What's

30:04

what's the sort of best way

30:06

to kind of, uh, make the first move

30:08

to to get, uh, out of a

30:10

situation like that, I suppose.

30:12

Um, heading on over to Google and researching

30:15

your local services, you know, whether that

30:17

is the police, if it's, you know, you're in immediate

30:20

danger. But even if you just did call

30:22

the police, if you weren't in immediate danger,

30:24

they've got all the resources for you as well. But

30:26

I suppose, like one of the best resources

30:29

would be, you know, calling one 800 respect.

30:31

And, um, they can point you in the, in the

30:33

right direction. Okay. It's a.

30:35

Free call. And obviously, uh, you know, it doesn't matter

30:37

what, uh, credit you have or haven't on your phone,

30:39

at least that's, uh, a bit of a starting point,

30:41

as you say. And, uh, you know, hopefully,

30:44

uh, you know, get you, uh, well, to,

30:46

to, uh, to a better place in the not

30:48

too distant future. That's right.

30:49

Exactly.

30:50

Thank you for sharing that. It's obviously a very

30:52

difficult time, but we appreciate you speaking to us. Thank

30:54

you.

30:55

Very much for having.

30:55

Me. That's Kara Quinlivan there, who's an

30:57

advocate and also, uh, has lived experience

31:00

of domestic violence in your

31:04

homes.

31:04

What up? What up with you? What are we

31:06

gonna say? What are we gonna do? Where

31:08

are we gonna go? What are we gonna see?

31:10

We're going to the library.

31:12

If you want.

31:13

To infuse a bit of positive energy

31:15

to the program, we call upon Leanne

31:17

Sajadi from the Australia Library.

31:20

Leanne, always great to catch up. How are you? Good.

31:22

Thank you Peter, always great to chat

31:24

with you as well.

31:25

Now you are teaming up with the Melbourne

31:27

Writers Festival to do a couple of very

31:29

special sounding things.

31:31

We are. This is our. The idea of partnering

31:33

with the Melbourne Writers Festival, so

31:35

it's fantastic to be included as

31:37

a partner, um, in really, what's one

31:40

of Australia's premier literary

31:42

festivals? We're very proud to be involved

31:44

and we are hosting two events

31:46

this year for the Melbourne Writers Festival

31:49

on the 10th of May. Um, so

31:51

we are hosting authors

31:53

Toby Walsh in conversation,

31:55

as well as holding a conversation

31:58

with Louise Milligan. So

32:01

two separate events, but both happening on

32:03

the same night on the 10th of May.

32:05

Okay, that's a Friday. There are a couple of hours

32:07

apart so people can attend both

32:09

if they so choose. Yes.

32:11

Yeah. So these ones are being hosted

32:13

live at Kooyong at

32:15

our Vision Australia office in Kooyong

32:17

for people based in Melbourne,

32:19

and we'd love to have some listeners

32:22

along. It'd be fantastic to meet some of the

32:24

Vision Australia community at

32:26

the events in person, but we are also

32:28

live streaming, so your listeners

32:30

will be able to join from all across

32:32

the country, um, by registering to join

32:34

the zoom webinar event. All right.

32:36

We'll let people know how they can do that, how

32:39

they can register. Uh, let's talk about

32:41

Toby first, shall we? What can you tell us about

32:43

Toby Walsh?

32:44

So he is one of the world's leading experts

32:46

on AI. He's been thinking about

32:48

AI and researching AI for

32:50

decades. Decades. Probably long

32:53

before you and I have given it

32:55

much thought. And of course, AI is a really

32:57

topical thing. Um, in the last

32:59

couple of years, with the rise of ChatGPT

33:01

and all the kind of interesting ways that

33:03

we're seeing AI interact with day

33:05

to day life. And so he's

33:07

written a book called Machines Behaving

33:09

Badly, which explores some

33:12

of the implications of

33:14

the roll out of AI into life

33:16

and also the ethics as well. Um, so

33:18

I think that's going to be a really fascinating

33:21

conversation about the,

33:23

um, you know, the impact of AI in

33:25

our life and perhaps some of the unexpected

33:27

consequences, um, that this

33:29

technology may pose.

33:32

It's a great.

33:32

Time. Listen, it it is.

33:33

Yeah. Machines are behaving badly. And it

33:36

is now available in the Vision

33:38

Australia library in audio as

33:40

well. So it's just been added to the collection.

33:42

If people want to read up

33:44

about Toby Walsh's perspectives

33:47

on this before the conversation. All

33:49

right.

33:49

So when is Toby appearing and, uh, how

33:51

can people register.

33:52

Yes. So it's on Friday the 10th

33:54

of May, and his session will be

33:56

from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m..

33:59

That's Australian Eastern Standard

34:01

Time. Um, and you are welcome

34:03

to register through the Vision Australia

34:05

Library website. So Fish Australia.

34:08

Org forward slash library. Just

34:10

head to the What's On section and you'll find

34:12

a link to the event. And

34:14

you need to register to join either

34:17

in person or online via zoom.

34:19

Now that's the 10th of May which I said is a Friday.

34:21

Is there a cut off time for people to register?

34:23

Like obviously the sooner the better.

34:25

Yeah. So we have uh, we have

34:27

booked out the in-person,

34:29

um, attendances. Um, but we

34:31

do have some spaces reserved for vision Australia

34:34

clients. So if you're a client,

34:36

um, please join the waitlist and

34:38

shoot us a message by email library

34:41

at Vision Australia. Org. And we will

34:43

release one of the reserved Vision

34:45

Australia tickets to you. Um,

34:47

but you can join the live stream

34:49

right up until the start of the event.

34:51

Okay, that's great news. You must be very

34:53

pleased. The fact that it's been booked out, I mean

34:55

that that shows that, uh, a

34:57

its popular and B, you know, people are very

35:00

much wanting to, to, to be part of it.

35:02

Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, it is

35:04

a, it is a public event. So we'll have lots

35:06

of people from across Melbourne coming in.

35:08

Um, for this one, it's a great opportunity for

35:10

us to share a little bit about Vision Australia

35:13

as well. Um, and we were really thrilled

35:15

to host this topic because I think,

35:17

um, you know, the the world of technology

35:20

is so impactful for, for so many of

35:22

our, so much of our community,

35:24

um, the low vision community. And I'm really

35:26

hoping that might be something that Toby might

35:28

address as well.

35:30

It will. Machines can behave badly. By

35:32

the same token, a lot of like a lot of

35:34

technology, if it's used properly,

35:36

it can be such a boon for for people with

35:38

any type of disability or people who might

35:40

be, uh, you know, so-called disadvantaged.

35:42

In a sense. That's right. There's

35:45

positive and negatives, but hopefully the

35:47

positives outweigh the negatives. Mhm.

35:49

Indeed.

35:50

So 6 to 7 with Toby. And

35:52

then you have an outer kind of catch your breath and have

35:54

a bit of a uh maybe stretch of the

35:56

legs. And then Louise Milliken is on.

35:58

That's right. So Ellie Louise Milligan

36:00

will be joining us from 8:00 pm Australian

36:03

Eastern Standard Time. Um,

36:05

and she might be known to your

36:07

listeners through her work as an investigative

36:09

journalist working with the ABC. And

36:12

she's published, um, a few books

36:14

as well, which are available in the library.

36:16

But she will be discussing her

36:18

fiction debut. So she's she's kind

36:20

of made a bit of a shift in her writing and,

36:22

and launched her first fiction novel,

36:25

which is titled Pheasant's Nest.

36:27

And this is a mystery thriller.

36:30

Um, so yeah, kind of inspired. Fired

36:32

by her own work. Um,

36:34

and is apparently quite a thrilling

36:36

read.

36:37

I was going to say, when you've been an investigative

36:39

journalist and you write fiction,

36:42

I mean, maybe the fact might be better

36:44

than the fiction, but the fiction would certainly be enhanced

36:46

with the fact, if that makes any sense.

36:48

Yes, yes. So it's it's certainly informed

36:51

by her own. Yeah. Her

36:53

own life. Um, and, uh, from

36:55

the reviews, it's quite a witty and

36:57

clever read. All right.

36:58

Is that book available in the library?

37:00

It is on its way to the library, so

37:02

it will be available soon for library

37:04

members. Fantastic.

37:05

You talked about the Melbourne Writers Festival. I think

37:08

I know Adelaide and Sydney definitely

37:10

do have writers festivals as well

37:13

as well. So these are these are major events

37:15

and always very, very popular because

37:17

I guess either we like to be

37:19

readers or maybe we like to think ourselves

37:21

as potential writers. So I guess there's

37:23

lots of different ways of of getting

37:25

involved or lots of different hooks

37:28

to get us in.

37:28

Absolutely. I mean, I've really enjoyed

37:31

just having my own reading informed

37:33

by the festival this year. I've kind of come across

37:35

new authors I hadn't really explored before,

37:38

and have been reading some of the books that are

37:40

being featured in the broader festival program,

37:42

which I've really enjoyed, and we

37:44

have added a whole range of

37:46

books to the library, um,

37:49

inspired by the Melbourne

37:51

Writers Festival. So yeah, I'd love

37:53

to share some titles with you. Peter.

37:55

So just new to the library,

37:57

we have, um, Rosie

37:59

Batty's latest book, uh,

38:01

Hope, which is a follow up from her

38:03

memoir, a mother's story. Um,

38:06

so I'm sure that's a really, really special read.

38:08

We have one which I'm reading currently

38:11

called The Bee Sting by Irish

38:13

author Paul Murray. Um,

38:15

that's an intergenerational family

38:17

saga set in Ireland

38:19

during the time of the global financial crisis.

38:22

Um, okay. And that's a bit of a ripping read

38:24

as well. And we have local author

38:26

Christos Tsiolkas, um, with

38:28

the in between. Um, Bruce

38:31

Pascoe is an indigenous writer.

38:34

Um, has written about, um, the

38:36

property that he looks after.

38:38

His book is called Black Duck a year

38:41

at Yumbarra. Um, and

38:43

there's. Yeah, a whole range of great new titles

38:45

in the collection.

38:46

Julianne. Rosie Batty, uh, past

38:48

a winner of the Australian of the year. And, I

38:50

mean, that couldn't be more timely

38:53

as is, uh, right this moment. Really?

38:55

Yes.

38:55

Yeah. Very important message, very

38:58

important experience that she has to

39:00

share with us.

39:01

Terrific. Well, people can access that.

39:03

And we'll give you details before we go so

39:05

that that's great. And I guess, well, you'd

39:07

expect the library to kind of reflect the sort

39:09

of, um, thing that people out there are asking

39:12

for as far as titles go.

39:13

Yes. Yeah. So now we've certainly worked really

39:16

hard on on bringing in, you know,

39:18

the topical reads, what the book clubs

39:20

are reading around the country and,

39:22

um, what people are talking about. So, yeah,

39:24

there's some really great new titles to explore.

39:27

All right. Well, we'll wrap before we wrap up. We'll give

39:29

the details regarding the two events with the

39:31

Melbourne Writers Festival. In the meantime

39:33

in May, later on in May, you've got a couple

39:36

of events that are very much aimed at kids,

39:38

young writers, young readers, I should say.

39:40

Yes. Yes.

39:41

So, um, coming from our children's

39:43

team here in the library, um,

39:45

so we are participating in the

39:48

National Simultaneous Storytime.

39:50

So this is an annual event where,

39:53

um, schools and kindergartens and

39:55

childcare centres and libraries all

39:57

over the country read the

39:59

one same book on the same

40:01

day each year. That's why it's called National

40:03

Simultaneous Storytime. Um,

40:06

so we are hosting a special

40:08

online, um, braille reading

40:10

of this year's book, which is called okay,

40:12

Bowerbird Blues. Um, so

40:15

you can join that online

40:17

via zoom wherever you are.

40:19

So that will be on the 22nd

40:21

of May at 12 p.m.

40:23

to 1 p.m.. That's Australian

40:25

Eastern Standard Time.

40:27

That's been going for a while, hasn't it? Because that's

40:29

such a such a cool idea isn't it. Yes.

40:32

Yeah, yeah. And it's very popular.

40:34

Um, you know, most kids around the country

40:36

will have participated in one of these

40:38

at some point. Um, so it's great that

40:40

we're able to also offer it to

40:43

our young members in a really accessible

40:45

way.

40:45

Yeah. The brow stuff. That's, uh, that's

40:47

very, uh, that's very cool. The fact

40:49

that, uh, that's also available, very,

40:51

very inclusive, which I guess you'd expect from

40:54

something like the Australia Library. But

40:56

by the same token, you are doing it so you

40:58

are to be congratulated on that. Now,

41:00

um, what about as far as writing for wellbeing?

41:03

Where's that at at the moment?

41:04

Uh, we.

41:05

Are starting writing for wellbeing this

41:07

month, so it's running through May.

41:09

It's a four part series led by

41:11

the wonderful doctor Sian Prior,

41:14

and we have booked out this series. It was

41:16

very popular again as it was

41:18

last year when we first hosted

41:20

the series. Um, so this is a

41:22

workshop series where people can learn about

41:24

different creative writing techniques

41:27

to support their wellbeing. So we're

41:29

talking about things like journaling,

41:31

creative writing. Exercises,

41:33

and we're just really exploring how

41:35

writing can help us, um,

41:37

you know, perhaps process some of life's more

41:39

difficult moments, um, acknowledge

41:42

the areas of growth in our life

41:44

and, yeah, help us to kind

41:46

of feel better about things.

41:47

It's booked out.

41:48

It is booked out. So we do have a wait list just

41:51

in case some places become available.

41:53

And I do hope that we can offer this

41:55

program again next year, just

41:57

because it seems to to have really resonated

41:59

with our library community.

42:01

That must be very rewarding when you put something like

42:03

this on. So I guess you never know how it's going to turn

42:05

out. I mean, it sounds like a fabulous idea, but you

42:07

never know. But when it's supported

42:09

with people voting with their

42:12

feet or voting with their pens or with

42:14

their, uh, keyboards, that's, uh,

42:16

very reassuring.

42:17

It is. Yeah.

42:18

And we do try to be guided by what our members

42:20

tell us that they are interested in and

42:22

what they want. So we certainly consider,

42:25

you know, all of the feedback that comes to us from

42:27

our library members, and we really welcome their

42:29

ideas as well as we kind of continue

42:32

to shape these programs going forward.

42:34

And what about treat yourself, uh, where's

42:36

that at at the moment?

42:37

Oh, um, so we our last

42:39

treat yourself was a really fun one. It was

42:42

our sci fi one was called Navigating

42:44

the Literary Cosmos. We had

42:46

a few, uh, die hards, die hard

42:48

sci fi fans who made for a

42:51

really great discussion.

42:53

Um, our next treat yourself will

42:55

be in June. It's on the 14th

42:57

of June, so we host these every two months

42:59

and we'll be talking about animal stories.

43:02

So I'm really looking forward to this because I

43:04

love a good animal story.

43:06

I reckon this might be more popular than anything

43:08

you've done. Everyone loves animals,

43:10

and this I'm sure, would be a very,

43:12

very popular topic. And I guess it can

43:14

be kind of any animal, either a pet

43:16

or, or maybe an animal that you kind of admire

43:18

from a distance. Yes.

43:20

Well, I mean, there's a lot of fantastic literary

43:22

animals. So there's a lot in children's literature,

43:25

of course, you know, you think of some classic

43:27

characters, you know, Winnie the Pooh

43:29

and his friends and Paddington and

43:32

so on. Um, but then also

43:34

in, in more kind of literary fiction,

43:37

um, we have animals who

43:39

are kind of the protagonists of books.

43:41

So thinking about things like

43:43

Animal Farm or Black Beauty

43:45

and so on. I mean, even in more contemporary

43:47

fiction, we have some great animal

43:50

kind of side characters who

43:52

play a really integral role in

43:54

plot. So, um, yeah, we're looking

43:56

at books where animals are the protagonists,

43:58

but also, um, books that celebrate

44:00

animals. Some of my favorite memoirs

44:03

are really animal focused. I'm

44:05

thinking about James Herriot's

44:07

All Creatures Great and Small, um,

44:09

The Durrells, my family

44:12

and other animals. So yeah, I think we'll have loads

44:14

to talk about.

44:15

That's fantastic. Terrific,

44:17

Leanne, it was great to catch up. Now, in particular,

44:19

uh, May 10th is a big day for

44:22

the Australia Library and the Melbourne Writers

44:24

Festival. Give us those details again.

44:26

And people can either choose or they can

44:28

register for both, can't they. Both with Toby

44:30

Walsh and Louise Milligan. Yes.

44:32

So if you'd like to attend both, please

44:34

register twice, once for each

44:36

event. Okay. You can find all

44:38

of the details and the registration links

44:40

for the Melbourne Writers Festival event, as well

44:42

as all the other events we've discussed

44:44

today on our website. So Vision

44:46

Australia forward slash

44:49

library and navigate to

44:51

the What's On section. You

44:53

can also just give our team a call.

44:55

So call us at 1300 654 656

45:00

or shoot us an email at library

45:03

at Vision Australia.

45:04

Org you can't get away from us. We'll find

45:06

you one way or another. Leanne,

45:09

great to catch up. A wonderful, uh, idea

45:11

of the many things that are coming up and certainly

45:13

that, uh, association with the Melbourne Writers

45:15

Festival, I'm sure will be very, very productive

45:18

and successful. We'll catch up again soon.

45:20

Great.

45:20

Thanks so much, Peter. Always good to chat with

45:22

you.

45:23

There from the Vision Australia library.

45:28

Let's talk about an organization I haven't spoken

45:30

about before. It's called About Time.

45:32

Maybe it's about time I spoke about it and

45:34

speak to their managing director, Joseph

45:37

Freeman. Joe, great to meet you and thank you so much for your

45:39

time. Thanks so much for.

45:40

Having me, Peter. It's good to chat.

45:41

Tell us a bit about, uh, tell us a bit about

45:43

about time. Uh, what do you do?

45:46

So About Time is a new organization

45:48

and it's just started. And its aim is

45:51

to publish the first prison

45:53

newspaper that will go out to all

45:55

incarcerated people across Australia.

45:58

That's that's what we are.

45:59

It's like a lot of good ideas, Joe. Uh, you

46:01

know, it's the sort of thing that, uh. Why

46:03

didn't someone think of this before?

46:05

That's right. And I think that a lot

46:07

of people don't

46:09

put forward their own issues because they think

46:11

someone's already done it, but often nobody has. And you

46:13

have to be the first. And I'm

46:16

certainly not the first because it started somewhere else.

46:18

And that's where the idea came from. So the idea came

46:20

from the United Kingdom. There's

46:22

a publication there called Inside Time,

46:25

and Inside Time is a hugely

46:27

popular national prison newspaper.

46:29

It goes out to every cell in.

46:32

Every prison and detention facility

46:34

across the UK, and it's been

46:36

around since 1990.

46:38

And it's it's really popular.

46:40

It's, um, read by tens of thousands

46:42

of incarcerated people, as well as

46:45

the guards, the librarians, the teachers.

46:47

And I think the really interesting thing about

46:49

Inside Time is that most of the

46:51

content is written by and produced

46:54

by people in prison, and

46:56

that's what we want to do here in Australia as well.

46:58

Fantastic idea. And, uh, I

47:00

get a bit caught up with, uh, names and

47:02

words, Joe, but, uh, about time.

47:04

It's kind of got, uh, more than one meaning, hasn't

47:06

it? If you like.

47:07

Exactly. There's there's probably two meanings there,

47:09

unless you can find a third for us. Peter.

47:11

Uh, I guess one is that it's about time

47:13

we have we have a publication

47:16

that's targeted towards incarcerated

47:18

people. It's for them. It's by them. There's

47:20

not really anything else for

47:22

that audience specifically. Um,

47:25

and then probably the second meeting

47:27

is that the paper is about time.

47:30

Time being a word

47:32

used often to describe people

47:34

serving months or years in prison.

47:37

And so the paper is about time, about

47:39

their experience in prison. Now, I.

47:41

Know you've just launched your website with the

47:43

paper at this stage, be, uh, physical

47:45

paper, or will it be kind of online or, uh,

47:48

people have to read it, uh, uh,

47:50

you know, with devices. Any thoughts about that?

47:52

So it will probably be both. Um,

47:55

in most states

47:57

and territories, uh, incarcerated

47:59

people don't have access to

48:01

the internet and they don't have tablets

48:03

or computers. And so in those

48:05

places, it will be

48:08

exclusively physical. And we we do aim

48:10

to print one copy per

48:12

person in prison and distribute

48:14

it to each one of them. However,

48:16

in New South Wales, for example,

48:19

every incarcerated person has access to a tablet.

48:21

And so we'll be doing, you know, kind of

48:23

a neat digital version that

48:25

they can view in the same format as

48:27

it would be physically in the Act.

48:30

They have access to laptops,

48:32

which are transitioning to tablets and will probably

48:34

do both digital and physical.

48:37

And we understand that Victoria might soon

48:39

be moving to a tablet system,

48:41

so we might transition to digital.

48:44

However, we're really interested

48:46

in what our readers think. Some people

48:48

might prefer physical, and if we can raise enough

48:50

money, then we'll do

48:52

exclusively physical. But in saying

48:55

that, it's certainly much cheaper to

48:57

distribute it digitally, and we're seeing all around

48:59

the world most newspapers are

49:01

turning digital. So if

49:03

people are happy with digital, we might move to that.

49:05

It was just going to be a wait and see and we'll see

49:07

what our readers say. We'll get the feedback.

49:10

You talked about, uh, funding. We'll talk about

49:12

that in a second, because I know you're very keen

49:14

to get people involved as far as helping

49:16

out with funding goes. You made a great

49:18

point at the beginning of the interview, Joe, when

49:20

you talked about, uh, uh, the paper

49:23

in the UK sort of being written by

49:25

people who are incarcerated, I mean, that

49:27

lived experience, uh, you can't kind

49:29

of put a price on it, can you? No, you absolutely

49:31

can't.

49:32

And in order for it to be for

49:34

them, we think the best thing is that it is also

49:36

by them because they

49:38

can best relate to their own experiences.

49:40

You know that people in prison have disparate

49:43

experiences, such a range of reasons

49:45

for being there, but they're all in some ways

49:48

living the same experience. However,

49:50

because they're they're closed off

49:52

not just from the outside world, but often from

49:54

each other. They can't necessarily

49:56

relate. And what we've learnt from

49:58

the feedback we've heard and read from the

50:01

UK publication is they've

50:03

found it so valuable because it's kind

50:05

of opened up this metaphorical world, and they've

50:07

realised that even if you're in a prison, in

50:09

a different town, different city, different

50:11

country, you might be going through something

50:13

similar and you sharing

50:16

that experience really

50:18

helps and motivates others through

50:20

their time in prison.

50:21

That's fantastic idea. Do you

50:23

think you'll have any trouble getting contributions?

50:26

We're quite bullish on contributions

50:28

because we even from

50:30

small kind of prison newsletters in

50:32

various prisons or states or territories,

50:35

there's been a lot of kind of response and

50:37

contributions. And in our first edition,

50:39

a lot of our letters come from those contributions

50:42

and the feedback we had

50:44

from focus groups we ran with current

50:46

or formerly incarcerated people was very

50:48

positive. We think that we'll get a good

50:50

response. What we're probably a little bit

50:52

more concerned about is getting

50:55

approval from the various jurisdictions.

50:57

So we've got approval from Victoria

51:00

and New South Wales and the Act. Um,

51:02

but we're currently in discussions

51:04

with the other states and territories. So

51:06

everything kind of goes through the

51:08

corrections department of the

51:11

state or territory, and it's up to them

51:13

to allow the paper to be

51:15

published and distributed. And we're hoping

51:17

for a really cooperative relationship

51:19

with each jurisdiction, just like the

51:22

UK publication Inside Time has

51:24

with the National Prison Service there.

51:26

Um, and so we're in conversations and we're

51:29

hopeful. Um, but that's kind of what we're

51:31

working on at the.

51:32

And Joe, in terms of, uh, you know,

51:34

men, women, uh, kind of, uh,

51:36

everyone is welcome to contribute and read

51:38

it.

51:38

We welcome all contributions,

51:40

absolutely everyone. And we expect

51:43

a lot to come from currently or formerly

51:45

incarcerated people, their family, their friends.

51:47

But we also want contributions from guards

51:50

to hear what they have to say. And wardens, we want

51:52

contributions from the teachers and librarians,

51:55

the lawyers, the advocates.

51:57

Really, anyone who has any interest in the paper

52:00

would love all positive and all negative

52:02

feedback.

52:02

How do you see it in terms of how regular

52:04

it will be?

52:05

The aim is certainly to have a monthly publication.

52:08

That's how inside Time in the UK

52:10

started, and that's how they've continued

52:12

there at the moment, doing a monthly physical paper

52:15

and a weekly online one where

52:17

a long way off from that. But we really would

52:19

love to have some sort of regularity,

52:22

and we think monthly would

52:24

provide that.

52:24

They've recently launched a website, I believe,

52:26

and, uh, there is an opportunity for people to get

52:29

involved. And I note also, there's

52:31

an opportunity also for volunteers to

52:33

be involved, too.

52:34

That would be great. Um, at the moment everything's

52:36

a voluntary based effort, but we do

52:38

hope when we receive enough funding, which

52:40

we can touch on, that we certainly

52:42

pay people for their time, whether it's

52:44

contributors who write news

52:46

stories, you know, journalists and things like

52:49

that, or whether it's administrative staff

52:51

who help us put the paper together, designers,

52:53

editors and so on. And so if

52:55

you're interested in contributing in any way, whether

52:58

you want to write stories or

53:00

make art or, you know,

53:02

create games for us that will put in the paper,

53:04

or whether you want to read the letters

53:07

and transcribe them and decide

53:09

which you think are best for the paper. Anything at all,

53:11

just email. Volunteer

53:14

at about time. Gorgo.

53:17

All right.

53:17

We'll give those details before we wrap

53:19

up. Joe, from this radio station's point

53:21

of view, and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed

53:23

to say so, uh, you know, kill

53:25

me off if I, uh, say too much. But I

53:28

believe there are kind of negotiations

53:30

in place to have. About time. Read

53:32

on Australia radio?

53:33

Certainly are. I reckon you probably know more

53:36

about what you're allowed to say than I am, but we.

53:38

Well, I'll just say what I think I can

53:40

say. And then if I get into trouble, I'll.

53:42

I'll bear the consequences.

53:44

That's that's.

53:44

Great. I'm happy with that approach. Um, but yeah,

53:46

we we understand that there's a

53:49

lot of, um, vision impaired people

53:51

who won't be able to physically read the paper.

53:54

And I think it would be incredibly valuable

53:56

for it to be read out. Both, you know, friends

53:58

reading it to them directly and also through the radio

54:01

program. Well, you know.

54:02

I guess, you know, obviously,

54:04

the more we can know about other people's

54:06

lives and their challenges,

54:08

their, uh, things that they have to go through,

54:10

the better off we are as a society.

54:12

So it's got to be a good thing if this

54:14

sort of information can be disseminated

54:17

throughout the community. And as you say, for

54:19

people who might have a print disability, not

54:21

might not be able to access the paper as easily

54:23

as others, uh, for some some

54:25

an organization like Vision Australia Radio to

54:28

be able to read it is a tremendous

54:30

initiative and full marks to whoever came up

54:32

with that idea. And it.

54:33

Wasn't us. So we're very grateful for, um,

54:35

I think it was it was Conrad from from Vision

54:37

Australia who said that he's keen

54:40

to do that. And we're super grateful for that because,

54:42

yeah, as you say, the more we can learn

54:44

about people in prison and their experiences,

54:46

the better. There's a reason most

54:48

of these people have been incarcerated

54:50

in the first place, and it's not because they

54:53

were, you know, born inherently bad.

54:55

It's because of the problematic,

54:57

um, difficult, um, upbringing they've had

55:00

or any sort of experiences. And

55:02

so often all we get is

55:05

after the fact, we read in the paper about

55:07

the crime that's committed, but we don't read

55:09

about what's led them to commit that

55:11

crime. And certainly there's

55:14

a absolutely a reason

55:16

that they're in there. And I don't think any

55:18

of us are saying they shouldn't be in there. But the more

55:20

we can learn about their experiences

55:22

and have empathy for them, the

55:24

better off we'll all be. It's a very powerful

55:26

message.

55:27

As Conrad, our illustrious leader, he's

55:29

a bit of a go getter. So if there's an idea,

55:31

he's a very good to pick up and, uh, run

55:34

with it. So, uh, full marks to Conrad

55:36

on this particular idea. Tell us a bit more about

55:38

your fundraising. I note that on your website

55:40

there, there's an opportunity for people to donate.

55:43

There is. And we're really pushing at the moment,

55:45

and we're really grateful for any support

55:47

anyone can provide. We're

55:50

currently a not for profit company, as

55:52

we said, fully reliant on volunteers

55:54

and donations. We

55:57

plan to distribute the paper inside

55:59

prison for free and online for free.

56:02

We are thinking of setting up a kind of subscription

56:04

model for people who want a physical edition outside,

56:07

but ultimately, the

56:10

way we'll be able to afford

56:12

our designers to create and update

56:14

our website and our newspaper to to

56:17

commission journalists, to write articles,

56:19

and probably the most substantial cost being

56:21

to print and distribute each

56:23

edition to every person in prison

56:25

is through money that comes

56:27

from donors. And so we

56:29

would welcome any. Nizations

56:32

you might have an interest in this space or

56:34

any foundations, and as well as

56:36

any individual donors who have the means,

56:39

no matter how big or small.

56:41

If you could please go to our website

56:43

and click on the donate page would be

56:46

very grateful.

56:46

So how big is your team at the moment? You talked

56:48

about very much volunteer based. How many

56:51

people have you got sort of working at this

56:53

at the moment?

56:53

So the team is probably comprised

56:56

of two sets. One is our board,

56:58

which is five people, strong,

57:00

different individuals from around Australia who

57:03

have worked in or

57:05

from the criminal justice space, whether

57:07

it's, um, for community

57:10

legal centres or prison rights groups or universities,

57:13

um, including First Nations representation

57:15

and people with lived experience

57:18

who have served time. And then

57:20

within that board there are two managing directors,

57:22

that's myself and Rosie

57:24

Hassilev. And Rosie and I are kind of

57:26

the main people on the ground, together

57:28

with the help of our designer, who have put

57:31

everything together at this stage. So it's

57:33

a very small team. But pleasingly,

57:35

since we launched, uh, a couple of weeks ago

57:37

now we've had dozens of offers for volunteers,

57:39

so we excellent. We do hope to grow

57:41

that team substantially.

57:43

Was the person with a vision impairment. I had a quick

57:45

look at your website. I didn't spend a lot of

57:47

time on it, but I spent a little bit of

57:49

time on it. It seems very accessible, so congratulations

57:52

on that because often good ideas,

57:54

uh, are fantastic. But then to actually,

57:56

uh, have a website that is accessible is

57:58

another issue. So whoever's worked on that, uh,

58:00

full marks to them too.

58:01

Thanks, Peter. We'll pass that on to our designer.

58:04

And we'll certainly welcome any kind of feedback

58:06

from you and and your listeners

58:08

about how we can prioritize accessibility.

58:10

It's something we've considered not just for

58:13

vision impaired people, but also for

58:15

incarcerated people and people with

58:17

lived experience. Um, and so

58:19

if there are any other tips

58:21

that people would recommend where

58:23

all is terrific.

58:24

Joe, congratulations on the initiative. As I said,

58:27

I'm not sure how much we can say, but hopefully it'll be

58:29

coming to a radio. Uh uh,

58:31

set near you very soon as well. Have you got

58:33

a kind of a launch date at this stage?

58:35

The our planned launch date for the physical

58:37

edition is the first week

58:39

of July, maybe somewhere between

58:41

Tuesday and Thursday. Um, so

58:43

look out for that date. Check out About

58:46

Time on our website, and

58:48

we're on all the social medias. And we'll

58:50

certainly be promoting as we get closer to launch.

58:52

Joe, to you and all those involved. Congratulations.

58:54

It's an excellent initiative and we'll keep in touch

58:56

on this.

58:57

Thanks so much, Peter. Thanks for the time.

58:58

Joe Friedman there, the managing director for

59:00

about time. So hopefully coming

59:03

to, uh, a radio station near you

59:05

and also, uh, to people to be

59:07

able to access it in other formats as well. We'll keep you

59:09

posted as that information rolls out.

59:14

An audio described show of the week like

59:17

this might not need too much audio description.

59:19

Coming up at 10:50 p.m.

59:21

this Tuesday evening on Nytv.

59:24

Part of the SBS network,

59:26

it's called In Search of Greatness.

59:29

Now, this is a documentary, Right at

59:31

Em, which features original

59:33

interviews with people like

59:36

Pelé. Some say one of the best

59:38

soccer players ever. Also

59:40

Einstein, Muhammad Ali

59:42

and other great luminaries.

59:45

So it sounds really good, doesn't it?

59:47

In Search of Greatness coming up this

59:49

coming Tuesday evening, 1050

59:52

NITV. Part of the SBS network

59:55

with audio description rated M.

59:57

Also Wayne Gretzky, the ice hockey player,

59:59

is featured as well. So that sounds really,

1:00:01

really good. Be good to get the, uh,

1:00:03

original interviews and hear what things

1:00:05

those people said. But also,

1:00:07

I'm sure the audio description will complement

1:00:10

it and supplement it beautifully

1:00:12

as it always does.

1:00:14

Some birthdays before we go, here's

1:00:17

a good one Bill jolly having

1:00:19

a birthday. Stephen Jolly having

1:00:21

a birthday. Both born on the same

1:00:23

day. But they're not twins, so

1:00:25

it's a Bill and Stephen. Uh, very happy

1:00:27

birthday to you both. Do some tremendous

1:00:29

work and have done amazing work in the

1:00:31

area of radio and advocacy for

1:00:34

many, many, many, many, many, many years.

1:00:36

And of course, we spoke to Bridget a

1:00:38

couple of years ago, a couple of weeks ago, and

1:00:40

a couple of years ago as well, uh, the daughter

1:00:43

of Bill, who, uh, very much

1:00:45

following in those large footsteps of being

1:00:47

excellent advocates. So happy birthday

1:00:50

to Bill and Stephen Jolly. Also,

1:00:52

Stephen heard having a birthday at

1:00:54

a couple of cracks at politics. Maybe

1:00:56

not. Never give up, Stephen. Certainly have

1:00:58

another go. And Alana Jovanovski

1:01:00

having a birthday very much involved

1:01:02

with the particularly technology in

1:01:04

the area of braille displays, etc..

1:01:07

So happy birthday to you Alana.

1:01:10

That is it for the program. Sam Rickard, thank

1:01:12

you for your help. Ham green, thank you so

1:01:14

much for yours. Reminding you

1:01:16

Focal Point is available on your

1:01:18

favorite podcast platform.

1:01:21

Be kind yourselves. Be thoughtful

1:01:23

of others. All being well focal

1:01:25

point back at the same time next week.

1:01:28

This is vicious radio radio

1:01:30

in Adelaide and in Darwin.