Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum related to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table the explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Australian Greens wholeheartedly support The Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill 2019 which would ensure broadcasters provide a minimum number of hours of audio description per week.

It is embarrassing that Australia is the only English-speaking nation in the OECD that doesn't offer Audio Description for free-to-air television, lagging behind countries like the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand. This bill gives us the opportunity to remedy that.

Audio description is an accessibility feature that assists people who are blind, vision impaired, or have print, learning, and physical disabilities to enjoy television, film and live performances by describing what is happening as it happens. It can also help people with autism, by explaining the emotions of characters they see on screen.

Free-to-air television broadcasters are already required to caption all news and current affairs programs and any program screened on their primary or main channels between 6am to midnight, unless it's music-only or not in English. It's great that people who are deaf or hearing impaired get to watch the shows they love but why are people who are blind or vision impaired excluded?

This section of the community watches almost as much TV as sighted people. According to a study undertaken by Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind, 96% of adults with a visual impairment watch TV on a regular basis.

These changes will give people who are blind or have low vision similar access to television services as their families, friends and peers, and give clear legislative guidance to broadcasters as to their obligations to provide audio description.

Television and video content is a significant part of our social and recreational lives and everyone should have the right to access it.

Audio description was introduced on New Zealand television in 2011, the US introduced it in 2010, and the UK has the most developed and regulated laws, with audio description featuring on both free-to-air and subscription channels since 2003. Germany, Austria, Ireland, France, Switzerland and other European countries have also had some audio described programming. Even Australian productions such as Neighbours and Home and Away are produced with audio description for overseas release but this is not a feature available for Australian viewers.

There have been two government-funded audio description trials already conducted – one on ABC1 in 2012 and the other on iView in 2015–16. And then, in 2017 the Government set up an Audio Description Working Group (under the Department of Communications and the Arts) who examined and reported 12 months ago on the options for increasing the availability of audio description services in Australia. And yet, so far, the Government has failed to act on this issue.

This bill has the support and backing of key stakeholders and advocacy bodies in the sector including Vision Australia, Blind Citizens Australia and Australian Communications Consumer Action Network

In addition it is a relatively simple proposition. As with Closed Captions for people who are deaf or hearing impaired, it can be turned on or off as needed. It is also relatively inexpensive to deliver and, in fact, is already integrated into many of the programs that are imported from overseas. Different services currently offer Audio Description at the movies, online, while travelling by plane, at libraries, on DVDs and while using apps. In fact Screen Australia has made it a condition as of 2011 that all Australian-made films it funds have to produce an audio description track.

The Australian Greens don't believe it's acceptable for people who are blind or vision impaired to be excluded in our society. People with disabilities continue to fall through the cracks, to be locked out of the community and denied the same rights as other Australians. Failings of successive Labor and Coalition governments have perpetuated this discrimination, often denying people with disabilities access to services and the supports they need to live a good life, including audio description. We must do better. it's time to allow everyone the right to participate equally in our society, and that includes watching TV, a right that most of us take for granted. I urge the Government and opposition to support this bill.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.