12 September 2007
Investigation into media access to drive change
The announcement by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan, of an investigation into access to electronic media for Deaf people and people with a hearing impairment has been warmly welcomed by the Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes.
“Access to media such as TV, cinema, DVDs and the internet is an important part of all of our lives and yet people with a disability still experience discrimination and exclusion when it comes to getting information from a website or enjoying entertainment or cultural events,” Commissioner Innes said.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has worked with the TV, internet, cinema and DVD industries over the past five years to encourage agreements with the disability community on improving access to electronic media.
“There have been many important improvements over the past few years, particularly in the area of captions for TV programs, but there are many areas where we clearly do not yet do as well as we should,” he said.
“Senator Coonan’s commitment to assess where we stand against international benchmarks and where we need to lift our efforts will help us to drive further change.
“Access to electronic media is also an issue for the almost 600,000 Australians who are blind or who have a vision impairment,” Mr Innes said.
“Often the technologies used to provide access for Deaf people can also be used to improve access for blind people and I would encourage the Minister to take this opportunity to also assess international developments and Australia’s performance in this area.”
For more information on the Commission’s work in the area of media access see http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/captioning.htm
Media contact: Louise McDermott 02 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597
