On FOCAL POINT:
Focal Point goes to air every Wednesday night at 7pm in Darwin and Adelaide.
Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here on Vision Australia Radio 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide via radio or online through the TuneIn radio app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide your favourite podcast or streaming service? Maybe you can try the Community Radio Plus app, also via Radio Digital in Adelaide and via Radio Digital in Darwin. Peter Greco on behalf of Philip Vandepeer saying wonderful to be here. Thank you so much for joining us. A big cheerio to Wendy McDougall listening in this program. Coming to you from Ghana land, coming to you very, very shortly. We'll speak to Annette Leishman who's got a fantastic initiative called Birding by Ear a chance to get back to nature, help your physical and mental health will find out more about that from Annette very shortly. We'll then speak to Kyra Quinlan Levin, who will tell us about, um, what domestic violence that's such a scourge at the moment. A lot of publicity about it. A chance for you to maybe help out in a very small but significant way, especially if you've got a spare phone that you don't use anymore. Kyra will tell us more about that. Then catch up with Leanne Sajadi from the Australia Library. They're involved very much with the Melbourne Writers Festival. A chance for you to get involved as well. Online. Doesn't matter where you are, you can still take part. And then we'll catch up with Joseph Freedman from an organization called About Time. They're about to launch a newspaper for people who are incarcerated, or for people who are involved with people who are incarcerated. And some good news, particularly if you like, listen to Australia Radio. We'll tell you a little bit more before we go. If you're listening through 1190 7 a.m. and 8:00 for your listening pleasure, studio one will be here with Lizzie and Sam just before we hear what's on their program. Some news through from Humanware that version 1.3 for the Victor three is out, so if you've got one, get it checked out and get it updated. Its free. Of course, that's a great thing and I know many people listen to Focal Point and indeed listen to a number of programs that Vision Australia podcast on there. Victor stream three. So if you've got one, the update is there. So take advantage. Let's find out what's on studio one tonight shall we?
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We speak to Rina Gothi and Fleurir El-Masri, the co-founders of Sisterhood Haircare, about accessible beauty products for women with a vision impairment.
Tune in at 8:00.
Well. It's always great to tell about new initiatives, different initiatives, initiatives. And this one has got a really clever name too. Let's chat about it with Annette Leishman. Annette. Lovely to catch up with you again. Thanks so much for your time.
Thanks, Peter. Lovely to catch up with you again too.
Now tell us about this. As I say, the the name of the programme or project or initiative is fantastic. Maybe we could start with that, I think. Was your idea to come up with the name?
Uh, not really on my own. It was a joint decision between Nita from Parks Victoria. She's a parks parks manager of program manager. And, um. So I met Nita through a walk that I was doing with Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria. They offer quite a few different walks at different times, and some of those are in conjunction with Parks Victoria. And so when I was at a walk, uh, at Plenty Gorge, Nita, um, was chatting to me and asked me if I'd like to do a volunteer walk as a sensory guide, and I thought that would be really great. I wasn't sure what it was going to involve, but, um, the idea, um, between us came up for birding by ear. Um, Westgate Park sensory walk, uh, birding by ear. And so that's how it all started.
And I guess it's fairly self-explanatory. What, uh, birding by ear is.
Well, it is Peter. Um, I'll tell you about Westgate Park, though. Yeah. Um, the reason it's at Westgate Park, and it may seem a very unlikely place for those who know Victoria, but, um, Westgate Park is actually almost under the Westgate Bridge. And, uh, so, um, the reason I, Nita actually gave me a list of different parks that we could do this project in for birding by ear and Westgate Park seemed to be the one that was closest to where I live. And so that's why I chose that one. I had never been there before, but Westgate Park, um, as I said, um, it's under almost under the Westgate Bridge, which is a very, very busy bridge which leads in and out of the CBD. And, you know, it's packed with cars and trucks at nearly all times of the day, but particularly peak hour. And so it's quite noisy when you arrive in the car park at Westgate Park. And the first time you go there, well, I thought, oh, gee, I don't know if there'll be any birds here. We probably won't be able to hear them. But once you start walking into the park, into the woodlands, it's just unbelievable. There are so many birds there, different sorts of birds you've got. Uh, I'm trying to think of some of the moorhens, um, coots, different types of herons and magpies, other small birds, such or small birds such as willie wagtails and fairy wrens. And it's just so lovely to be there amongst all that bird life and you can't become completely oblivious to the, uh, you know, the fact that you're almost in the you're at Port Melbourne, but almost, you know, probably only a few minutes away from the CBD. It's very unusual. And the, uh, Westgate Park was originally a salt mine in the 1930s, and then it became a a building site for the Westgate Bridge. And then it wasn't until about 1984 it was declared a park. And then, um, between 1984 and 1999, friends of um Westgate Park, a group of people got together, thought they'd tidy it up, and they planted 300,000 species of native flora there. And. Yeah. So that's, um, you know, lots of birds because of their work there. Lots of birds have gone there to make that place their home, which is just fantastic.
We've chatted you in the past and you've often spoken about, uh, sort of health and fitness. And I guess this is kind of part of it as well, but it's kind of maybe a bit more mental health related, if we could say, oh, absolutely.
Because the outdoors, as we know, um, being in the outdoors can give us a I think I'm not sure what it's called, serotonin lifting the brain. I think that's what it is. And I have actually witnessed that firsthand because, uh, sometimes when you start a walk, many people are, you know, not very happy. They've had a bad morning, they've knocked about 16 things over in their house. And, you know, lots of different things happen if you're visually impaired and it takes a while to get going. But from the beginning of the walk until the end of the walk, I have noticed a shift in the mood of people, including myself, and it's just fantastic. But Peter, I must also point out that this walk is an inclusive walk. So it's not just for people who are. Visually impaired, but it's for everyone. And NATO advertises advertises it on Eventbrite. Um, for everyone. And then Rachel from Blind Sports also advertises it on our website. And so we get a real mix of people and it's just fantastic. And everyone just really gets involved and just enjoys listening to the birds. And it's it's fantastic. It really is a mood lifter.
You got the fresh air plus the social interaction as well. Yes.
Yeah that's right. Yeah.
And I believe you run some rather, uh, unique, uh shall we say competitions or uh, games.
Oh yes. Yes. We just started. Uh, so, uh, I don't do this on my own. Of course. So I lead the sensory part of the walk. So we always have a volunteer. So that's me volunteer. And we also have a park ranger. This is the same for any walks offered by Parks Victoria. They always have a park ranger and a volunteer. And, uh, so with this one, MYP came up with the idea MYP Grant is the park ranger who, you know, we work together and MYP, um, just loves birds and he knows all the bird sounds and was introduced to them by his family, I think, when he was quite young. And so he came up with this initiative to make it a competition. So the last walk we did, which was only last week, we tried the, uh, the bird quiz. So it's a bird quiz. So he plays a bird song on his audio, and then the park visitors have to try and guess what it is. Some people are really good at that, but I'm certainly not. I'm still learning. So the way that we do it, when people are registered for the the walk, they receive an audio file of about. I think there are about a dozen birds, and for those who can see, they can actually their images of the birds as well. Um, but it gives the, the name of the bird and an audio little a short audio file of the bird sound as well. And that's just fantastic. People love that. So some people try and the younger ones in particular, I found they will listen and try and remember those sounds. Yeah. Um, yeah. So it's, it's really good. And the other initiative we had, we incorporated a mindfulness session as well because, um, Westgate Park is fairly small as compared to other parks. It's only 40 hectares in all. And so an hour to an hour and a half, um, you can complete the walk. That's why we just added a couple of other things. But the other thing is, um, little mindfulness session. So we walk into this little sheoak grove and, um, I lead that where I just get people to, um, just close their eyes, you know, so there's no lighting and just breathe slowly and then start to listen to the bird sounds and then we do that for a, you know, half a minute to a minute, and then people have the opportunity to share if they, you know, um, heard a bird that they, their focus was on more than another bird. They might want to share that and why they, um, enjoy the sound of that bird. So some people will actually know what the bird is. But, um, when we did it last week, we didn't, um, really get that far. But yeah, so that's a couple of other things that we, we do.
What's the sort of thing that we could all do ourselves in our own backyard, or when we're going for a walk anyway? I mean, I guess, you know, it's kind of, well, not necessarily smelling the roses, but, uh, birding by ear.
Yes. Yeah. Well, I have to say, I have been doing that more around my place. I live, um, not that far from Melbourne City. I live at a place called Glenhuntly, and it's lovely around here because there are a lot of trees and there's a lot of bird life, but I think it's mainly magpies around here. And, uh, that's why The Magpie is my favorite bird song. So the listeners are not sure what a magpie sounds like. They should go online and have a listen. It's just a really lovely sound. Some of the birds don't have a nice song. There's one. I can't think what it is. Um, it might be a heron or I can't really remember, but it has a real growly kind of sound. So they all have their unique voices, and, uh, you can get the feeling that they're actually chatting to each other sometimes when you're just really listening. And, uh, it's just a lovely thing to do.
Kind of get yourself lost in it all.
Yes. Yeah. But we also there are also some other sensory offerings as well. So when we go to the Sheoak Grove, we also feel the leaves because the Sheoaks have really unusual leaves. They're more like um, long needle things. But this is a soft, feathery kind of feel. And, um, then you've got the, uh, black Oaks. I think they're called. Maybe that's not right. Um, black something and they have a unique, um, smell. And that's really nice, too. So we get immersed in those other sensory offerings as well.
Um, this birding by ear, it's, uh, offered on a fairly regular basis. And it has.
Been we've done three so far. And then as a matter of fact, we had a meeting this morning. And so the next one, we're going to have a little break now until the 14th of June. So our next one will be on the 14th of June at 10 a.m.. So 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.. And then if people want to stay longer than that, we, you know, we stay longer and chat to people. They'll see it on the website if they're interested in birding or, you know, a friend of Parks Victoria, and then they can, um, enroll either by going, um, into there'll be a link to enrolling for or registering on Eventbrite, but also they can email Parks Victoria and, um, the other way to register for that walk is to go into Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria, because we put it up on our website as well. So and the other thing I just wanted to say is that if people who are visually impaired want to go on the walk, but it's a good idea to have a support person with you, but if you don't have one, you can actually, uh, contact Parks Victoria about that and they will provide someone as well. So. Oh that's fantastic. So there's no excuse, you know, for people not to go. It's it's so great a really great thing to do. It really is.
Free. Is there a cost for it.
Yes. No cost. And yeah it's free and it's just a great thing to do. Well, you know, it's.
Funny when you did your little mindfulness, uh, snapshot there, Annette, I found myself doing exactly what you were saying, closing my eyes and just, uh, kind of, uh, listening to your voice and. Yeah, it was, you know, taking a few calm breaths, so I think you'd be. Or you are the perfect person to lead something like this. Oh, thank.
You, Peter, I appreciate that.
If I wasn't on air, I probably would have just, uh, drifted off. But I gotta bring my focus back to what I'm doing.
And that could be because I'm boring you as well. No.
Absolutely not. No, no, it's relaxing and have a nice. We, uh, can't relax enough in this day and age. And what we'll do is we'll put a couple of those links that you gave us on our Facebook page, so people have missed it. They can go there or they can always call you at the radio station. And, um, you touched on it, but it should say a very big shout out and thank you to, uh, MYP and also Nita for their, uh, arrangement of, uh, us having to chat to you because it's such a wonderful initiative and deserving of, uh, more people joining you. And if you want to kind of improve your, your mental health and just kind of feel a bit more refreshed and revived after doing something like this, it sounds like, uh, we can highly recommend it.
Absolutely. I think a walk in the morning like that is insurance that you will have a really nice day because it really boosts the mood. Yeah. It's good.
Whatever time people listen to this, you've boosted our mood. Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Annette. We wish you well and, uh, it's always great to catch up.
Thanks so much, Peter. I really appreciate that. Thank you.
Annette Leishman, tell me about that wonderful initiative. Uh, so maybe if you'd like to get involved, go to our Facebook page. But birding by ear. What a tremendous idea. There's certainly been lots of news in recent times regarding domestic violence. Let's speak to someone who has lived experience and also is an advocate in this area. Cara Quinlivan Corrine, lovely to meet you. Thank you so, so much for your time. Thank you for having me. What's it like at this sort of time for you, Kyra, particularly when there's so much in the media about it? Uh. Uh, how do you kind of respond to something like this on a personal basis, if you don't mind us asking? I mean.
It's pretty, uh, horrific to open up the news these days and just day after day, see another incident. Um, so it's pretty frustrating. Um, but also very sad. Um, so, you know, it's just great that we're having these conversations and putting awareness out there.
It could be more than that, though, doesn't it? I mean, I guess we all are very much aware these days via the media, but I guess, you know, everyone has agreed that there's more action needed. I guess it's just what sort of form the action takes.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I think, um, in terms of like awareness as well, the people are aware that there is an issue, but I don't think they understand the complexities of the issues or how the systems are failing. Um, so I think that's one of the key issues around that awareness and why it's, you know, great to keep talking about it.
Some of the issues sort of going below the surface that we don't really kind of know about, even they are maybe a bit underreported. I mean, I guess the, you know, the murders are reported because, you know, they sort of result in a death and the consequences of that. But a lot of stuff that probably goes on that is underreported or not reported at all.
Well, that's right. And it's things like coercive control. That's probably one of the biggest issues that we probably have across the nation, and it's definitely one that's not overly reported. I guess we don't.
Want to put the blame on any one or any, uh, sort of organisation in particular. But does it start with the government and kind of we work our way down, or does it start with us as individuals and work our way up? What's the kind of best way to approach something like this?
I don't think it ever just starts with one. I think it starts with everyone at the same time. Essentially. You know, we obviously need, um, better, uh, law reform around this space. We need to hold perpetrators to account. But even just speaking to your friends and neighbours at a local level, just having that awareness, like I've spoken to people who didn't actually know that some of their behaviours were sort of like abusive, uh, traits, and it sort of made them think and reflect on their own behaviours and what they need to do to start being, you know, a better person themselves, but also a part of that conversation.
It's part of the problem that, uh, someone might behave that way and don't realise the fact that, uh, you know, that behaviour isn't appropriate, but no one kind of says anything, and so they keep doing it.
Yeah, absolutely. And from my own experience, um, with domestic violence, I've actually reached out to people to ask for help and they've actually said no to me. Um, and for various reasons, whether they're scared of their abuser coming after them, if they did speak up. But, you know, I think you sometimes see in the media where something's happened, someone stepped in, and then they end up with the fine. So people don't know where their legal rights are with this. Um, and sometimes the consequence of speaking up against someone else, um, you know, is impacts them too.
It's interesting, Kyra, because, you know, often I speak to people from the lifeblood and, you know, the asking for people to donate blood because, you know, different times of the year, it's it's much needed. And I often say, you know, it's incredible how Australians can respond. And through Covid we heard about some really generous acts. So I think kind of deep down people do want to do the right thing, but it's maybe, you know, doing it the right way.
Yeah, definitely. Um, not knowing where to start is sometimes the issue and it's like once you start is, you know, that first step is exactly what you needed to do. Yeah.
As I said, you're a person who's had the lived experience. What turns someone who's had the lived experience into becoming an advocate, because I guess you could probably kind of either feel sorry for yourself or withdraw and kind of, um, you know, not want to sort of be out there to, to kind of be advocating, uh, what what makes you the person that you are now?
I think when I, um, sort of first came out of the DV relationship, I went into that withdrawal. I didn't want the world to know who I was. I didn't want to speak to anyone. I took myself off social media and it wasn't shame. It was more just sort of wanting to disconnect and not be a part of society anymore. I think the, the, the motive behind my advocacy now is just the more deeper and deeper I fell into like loopholes and like legal loopholes and things. Or when the abuse didn't stop, it's like, you know, I've had enough now, and the only thing that I can do is to have action. And I think taking that step, for me, it was almost instant. Um, I just woke up one day and was like, you know what? I've had enough. Um, it's now time to start using my voice because being quiet didn't get me anywhere. So the only thing that I can do is use my voice.
I was there, like a moment that that happened. Was it kind of a gradual thing and sort of a two part question in a sense, like, um, you know, in your younger days, if I can say that, Kyra, were you someone who had a sort of sense of social justice anyway, do you think?
No, no, I think I lived quite a privileged, uh, life where I wasn't really exposed to the, um, sort of the injustices of the world. And it wasn't until I found myself in a DV relationship, you know, begging for answers of how did this happen to me? I think in that journey, um, I've kind of become more aware and more vocal. Um, but it's almost like it had to happen to me first to sort of care in a way. Um, and, um, I suppose, you know, just going through all of that and, um, like the trauma that it created and the impact that it's had on my entire life, it really just kind of took one day where I either it was another incident that happened where I was just like, I've had enough. It's now time to start being vocal and actually calling it out. And whether it's, you know, calling out the perpetrator, um, whether it's, you know, speaking to police and actually telling the story and making a report or something like that, it just became a point where I decided, like, not doing anything isn't working.
How much courage does that take, Kyra?
Oh, I mean, I don't like to call myself courageous in these matters, but I know that, um, I've heard from other people who do call me brave and who do say that it's courageous. I don't view myself as that. I just sort of feel like I have an obligation almost to, um, to not let it happen to other people.
What's it like when you speak to other people that are going through similar things that you went through? Is there kind of a a good connection there? Because I guess people who maybe are going through those sort of relationships do seek professional support, and I'm sure the professional supporters do their best. But, you know, often with a lot of things and, you know, whether it's, you know, disability or any other kind of issue until you've actually spoken to someone that's kind of lived it. I mean, as I say, with the best of intentions, it probably doesn't really cut through.
Yeah, I suppose there's a recent, um, example that I can give you where recently, uh, someone reached out to me. They've seen some of the advocacy that I do, and they were going through something themselves and they didn't really know where to start. They were kind of like at that very first point of like, where do I go from here? And I think for someone to have seen, um, my journey to from where I was to where I am now, it sort of gives them a bit of hope that it does get better. And sometimes hope is all that someone needs in these scenarios. But I think having someone who's gone through something similar, um, and been able to share experiences and open up that line of communication can really help guide someone else through their emotional, um, journey on that as well, but also providing them to the support networks that are available. Um, there's there's many, many services or initiatives that I had never even heard of. And it wasn't until I started talking that I then had someone say, oh, well, I work in social services. Did you know that you can receive this? Or, you know, you're doing some you see an event and then you go to it and you learn from something that, oh, actually, the police are supposed to do it this way, but they didn't do it with you. So I think having those little conversations and understanding and learning from that person sort of can help guide someone through their own journey at the same time as educating as others as well.
Some of the stressful times, they kind of both financially and sort of accommodation related as well. I mean, not just the kind of threat of physical violence, but, you know, being out in the street with no money.
Yeah, well, that's, uh, position that I found myself in. My abuser had actually, uh, stolen my money. So when I had my tenancy agreement, um, end, and I had nowhere to go, I had no money. Um, I didn't know about a lot of, um, services. I didn't know where to go. And it's only through this journey when you actually need the service that you obviously, you start googling. What do I do? So I think, I suppose when there are people talking about these things and is more well known, is that you might not need it now, but if it did happen, you know where to go immediately. And you don't have that time of, you know, feeling sorry for yourself or wasting that sort of time of, you know, googling like, what can I do? And a constant phone calls to support, like, uh, services, you know, exactly where you can go.
Um, many people listening in would think, you know, this is all really, you know, powerful and, uh, sort of stuff that I wish there was something I could do to help. There's been a little bit of a kind of plan or idea about people who might have, uh, upgraded their phone and have got a spare phone lying around.
Yeah, well, a phone is, uh, a lifeline to so many people experiencing domestic violence. Um, whether you're still in a. Relationship, or whether you've escaped it, having a new phone or a refurbished phone that your abuser doesn't have access to is like fundamental. So if you're still in a relationship and you've got a safe phone, you can leave it at work or with a friend and have access to that. Or if you have left that relationship and you've escaped that abuse, having a new phone that's completely disconnected to your old life and that's talking about things like your bank accounts and your emails and even your access pin, just being able to have a phone available to you is something that I don't think people realize is an essential item, especially in this domestic violence relationship, is if you do have a partner monitoring your moves and you know, whether it's like GPS tracking on your phone or checking your messages or, you know, even going into your apps, on your phone for your banking and transferring money without your consent, having a safe phone available to you in whatever way that is possible for you, whether it is leaving it with a friend or at work, etc. it is a lifeline and it's absolutely crucial to have this.
And there are programs out there that if the phone that, uh, is lying around, uh, my, uh, shelf at home, I'm not using it. I don't know what to do with it. Uh, will I recycle it? I can't be bothered. Uh, there's a there's a need, a very useful need or a place that that can go that can be very, very helpful.
Absolutely. DV safe phones. Uh, it saves lives. Uh, the phones are donated to DV phones. There's a, uh, locations all across Australia where you can donate these phones in working order or just for parts. Like all, all components of these phones are fundamental to being able to supply the next person their their lifeline.
Because you made a great point. Um, you know, often, I mean, you're talking about the phone being a lifeline. By the same token, it can be the thing that, uh, can also be used to, to be abusive with. So, as you say, the, the sort of safe phone, if we can call it that or you are indeed calling it that. Uh, that can be a very powerful thing.
Absolutely.
So what's the kind of, uh, what's the kind of first step for that? So if you know, people listening in have got a, a phone that they're not using but would like to, you know, literally go to a better place, what's the best way that they can do that?
They can head on straight over to DV safe phone org. All the information's on there about what the what the organization does, where to donate, how to donate. There's lots of resources on the website, even to do with domestic violence. Um, all the statistics. But the first point of call head on over to the website, look up where where the locations are to donate a phone, and you know, if you can dig deep into your pockets and donate, um, because, uh, you know, the SIM cards and things like that for your credit and everything are also a part of that service.
I'm not sure if you have much, uh, dealing with, uh, particularly, say, women with disabilities, but that can even be more at risk.
Yeah, absolutely. Statistically, um, it does show that the records do show that, um, people with disabilities do have that higher risk. Um, you know, we see that in a lot of like intersectional areas there. If you've got a phone where, you know, like you need to have like the the screen on it, like is a smartphone, like it's like, you know, there's different functions on these phones that can help people with different needs.
What's the website again?
Kara DV safe. Org.
All right. And people who might be, uh, in an abusive relationship. What I mean, you've kind of been through it. What's what's the sort of best way to kind of, uh, make the first move to to get, uh, out of a situation like that, I suppose.
Um, heading on over to Google and researching your local services, you know, whether that is the police, if it's, you know, you're in immediate danger. But even if you just did call the police, if you weren't in immediate danger, they've got all the resources for you as well. But I suppose, like one of the best resources would be, you know, calling one 800 respect. And, um, they can point you in the, in the right direction. Okay. It's a.
Free call. And obviously, uh, you know, it doesn't matter what, uh, credit you have or haven't on your phone, at least that's, uh, a bit of a starting point, as you say. And, uh, you know, hopefully, uh, you know, get you, uh, well, to, to, uh, to a better place in the not too distant future. That's right.
Exactly.
Thank you for sharing that. It's obviously a very difficult time, but we appreciate you speaking to us. Thank you.
Very much for having.
Me. That's Kara Quinlivan there, who's an advocate and also, uh, has lived experience of domestic violence in your homes.
What up? What up with you? What are we gonna say? What are we gonna do? Where are we gonna go? What are we gonna see? We're going to the library. If you want.
To infuse a bit of positive energy to the program, we call upon Leanne Sajadi from the Australia Library. Leanne, always great to catch up. How are you? Good.
Thank you Peter, always great to chat with you as well.
Now you are teaming up with the Melbourne Writers Festival to do a couple of very special sounding things.
We are. This is our. The idea of partnering with the Melbourne Writers Festival, so it's fantastic to be included as a partner, um, in really, what's one of Australia's premier literary festivals? We're very proud to be involved and we are hosting two events this year for the Melbourne Writers Festival on the 10th of May. Um, so we are hosting authors Toby Walsh in conversation, as well as holding a conversation with Louise Milligan. So two separate events, but both happening on the same night on the 10th of May.
Okay, that's a Friday. There are a couple of hours apart so people can attend both if they so choose. Yes.
Yeah. So these ones are being hosted live at Kooyong at our Vision Australia office in Kooyong for people based in Melbourne, and we'd love to have some listeners along. It'd be fantastic to meet some of the Vision Australia community at the events in person, but we are also live streaming, so your listeners will be able to join from all across the country, um, by registering to join the zoom webinar event. All right.
We'll let people know how they can do that, how they can register. Uh, let's talk about Toby first, shall we? What can you tell us about Toby Walsh?
So he is one of the world's leading experts on AI. He's been thinking about AI and researching AI for decades. Decades. Probably long before you and I have given it much thought. And of course, AI is a really topical thing. Um, in the last couple of years, with the rise of ChatGPT and all the kind of interesting ways that we're seeing AI interact with day to day life. And so he's written a book called Machines Behaving Badly, which explores some of the implications of the roll out of AI into life and also the ethics as well. Um, so I think that's going to be a really fascinating conversation about the, um, you know, the impact of AI in our life and perhaps some of the unexpected consequences, um, that this technology may pose. It's a great.
Time. Listen, it it is.
Yeah. Machines are behaving badly. And it is now available in the Vision Australia library in audio as well. So it's just been added to the collection. If people want to read up about Toby Walsh's perspectives on this before the conversation. All right.
So when is Toby appearing and, uh, how can people register.
Yes. So it's on Friday the 10th of May, and his session will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.. That's Australian Eastern Standard Time. Um, and you are welcome to register through the Vision Australia Library website. So Fish Australia. Org forward slash library. Just head to the What's On section and you'll find a link to the event. And you need to register to join either in person or online via zoom.
Now that's the 10th of May which I said is a Friday. Is there a cut off time for people to register? Like obviously the sooner the better.
Yeah. So we have uh, we have booked out the in-person, um, attendances. Um, but we do have some spaces reserved for vision Australia clients. So if you're a client, um, please join the waitlist and shoot us a message by email library at Vision Australia. Org. And we will release one of the reserved Vision Australia tickets to you. Um, but you can join the live stream right up until the start of the event.
Okay, that's great news. You must be very pleased. The fact that it's been booked out, I mean that that shows that, uh, a its popular and B, you know, people are very much wanting to, to, to be part of it.
Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, it is a, it is a public event. So we'll have lots of people from across Melbourne coming in. Um, for this one, it's a great opportunity for us to share a little bit about Vision Australia as well. Um, and we were really thrilled to host this topic because I think, um, you know, the the world of technology is so impactful for, for so many of our, so much of our community, um, the low vision community. And I'm really hoping that might be something that Toby might address as well.
It will. Machines can behave badly. By the same token, a lot of like a lot of technology, if it's used properly, it can be such a boon for for people with any type of disability or people who might be, uh, you know, so-called disadvantaged. In a sense. That's right. There's positive and negatives, but hopefully the positives outweigh the negatives. Mhm.
Indeed.
So 6 to 7 with Toby. And then you have an outer kind of catch your breath and have a bit of a uh maybe stretch of the legs. And then Louise Milliken is on.
That's right. So Ellie Louise Milligan will be joining us from 8:00 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time. Um, and she might be known to your listeners through her work as an investigative journalist working with the ABC. And she's published, um, a few books as well, which are available in the library. But she will be discussing her fiction debut. So she's she's kind of made a bit of a shift in her writing and, and launched her first fiction novel, which is titled Pheasant's Nest. And this is a mystery thriller. Um, so yeah, kind of inspired. Fired by her own work. Um, and is apparently quite a thrilling read.
I was going to say, when you've been an investigative journalist and you write fiction, I mean, maybe the fact might be better than the fiction, but the fiction would certainly be enhanced with the fact, if that makes any sense.
Yes, yes. So it's it's certainly informed by her own. Yeah. Her own life. Um, and, uh, from the reviews, it's quite a witty and clever read. All right.
Is that book available in the library?
It is on its way to the library, so it will be available soon for library members. Fantastic.
You talked about the Melbourne Writers Festival. I think I know Adelaide and Sydney definitely do have writers festivals as well as well. So these are these are major events and always very, very popular because I guess either we like to be readers or maybe we like to think ourselves as potential writers. So I guess there's lots of different ways of of getting involved or lots of different hooks to get us in.
Absolutely. I mean, I've really enjoyed just having my own reading informed by the festival this year. I've kind of come across new authors I hadn't really explored before, and have been reading some of the books that are being featured in the broader festival program, which I've really enjoyed, and we have added a whole range of books to the library, um, inspired by the Melbourne Writers Festival. So yeah, I'd love to share some titles with you. Peter. So just new to the library, we have, um, Rosie Batty's latest book, uh, Hope, which is a follow up from her memoir, a mother's story. Um, so I'm sure that's a really, really special read. We have one which I'm reading currently called The Bee Sting by Irish author Paul Murray. Um, that's an intergenerational family saga set in Ireland during the time of the global financial crisis. Um, okay. And that's a bit of a ripping read as well. And we have local author Christos Tsiolkas, um, with the in between. Um, Bruce Pascoe is an indigenous writer. Um, has written about, um, the property that he looks after. His book is called Black Duck a year at Yumbarra. Um, and there's. Yeah, a whole range of great new titles in the collection.
Julianne. Rosie Batty, uh, past a winner of the Australian of the year. And, I mean, that couldn't be more timely as is, uh, right this moment. Really? Yes.
Yeah. Very important message, very important experience that she has to share with us.
Terrific. Well, people can access that. And we'll give you details before we go so that that's great. And I guess, well, you'd expect the library to kind of reflect the sort of, um, thing that people out there are asking for as far as titles go.
Yes. Yeah. So now we've certainly worked really hard on on bringing in, you know, the topical reads, what the book clubs are reading around the country and, um, what people are talking about. So, yeah, there's some really great new titles to explore.
All right. Well, we'll wrap before we wrap up. We'll give the details regarding the two events with the Melbourne Writers Festival. In the meantime in May, later on in May, you've got a couple of events that are very much aimed at kids, young writers, young readers, I should say.
Yes. Yes.
So, um, coming from our children's team here in the library, um, so we are participating in the National Simultaneous Storytime. So this is an annual event where, um, schools and kindergartens and childcare centres and libraries all over the country read the one same book on the same day each year. That's why it's called National Simultaneous Storytime. Um, so we are hosting a special online, um, braille reading of this year's book, which is called okay, Bowerbird Blues. Um, so you can join that online via zoom wherever you are. So that will be on the 22nd of May at 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.. That's Australian Eastern Standard Time.
That's been going for a while, hasn't it? Because that's such a such a cool idea isn't it. Yes.
Yeah, yeah. And it's very popular. Um, you know, most kids around the country will have participated in one of these at some point. Um, so it's great that we're able to also offer it to our young members in a really accessible way.
Yeah. The brow stuff. That's, uh, that's very, uh, that's very cool. The fact that, uh, that's also available, very, very inclusive, which I guess you'd expect from something like the Australia Library. But by the same token, you are doing it so you are to be congratulated on that. Now, um, what about as far as writing for wellbeing? Where's that at at the moment?
Uh, we.
Are starting writing for wellbeing this month, so it's running through May. It's a four part series led by the wonderful doctor Sian Prior, and we have booked out this series. It was very popular again as it was last year when we first hosted the series. Um, so this is a workshop series where people can learn about different creative writing techniques to support their wellbeing. So we're talking about things like journaling, creative writing. Exercises, and we're just really exploring how writing can help us, um, you know, perhaps process some of life's more difficult moments, um, acknowledge the areas of growth in our life and, yeah, help us to kind of feel better about things.
It's booked out.
It is booked out. So we do have a wait list just in case some places become available. And I do hope that we can offer this program again next year, just because it seems to to have really resonated with our library community.
That must be very rewarding when you put something like this on. So I guess you never know how it's going to turn out. I mean, it sounds like a fabulous idea, but you never know. But when it's supported with people voting with their feet or voting with their pens or with their, uh, keyboards, that's, uh, very reassuring.
It is. Yeah.
And we do try to be guided by what our members tell us that they are interested in and what they want. So we certainly consider, you know, all of the feedback that comes to us from our library members, and we really welcome their ideas as well as we kind of continue to shape these programs going forward.
And what about treat yourself, uh, where's that at at the moment?
Oh, um, so we our last treat yourself was a really fun one. It was our sci fi one was called Navigating the Literary Cosmos. We had a few, uh, die hards, die hard sci fi fans who made for a really great discussion. Um, our next treat yourself will be in June. It's on the 14th of June, so we host these every two months and we'll be talking about animal stories. So I'm really looking forward to this because I love a good animal story.
I reckon this might be more popular than anything you've done. Everyone loves animals, and this I'm sure, would be a very, very popular topic. And I guess it can be kind of any animal, either a pet or, or maybe an animal that you kind of admire from a distance. Yes.
Well, I mean, there's a lot of fantastic literary animals. So there's a lot in children's literature, of course, you know, you think of some classic characters, you know, Winnie the Pooh and his friends and Paddington and so on. Um, but then also in, in more kind of literary fiction, um, we have animals who are kind of the protagonists of books. So thinking about things like Animal Farm or Black Beauty and so on. I mean, even in more contemporary fiction, we have some great animal kind of side characters who play a really integral role in plot. So, um, yeah, we're looking at books where animals are the protagonists, but also, um, books that celebrate animals. Some of my favorite memoirs are really animal focused. I'm thinking about James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, um, The Durrells, my family and other animals. So yeah, I think we'll have loads to talk about.
That's fantastic. Terrific, Leanne, it was great to catch up. Now, in particular, uh, May 10th is a big day for the Australia Library and the Melbourne Writers Festival. Give us those details again. And people can either choose or they can register for both, can't they. Both with Toby Walsh and Louise Milligan. Yes.
So if you'd like to attend both, please register twice, once for each event. Okay. You can find all of the details and the registration links for the Melbourne Writers Festival event, as well as all the other events we've discussed today on our website. So Vision Australia forward slash library and navigate to the What's On section. You can also just give our team a call. So call us at 1300 654 656 or shoot us an email at library at Vision Australia.
Org you can't get away from us. We'll find you one way or another. Leanne, great to catch up. A wonderful, uh, idea of the many things that are coming up and certainly that, uh, association with the Melbourne Writers Festival, I'm sure will be very, very productive and successful. We'll catch up again soon. Great.
Thanks so much, Peter. Always good to chat with you.
There from the Vision Australia library. Let's talk about an organization I haven't spoken about before. It's called About Time. Maybe it's about time I spoke about it and speak to their managing director, Joseph Freeman. Joe, great to meet you and thank you so much for your time. Thanks so much for.
Having me, Peter. It's good to chat.
Tell us a bit about, uh, tell us a bit about about time. Uh, what do you do?
So About Time is a new organization and it's just started. And its aim is to publish the first prison newspaper that will go out to all incarcerated people across Australia. That's that's what we are.
It's like a lot of good ideas, Joe. Uh, you know, it's the sort of thing that, uh. Why didn't someone think of this before?
That's right. And I think that a lot of people don't put forward their own issues because they think someone's already done it, but often nobody has. And you have to be the first. And I'm certainly not the first because it started somewhere else. And that's where the idea came from. So the idea came from the United Kingdom. There's a publication there called Inside Time, and Inside Time is a hugely popular national prison newspaper. It goes out to every cell in. Every prison and detention facility across the UK, and it's been around since 1990. And it's it's really popular. It's, um, read by tens of thousands of incarcerated people, as well as the guards, the librarians, the teachers. And I think the really interesting thing about Inside Time is that most of the content is written by and produced by people in prison, and that's what we want to do here in Australia as well.
Fantastic idea. And, uh, I get a bit caught up with, uh, names and words, Joe, but, uh, about time. It's kind of got, uh, more than one meaning, hasn't it? If you like.
Exactly. There's there's probably two meanings there, unless you can find a third for us. Peter. Uh, I guess one is that it's about time we have we have a publication that's targeted towards incarcerated people. It's for them. It's by them. There's not really anything else for that audience specifically. Um, and then probably the second meeting is that the paper is about time. Time being a word used often to describe people serving months or years in prison. And so the paper is about time, about their experience in prison. Now, I.
Know you've just launched your website with the paper at this stage, be, uh, physical paper, or will it be kind of online or, uh, people have to read it, uh, uh, you know, with devices. Any thoughts about that?
So it will probably be both. Um, in most states and territories, uh, incarcerated people don't have access to the internet and they don't have tablets or computers. And so in those places, it will be exclusively physical. And we we do aim to print one copy per person in prison and distribute it to each one of them. However, in New South Wales, for example, every incarcerated person has access to a tablet. And so we'll be doing, you know, kind of a neat digital version that they can view in the same format as it would be physically in the Act. They have access to laptops, which are transitioning to tablets and will probably do both digital and physical. And we understand that Victoria might soon be moving to a tablet system, so we might transition to digital. However, we're really interested in what our readers think. Some people might prefer physical, and if we can raise enough money, then we'll do exclusively physical. But in saying that, it's certainly much cheaper to distribute it digitally, and we're seeing all around the world most newspapers are turning digital. So if people are happy with digital, we might move to that. It was just going to be a wait and see and we'll see what our readers say. We'll get the feedback.
You talked about, uh, funding. We'll talk about that in a second, because I know you're very keen to get people involved as far as helping out with funding goes. You made a great point at the beginning of the interview, Joe, when you talked about, uh, uh, the paper in the UK sort of being written by people who are incarcerated, I mean, that lived experience, uh, you can't kind of put a price on it, can you? No, you absolutely can't.
And in order for it to be for them, we think the best thing is that it is also by them because they can best relate to their own experiences. You know that people in prison have disparate experiences, such a range of reasons for being there, but they're all in some ways living the same experience. However, because they're they're closed off not just from the outside world, but often from each other. They can't necessarily relate. And what we've learnt from the feedback we've heard and read from the UK publication is they've found it so valuable because it's kind of opened up this metaphorical world, and they've realised that even if you're in a prison, in a different town, different city, different country, you might be going through something similar and you sharing that experience really helps and motivates others through their time in prison.
That's fantastic idea. Do you think you'll have any trouble getting contributions?
We're quite bullish on contributions because we even from small kind of prison newsletters in various prisons or states or territories, there's been a lot of kind of response and contributions. And in our first edition, a lot of our letters come from those contributions and the feedback we had from focus groups we ran with current or formerly incarcerated people was very positive. We think that we'll get a good response. What we're probably a little bit more concerned about is getting approval from the various jurisdictions. So we've got approval from Victoria and New South Wales and the Act. Um, but we're currently in discussions with the other states and territories. So everything kind of goes through the corrections department of the state or territory, and it's up to them to allow the paper to be published and distributed. And we're hoping for a really cooperative relationship with each jurisdiction, just like the UK publication Inside Time has with the National Prison Service there. Um, and so we're in conversations and we're hopeful. Um, but that's kind of what we're working on at the.
And Joe, in terms of, uh, you know, men, women, uh, kind of, uh, everyone is welcome to contribute and read it.
We welcome all contributions, absolutely everyone. And we expect a lot to come from currently or formerly incarcerated people, their family, their friends. But we also want contributions from guards to hear what they have to say. And wardens, we want contributions from the teachers and librarians, the lawyers, the advocates. Really, anyone who has any interest in the paper would love all positive and all negative feedback.
How do you see it in terms of how regular it will be?
The aim is certainly to have a monthly publication. That's how inside Time in the UK started, and that's how they've continued there at the moment, doing a monthly physical paper and a weekly online one where a long way off from that. But we really would love to have some sort of regularity, and we think monthly would provide that.
They've recently launched a website, I believe, and, uh, there is an opportunity for people to get involved. And I note also, there's an opportunity also for volunteers to be involved, too.
That would be great. Um, at the moment everything's a voluntary based effort, but we do hope when we receive enough funding, which we can touch on, that we certainly pay people for their time, whether it's contributors who write news stories, you know, journalists and things like that, or whether it's administrative staff who help us put the paper together, designers, editors and so on. And so if you're interested in contributing in any way, whether you want to write stories or make art or, you know, create games for us that will put in the paper, or whether you want to read the letters and transcribe them and decide which you think are best for the paper. Anything at all, just email. Volunteer at about time. Gorgo. All right.
We'll give those details before we wrap up. Joe, from this radio station's point of view, and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say so, uh, you know, kill me off if I, uh, say too much. But I believe there are kind of negotiations in place to have. About time. Read on Australia radio?
Certainly are. I reckon you probably know more about what you're allowed to say than I am, but we.
Well, I'll just say what I think I can say. And then if I get into trouble, I'll. I'll bear the consequences.
That's that's.
Great. I'm happy with that approach. Um, but yeah, we we understand that there's a lot of, um, vision impaired people who won't be able to physically read the paper. And I think it would be incredibly valuable for it to be read out. Both, you know, friends reading it to them directly and also through the radio program. Well, you know.
I guess, you know, obviously, the more we can know about other people's lives and their challenges, their, uh, things that they have to go through, the better off we are as a society. So it's got to be a good thing if this sort of information can be disseminated throughout the community. And as you say, for people who might have a print disability, not might not be able to access the paper as easily as others, uh, for some some an organization like Vision Australia Radio to be able to read it is a tremendous initiative and full marks to whoever came up with that idea. And it.
Wasn't us. So we're very grateful for, um, I think it was it was Conrad from from Vision Australia who said that he's keen to do that. And we're super grateful for that because, yeah, as you say, the more we can learn about people in prison and their experiences, the better. There's a reason most of these people have been incarcerated in the first place, and it's not because they were, you know, born inherently bad. It's because of the problematic, um, difficult, um, upbringing they've had or any sort of experiences. And so often all we get is after the fact, we read in the paper about the crime that's committed, but we don't read about what's led them to commit that crime. And certainly there's a absolutely a reason that they're in there. And I don't think any of us are saying they shouldn't be in there. But the more we can learn about their experiences and have empathy for them, the better off we'll all be. It's a very powerful message.
As Conrad, our illustrious leader, he's a bit of a go getter. So if there's an idea, he's a very good to pick up and, uh, run with it. So, uh, full marks to Conrad on this particular idea. Tell us a bit more about your fundraising. I note that on your website there, there's an opportunity for people to donate.
There is. And we're really pushing at the moment, and we're really grateful for any support anyone can provide. We're currently a not for profit company, as we said, fully reliant on volunteers and donations. We plan to distribute the paper inside prison for free and online for free. We are thinking of setting up a kind of subscription model for people who want a physical edition outside, but ultimately, the way we'll be able to afford our designers to create and update our website and our newspaper to to commission journalists, to write articles, and probably the most substantial cost being to print and distribute each edition to every person in prison is through money that comes from donors. And so we would welcome any. Nizations you might have an interest in this space or any foundations, and as well as any individual donors who have the means, no matter how big or small. If you could please go to our website and click on the donate page would be very grateful.
So how big is your team at the moment? You talked about very much volunteer based. How many people have you got sort of working at this at the moment?
So the team is probably comprised of two sets. One is our board, which is five people, strong, different individuals from around Australia who have worked in or from the criminal justice space, whether it's, um, for community legal centres or prison rights groups or universities, um, including First Nations representation and people with lived experience who have served time. And then within that board there are two managing directors, that's myself and Rosie Hassilev. And Rosie and I are kind of the main people on the ground, together with the help of our designer, who have put everything together at this stage. So it's a very small team. But pleasingly, since we launched, uh, a couple of weeks ago now we've had dozens of offers for volunteers, so we excellent. We do hope to grow that team substantially.
Was the person with a vision impairment. I had a quick look at your website. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but I spent a little bit of time on it. It seems very accessible, so congratulations on that because often good ideas, uh, are fantastic. But then to actually, uh, have a website that is accessible is another issue. So whoever's worked on that, uh, full marks to them too.
Thanks, Peter. We'll pass that on to our designer. And we'll certainly welcome any kind of feedback from you and and your listeners about how we can prioritize accessibility. It's something we've considered not just for vision impaired people, but also for incarcerated people and people with lived experience. Um, and so if there are any other tips that people would recommend where all is terrific.
Joe, congratulations on the initiative. As I said, I'm not sure how much we can say, but hopefully it'll be coming to a radio. Uh uh, set near you very soon as well. Have you got a kind of a launch date at this stage?
The our planned launch date for the physical edition is the first week of July, maybe somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday. Um, so look out for that date. Check out About Time on our website, and we're on all the social medias. And we'll certainly be promoting as we get closer to launch.
Joe, to you and all those involved. Congratulations. It's an excellent initiative and we'll keep in touch on this.
Thanks so much, Peter. Thanks for the time.
Joe Friedman there, the managing director for about time. So hopefully coming to, uh, a radio station near you and also, uh, to people to be able to access it in other formats as well. We'll keep you posted as that information rolls out. An audio described show of the week like this might not need too much audio description. Coming up at 10:50 p.m. this Tuesday evening on Nytv. Part of the SBS network, it's called In Search of Greatness. Now, this is a documentary, Right at Em, which features original interviews with people like Pelé. Some say one of the best soccer players ever. Also Einstein, Muhammad Ali and other great luminaries. So it sounds really good, doesn't it? In Search of Greatness coming up this coming Tuesday evening, 1050 NITV. Part of the SBS network with audio description rated M. Also Wayne Gretzky, the ice hockey player, is featured as well. So that sounds really, really good. Be good to get the, uh, original interviews and hear what things those people said. But also, I'm sure the audio description will complement it and supplement it beautifully as it always does. Some birthdays before we go, here's a good one Bill jolly having a birthday. Stephen Jolly having a birthday. Both born on the same day. But they're not twins, so it's a Bill and Stephen. Uh, very happy birthday to you both. Do some tremendous work and have done amazing work in the area of radio and advocacy for many, many, many, many, many, many years. And of course, we spoke to Bridget a couple of years ago, a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of years ago as well, uh, the daughter of Bill, who, uh, very much following in those large footsteps of being excellent advocates. So happy birthday to Bill and Stephen Jolly. Also, Stephen heard having a birthday at a couple of cracks at politics. Maybe not. Never give up, Stephen. Certainly have another go. And Alana Jovanovski having a birthday very much involved with the particularly technology in the area of braille displays, etc.. So happy birthday to you Alana. That is it for the program. Sam Rickard, thank you for your help. Ham green, thank you so much for yours. Reminding you Focal Point is available on your favorite podcast platform. Be kind yourselves. Be thoughtful of others. All being well focal point back at the same time next week. This is vicious radio radio in Adelaide and in Darwin.