Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the 2007 election campaign I received—as did, I understand, a number of my colleagues—a number of representations from constituents on the matter of low vision aids and adaptive technology for the blind and the vision impaired. This was part of a public awareness campaign conducted by the Macular Degeneration Foundation.

Macular degeneration is a leading cause of blindness, affecting central vision. It is age related and it most frequently affects people over the age of 50. It is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The disease causes various symptoms such as difficulty in reading or activities which require fine vision, distortion where straight lines can appear wavy, difficulty in distinguishing faces, and blank spots in central vision. Sadly, there is no cure at the moment, though macular degeneration can be detected in the early stages. Assistance to sufferers can be provided through low vision aids and adaptive technology. A range of low vision aids is supplied by Commonwealth, state and territory governments, together with schemes run by non-governmental organisations. There is no doubt that consideration should be given to review these arrangements. There are differences of coverage in terms of scope, size and the types of aids and equipment available. There are also differences in costs across states and territories.

I would like to commend the Macular Degeneration Foundation for their awareness-raising activities. In particular, the foundation conducts activities to educate the community on the risk factors of macular degeneration. In 2007, for example, the foundation increased its representation by 21 per cent over the previous year at expos and conferences across Australia. It also conducts public and community programs across Australia. My thanks to those constituents who raised this matter with me. I urge people not to wait until it is too late but to have their eyesight checked. Early detection in this area, as with so many medical conditions, is crucial. In the letter to me, one of the things that the constituents asked to be done was:

In one year the Federal Government can take a leadership role to:

• Fund a national audit of the provision, affordability and accessibility of low vision aids, technology and services to all Australians.

That is not a big ask. I do not think we have to fund the toys for the boys as much as we do, and we can divert some of that money to programs like this that actually help people within our society.